HWS News
4 November 2026 Brown ’28 Publishes Fiction and Poetry in Literary Journals
Supported by a close-knit community of writers, Hazel Brown ’28 has published in two literary journals – with more pieces slated for publication.
While attending the Association of Writers & Writing Programs (AWP) Conference with the Seneca Review, HWS’ internationally recognized literary journal, Hazel Brown ’28 met the editors of Pangyrus and Gulf Stream Magazine.
After speaking with editors from both publications, she felt confident she should submit her work.
“[I learned] it is incredibly important to register what particular work any respective journal is looking for, if it fits,” Brown says. “Each journal has some niche or area they are most comfortable publishing work within, and it is beneficial to try and submit yours accordingly.” Following that advice, Brown is a published author twice-over. Read her piece in Pangyrus here and Gulf Stream Magazine here.
The two stories differ significantly in form and subject matter. “Years Before the Divorce When My Children Were Young” follows a mother whose husband is undergoing cancer treatment as they navigate conversations with their children about illness and mortality. Brown wrote the piece as an exercise in staying grounded within a single scene.
“Ingrid” is a shorter and more experimental work. Told through a dialogue between a young child and her mother, the story explores themes of motherhood, loss and memory. The piece belongs to a larger novella that Brown is in the process of writing.
Recently, Brown had two short stories and two poems accepted for publication in Catamaran, New Contrast, Lines + Stars and Bear Review.
At HWS, Brown credits several faculty mentors and writing experiences with helping her grow as a fiction writer. Among the most influential was the Trias Writer-in-Residence Workshop with New York Times bestselling author Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah.
Through the Trias residency, 12 students from across campus are selected to participate in the workshop and work directly with that year’s resident.
“Nana treated my classmates and me as serious writers,” Brown says. “Rather than try to see how my stories fit against a set mold or set of fiction principles, Nana commented on the work within the bounds of the work itself.”
Brown, who worked as a Summer Scholarship Fellow on campus, also points to the support of English and Creative Writing faculty Geoffrey Babbitt and Kathryn Cowles. Through their mentorship, she gained a deeper understanding of the publication process and its relationship to the writing process.
“Sometimes your work is much more ‘done’ to others than it appears to be to you,” Brown recalls Cowles telling her. The advice encouraged her to embrace publication as part of an ongoing creative journey rather than waiting for perfection.
Outside the classroom, Brown emphasizes the value of community. Alongside formal workshops and opportunities such as Thel, HWS’ student literary journal, she and her friends regularly gather to share and discuss new work.
“This past year, I would have a near weekly workshop with my dear friends Laura and Andrew,” she says. “We’d just sit on the carpet of one of our bedrooms and share a piece we had each written.”
Looking ahead, Brown continues to submit work to literary journals while developing larger projects, including a manuscript she hopes to publish in the future.
“My lifelong dream is to get a book of mine published,” she says. “Writing novels will always be what I love the most.”
At top: Hazel Brown '28 reads her work as part of a Seneca Review event.
