Read the Latest Edition of Trolley 

From left, Trolley contributors Renee Pettit, James Lasdun and Michaela Webb. (Lasdun photo by Dio Ogust)

ALBANY, N.Y. (June 4, 2019) – The third edition of Trolley, an online literary journal produced by the New York State Writers Institute at the University at Albany, was released yesterday.

Research shows one in four Americans haven’t read a book in the past year. Trolley posed a question for the other 75 percent: What book or poem has helped you rethink or reconsider your world?

Readers responded. Trolley's 20 contributors represent a cross-section of the audiences that fill seats at Writers Institute events: community members of all ages, UAlbany faculty, staff and students. Their essays praise the works of iconic writers and poets – Tolstoy, Orwell, Mary Oliver, Langston Hughes and J.D. Salinger – as well as more recent writers – R.h. Sin, Rupi Kaur and Courtney Peppernell – whose words make a lasting connection.

“I believe that each book takes you on a different journey, some books take you on an academic journey while others take you on an emotional journey,” wrote sophomore English major Rachelle Garcia.

“My love of literature, poetry in particular, pulled me through one of the most painful events of my life,” said Tonya Frickey, a high school librarian, UAlbany alum and a lecturer at the College of Emergency Preparedness, Homeland Security and Cybersecurity. “Mary Oliver and Emily Dickinson provided me with an insight about how subtly and sometimes suddenly life transitions to death, and how we as humans work through that transition.”

“We are thrilled to publish this third edition, which fulfills and extends the mission of the Writers Institute by celebrating the transformative power of literature,” Writers Institute Director Paul Grondahl said. “We are especially proud of the contributions of UAlbany students, who have written powerful essays about particular books and beloved authors who have influenced their lives.”

“We also present the voices of UAlbany staff and faculty, as well as community members who share their deeply personal reflections on books that have touched their hearts, opened their minds and challenged their assumptions,” Grondahl continued. “Books transport us to astonishing and unexpected places. They take us outside our everyday experiences and make us more empathetic, engaged citizens of our communities and the world.”

Trolley was the brainchild of William Kennedy, the Writers Institute founder, who wanted to create an accessible, free-of-charge literary journal filled with diverse writing styles. The name Trolley was selected as an homage to Kennedy’s 1984 collection of his journalism, Riding the Yellow Trolley Car.

The Spring edition of Trolley’s “From the Archives” section features a 1989 interview with the late poet Grace Paley.

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