#74: Writing the Weird with Claire Navratil ‘25, English

In today’s episode, our producer Ace sits down with Claire, an English major with a creative writing concentration, to discuss weird fiction, the Reed library—and what may or may not lie beneath it—and the complexities of being a college student in the modern era. The elevator pitch of Claire’s creative writing thesis? Imagine a college that eats people, complete with a student reporter chasing the truth, a dash of ritual sacrifice, and a healthy helping of moral ambiguity. You won’t want to miss Ace and Claire’s conversation about how literary subgenres can critique capitalism, the difficulty of self-imposed deadlines, the importance of romanticizing one’s life, and the idea that sometimes you have to be the one to go looking for the answers that they don’t want you to find. Reed community members can read Claire’s thesis, “To Reap What is Sown” online in the Electronic Thesis Archive: https://rdc.reed.edu/i/38514f29-e0e5-4d9e-b436-2f8b007d4665 Explore more interviews with Reed College alumni on our website: reed.edu/burnyourdraft