Trivia Night at the Writing House

Camille Pfister
Junior Editor

Eighteen students, divided into four teams, gathered on blankets on the Writing House’s front lawn as Writing House resident Cam Williams (C ‘22) led a riveting game of Literature Trivia. The game took literature from several eras, ranging from ancient Greek Mythology like The Odyssey, to Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Tell-Tale Heart,” to 1900’s mystery queen Agatha Christie. Even modern tales like Harry Potter, Percy Jackson, and The Hunger Games were included

Each team was given a different colored button and could hit it at any time during the question. If they got the question wrong, the team couldn’t attempt to answer it again. Most questions were worth one point, with a few questions having the possibility of achieving multiple points. 

There was light debate among the competing teams and the host as different questions were proposed. As two opposing teams slam their respective buttons at the same time, a rock-paper-scissors match is used to settle the debate. 

After a couple hours of questions, debates, and lots of laughter, the game concludes. 

This is the first event the Writing House has put on this semester, but there is a lot more to come! Students should look out on Engage, in their emails, and on the Writing House’s Instagram page for activities in the upcoming weeks. 

“We have a lot of things that we’re considering,” Williams said. “Right now, you have the nature hike to look forward to, where we will go out and workshop fiction and poetry after a nice little nature hike.” 

The Writing House, located in Mississippi Townhouse 1 on Mississippi Avenue, works  with the various writing publications on campus and helps provide support for students as they explore the vast writing opportunities on the Domain. 

“You have such a supportive writers’ community,” Williams said. “We have everyone from The Purple, to The Spectre, to The Mountain Goat. Every single one of them produces these incredible writers, where you can get a diverse selection of opinions. Past that, we have our wonderful faculty. We have all sorts of writers, it’s just so exciting to be able to hear from these perspectives. It’s so good to see such a flourishing writer’s community here at Sewanee.” 

The Writing House has many opportunities for students who love writing and are interested in exploring the House. For students passionate about writing and excited about the possibility of living in a House with fellow students who share that passion, Williams has one piece of advice. 

“Involving yourself in the Writing House just means showing up,” Williams said. “Being with us, being our friends, that’s all it takes. If you are interested in writing, and you make yourself known to us, we will know that you are here.”