Top News—Alumni: Related Content
![Verboten](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/verbotenchristienevius.jpg?itok=5Xku86Rs)
This summer brings some great opportunities to see Bennington alumni and faculty making music across the country. Follow the links below for tickets, info, and good vibes.
![Photo of Anna Gazmarian by Joe Lindsay](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/anna.png?itok=-1imyybd)
By Craig Morgan Teicher
Anna Gazmarian (MFA, ’20, Nonfiction) began work on what would become her debut, Devout: A Memoir of Doubt (Simone & Schuster, 2024), while she was a nonfiction student in the Bennington Writing Seminars. The book chronicles her struggles with bipolar disorder as a member of the Evangelical community, where prayer was posited as the only solution to mental health distress. I talked to Anna on the heels of her book tour. Among other things, we discuss writing, publishing, and going to church at the gym.
![Safiya Sinclair '10](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/landscapesafiyasinclairauthorphoto2023-copy.jpg?itok=fsVgoo8o)
Poet and Memoirist Safiya Sinclair ’10, author of the memoir How to Say Babylon, a National Book Critics Circle Award Winner and one of the most notable books of the year according to the New York Times, the Washington Post, The Atlantic, TIME Magazine, and many others, will address the 89th graduating class at the conferring of degrees on Saturday, June 1. We connected with her to learn more about her time at Bennington and how it influenced her career.
![Image of Reginald Shepherd](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/a67c25ec4f903477a4616b85a1a31356.jpeg?itok=UnhASqgR)
Winston Foundation Grant funds 2024 Ben Belitt Colloquium on Arts and Literary Culture
![Image of Ryan Chigogo](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/screen-shot-2024-02-22-at-4.07.50-pm.png?itok=n8iEFpDS)
Ryan Chigogo ’23, energy analyst at Charles River Associates, reflects on his time at Bennington College.
Article by Gaurav Aung '24
![Florence Gill '22](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/florence-gill-22.-photograph-by-lorena-fernandez-camba-24_0.jpeg?itok=tsqpsnAV)
By Gaurav Aung ’24
Bennington College was Florence Gill ’22’s destination long before they knew it existed. Born and raised in Doncaster, England, they had no idea attending college in the United States was an option. After finishing their General Certificate of Secondary Education (roughly the British equivalent of an American high school diploma), they were on a path that would lead them to a strict education at a university in the United Kingdom, yet they found themself at a crossroads: they wanted the depth of a specialized undergraduate degree but also the breadth of study that couldn’t be found in the UK.
![Ahmad Yassir '20](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/ahmad-yassir-headshot-2b.jpeg?itok=-_JrHkNF)
Ahmad Yassir ’20 stayed in the town of Bennington after graduation and works as a digital advertising and marketing specialist for the Bennington Banner. He had an amazing 2023.
![Alisha Bade Shrestha '23](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/052723_peerless_082b.jpeg?itok=dRHzGQS-)
Recent graduate trustee Alisha Bade Shrestha ’23 discusses her experience studying Performing and Visual Arts at Bennington College and the "small nestled miracles" she found on campus.
![Jupiter Kalinowski ’23](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/thumbnail_image0.jpeg?itok=yZrhIX3h)
During the last few days of the fall term, Jupiter Kalinowski ’23, who studied protein biochemistry and biological research methods at Bennington, was busy in the lab. They were running the final experiment of their senior work.
![Stefanos Zogopoulos ’23 with Alisha Bade Shrestha '23](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/stefanosandalisha-for-web20230525-pentagram-photoshoot-luise-stauss-13-1.jpeg?itok=8Q3ioENw)
Stefanos Zogopoulos ’23 credits Bennington for helping him find his true passion.
![Cora Cohen '64](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/cohen_cora_640x460_0.jpg?itok=T9Kkl824)
Bennington alum and notable abstract painter Cora Cohen ’64 donated a large painting to Bennington College before her death in June. The painting was given in honor of Pat Adams, a faculty member teaching during Cohen’s time at Bennington.
![Image of Smile Ma](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/20230525-pentagram-photoshoot-luise-stauss-24-440x300.jpg?itok=yXLsX2Qd)
Xiao (Smile) Ma ’23 discusses her experience exploring Visual Arts at Bennington.
![Image of Van Morrison collage](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/image0-7.jpeg?itok=VNlBVApf)
Jeff Taylor '84 toured with music icon Van Morrison's band for his 2023/2024 US tour.
![stack of 2023 books in library at Bennington](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/20231116-holiday-e-card-2023-for-web-david-morelos-img_5868.png?itok=prUQlgfS)
The latest additions to Bennington’s rich literary history have hit bookstore shelves. Their authors join Bennington notables, including Donna Tartt '86, Kiran Desai '93, Michael Pollan '76, Ann Goldstein '71, Anaïs Duplan '14, Anne Waldman '66, Cynthia Sweeney MFA '13, Jamie Quatro MFA '09, Amy Gerstler '01, Morgan Jerkins MFA '16, and Charles Bock '97.
![Eve Vishnick '23](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/evevishnickbab660e1-6227-4e46-92a1-b903b8f1b964-1.jpeg?itok=ZUTaaCzW)
Eve Vishnick ’23 has always been torn between studying visual arts and more science-related fields. She was attracted to Bennington for two reasons, she said. “Great financial aid and the ability to combine two separate fields without having to double major. I could make it into one thing. That was a big draw for me.”
![Bruna Dantas Lobato ’15](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/dantas-lobato_320x230px.jpg?itok=r26itKUw)
Bennington College congratulates Bruna Dantas Lobato ’15 who won the National Book Award for her translation of Stênio Gardel’s The Words That Remain in a ceremony on the evening of Wednesday, November 15.
![Swagatta Datta ’23](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/swagatta-datta-23.jpeg?itok=eTQ78Ptq)
Eratosthenes of Cyrene was the first person to prove that the earth was a sphere and to calculate its circumference. Swagatta Datta ’23, who studied theoretical mathematical physics at Bennington, is following in his footsteps. Only Datta is interested in the universe.
![Hugh Ryan](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/hugh_ryan_credit-jia-oak-baker.jpg?itok=ISrx11Wn)
By Craig Morgan Teicher
Hugh Ryan graduated from the Bennington Writing Seminars in 2009 and went on to publish two acclaimed books of nonfiction, When Brooklyn Was Queer (2019) and The Women’s House of Detention: A Queer History of a Forgotten Prison, which won the Stonewall Book Award/Israel Fishman Award for Nonfiction and the Warren Johansson Award. He has taught nonfiction at the Writing Seminars since 2022, and just sold his next book, Becoming History, a memoir in essays. He talked with me about turning research into writing and falling back in love with the essay.
![Visionary Leadership Award honoree Souleymane Badolo MFA ’13, left, with Susan Sgorbati, Director of the Center for the Advancement of Public Action](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/souleymane-badolo-vla.jpeg?itok=ykTlGeKH)
Dancer, choreographer, and activist Souleymane Badolo MFA ’13 has been named the 2023 recipient of Bennington College’s Dr. Elizabeth Coleman Visionary Leadership Award. This annual award recognizes an engaged Bennington alumni who has successfully demonstrated leadership and confident willingness to step forward and take risks in order to solve problems and achieve results in the areas of education, government, the arts and sciences, or industry.
![Image of Alan Arkin](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/6333180566_0179dc47fb_c.jpg?itok=2cgko_-e)
Bennington College celebrates the extraordinary life of actor and friend of Bennington College Alan Arkin ’55. Arkin’s family announced his passing on Friday.
![Image of Bennington Commons](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/20181113-commons-renovation-ellery-schiller-10_1.jpg?itok=9Z-Nv4yF)
From her role at the Dia Art Foundation, Meagan Mattingly ’00 combines her interests in the arts, education, and public engagement.
![Image of Claire Burkert](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/claire.jpg?itok=FZAQ8oAz)
Claire Burkert ’80 left a more traditional college experience to attend Bennington as a junior. The choice has led her to a creatively inspired life helping artists and artisans around the world empower and support themselves.
![Image of woman playing cello](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/m.jpg?itok=NiKsZfSM)
The supportive and inspiring start Martha Siegel ’72 received at Bennington has propelled her through a long and satisfying career as a cellist and teacher.
![Image of a woman](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/ramaa_mosley.jpg?itok=vhTlFbDN)
Ramaa Mosley '95 is a filmmaker, writer, and director. She is the recipient of a United Nations Global 500 Award and was named SHOOT’s Top 10 Female Directors To Watch, 2015.
![Image of Audre Wirtanen](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/unnamed-8.jpg?itok=A5a0M3Ma)
Audre Wirtanen '17 is the Co-Founder and Co-Director Hyp-ACCESS, which develops multi-field care access for common & neglected Hypermobile conditions from a foundation of People’s Science & Disability Justice.
![image of bookshelf](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/bookshelf-free-unsplash.jpeg?itok=gmhKLvoy)
Whether you’re looking for the perfect gift for a loved one or for yourself this holiday season (you deserve a ‘lil treat), we’ve rounded up a handy list of new and classic books written by the Bennington community to delight even the pickiest of readers.
![Image of woman holding child](/sites/default/files/styles/alumni_story_300x225/public/sources/stories/josie-bunnell-mural-_0.jpeg?itok=rH865ByE)
Josie Bunnell ’19 spoke to On-Campus Reporter Halley Le ’25 about her collaboration with artist Raphaella Brice on Black Freedom, Black Madonna & the Black Child of Hope, a 16-foot tall mural now displayed outside of the Fletcher Free Library in Burlington.