Writer November Brown ’23 Announced Finalist of the 51st Nick Adams Short Story Contest
Yesenia Mozo
November Brown ’23, an English and psychology double major, was announced as a finalist for the 51st annual . Sponsored by the Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM), the short story contest was created to encourage the creativity and talent of fiction writers across the consortium of schools. Brown’s short story, “Soft Machines,” was among the thirty-five short stories submitted to the contest.
According to Brown, “Soft Machines” was born in a Fiction Seminar course taught by Rachel Yoder last semester. “You knew everyone wanted to be there because it was a Monday night [class from] 7–10 p.m.,” Brown laughs. Brown says that the support of her fellow ϳԹians, along with her other writing courses, has positively impacted her writing pursuits. “It’s amazing to be a part of a group that’s invested in each other’s work and is willing to give critical feedback to make stories better.”
Brown has aspired to be a writer ever since she began crafting complex backstories for her Barbie dolls as a kid. So, when she was deciding on a college, ϳԹ’s workshop-based creative writing program caught her eye. “As a prospective student, I was able to sit in on [Associate Professor of English] Dean Bakopoulos’ Craft of Fiction class and speak with him afterward. Between that experience and ’s ice cream, I was sold!”
A Peek into “Soft Machines”
“Soft Machines” is a beautifully detailed story set in space, shadowing a nameless Intergalactic Educator who cannot shake her commitment to “duty.” The story lures you into a reassuring feeling of warmth, showing the main character’s immediate attachment to a small metal box that emits musical sounds akin to a piano. However, the warmth unsettlingly depletes as the story unveils a disturbing system that sacrifices young girls.
Brown brilliantly slings the reader between moments of her character’s upbringing — shaped by her cold, focused mother, an Intergalactic Educator herself — and her desperate moments for warmth, craving it after hearing the piano-like sounds. “Even though the main character’s family life is not the most supportive, she still craves that warmth — so when she finds it in this piano box, she’s desperate to hold onto it and replicate it,” Brown comments.
As the system erases her feelings of warmth, the main character’s alarm bells ring as much as the readers’ does, but it is too late. The system goes haywire when Heath, an earthling in charge of launching young girls into space, accidentally presse