Students Collect Responses to Terror

Three undergraduates are working to carry student experiences in the September 11 terrorist attacks over to the printed page in a collection of literary expression tentatively titled “Sources of Inspiration.”

Jane M. Caflisch ’05, Liora R. Halperin ’05 and Rachel A. Stein ’04 said they expect the collection to go to print by mid-November. Submissions may include poetry, prayers, photos or any other form of expression that helped students cope with the attacks.

“We want it to be a tribute to the people who lost someone in the tragedy and a source of comfort also,” Stein said. She said she hopes it will bring students some form of closure.

The three brainstormed the idea at a brunch meeting of the Hillel InterAction Committee the Sunday after the attacks. InterAction is a Jewish student group created to encourage communication among Jews, Christians and Muslims.

Although InterAction endorses the project, Halperin, Stein and Caflisch will do all of the legwork themselves.

Halperin said the final product will be about 50 pages long and will not contain advertising. The group has already received about 30 submissions from students. While many of these are original works, students are also encouraged to submit the works of others that moved them.

“If one of Robert Frost’s poems really helped you get through, we’d print that,” Stein said.

Alyssa T. Saunders ’04 submitted a poem from best-selling author Barbara Kingsolver’s Another America. Saunders said she chose the poem because she wanted to share its message of unity. “It promotes the idea that we are one community,” she said.

But of the submissions Halperin has received so far, she said the students’ own works are the most personal.

Before the trio can get “Sources of Inspiration” out to the Harvard community, however, they still need funding to cover the costs of printing.

Stein, who is in charge of fundraising, has applied for a total of $850 in grants from the Harvard Foundation and the Undergradate Council, and also hopes to receive money from Harvard Hillel. She said she is still waiting on the outcome of those applications.

But Stein is determined not to let funding stand in the way of publication.

“I’ll print it myself if I have to,” she said.

The group is accepting paper submissions until Nov. 1 at a dropbox inside the Science Center, located on the guard table to the right of the elevator. E-mail submissions and other questions can be directed to harvardresponse@hotmail.com.