New Beginnings for Oil Hill Reading Attendees

The Oil Hill Series is a poetry reading event that is usually held in the L.W. Nixon Library or The Grizzly Den at Butler Community College.

Originally hosted by John Jenkinson, the event will soon be taken over by Amanda Hash, Associate Professor.

“The English department and I are looking into the feasibility of restarting the Oil Hill Reading Series in the future, but no plans have been set yet,” said Hash.

In the past Jenkinson would invite writers to come to campus and read some of their work to students, faculty and staff. They would sign and sell their book, if they had published one. Some past highlights include Albert Goldbarth, Mathew Roth and Lise Goett - all accomplished poets. Unfortunately, this event has not occurred for many years.

This semester is Hash’s first year as an official full-time faculty member at Butler. She worked as an adjunct and temporary full-time instructor for ten years here before leaving to teach at Southwestern College in Winfield.

“Coming back to Butler has felt like a homecoming of sorts, and I’m grateful for all of the support and welcome I’ve received from my colleagues,” said Hash.

William Buchhorn, English Department Chair, has attended the event several times throughout the years.

“One of the best Oil Hill events I attended was for a poetry reading of a colleague who had passed away, Michael Sisal. He was a professor at Butler who had just published his first book of poetry but died shortly after. A couple of members from the English department read from his book and give a presentation of his poems,” said Buchhorn.

Anyone can join this event. Often teachers will give students extra credit as well.

“It’s [a] good chance for students to see what a functioning writer is like. The more people the better,” said Buchhorn.

Hash has had the honor of taking over for Jenkinson who retired in 2023 after 20 years with Butler. She plans to cover all of the more creative writing-focused activities in the English department. Next semester, she will be working on getting The Scan and The Quill modernized. The Scan and The Quill are our two journals of students, alumni, staff, and faculty works. The Quill is a collection of creative writing, while The Scan is for academic pieces.

“Up until now these journals have been physical copies, but in addition to sprucing up those printed copies I’d like to also digitize this year’s editions so they can be added to Butler’s website and ultimately be more accessible to students,” said Hash.

“I’m also planning to request submissions from Butler artists for pieces to include. This was something Butler did previously but wasn’t included in the last few years of editions,” said Hash.

If students are interested in submitting any creative writing, essays they felt were particularly great, or any artwork, they can email her at ahash@butlercc.edu.

Hash is also building out the creative writing class.

“I’m looking for students who are curious and creative, and who are interested in trying new prompts, new activities, and new modes of writing. If you like to write in any genre – poetry, fiction, non-fiction, or even screenwriting – this is the class for you. We dip our toes in each genre, learning more about the craft of writing as we go, have some Q&As with some currently publishing writers, and get some peer and instructor feedback on our writing in workshops and an end-of-semester portfolio,” she said.

In the spring, this will be an online course, but Hash hopes to build up interest again in faceto-face classes.