The Bowers Writers House has long been the home of literature on campus, fostering a spirit of unity and diversity among students. Jesse Waters, Director of the Bowers Writers House, often invites authors from various backgrounds and genres to present talks and offer their writing to students. 

This semester, Waters is trying something different. 

“I heard some students talking about fiction and poetry, and one said that fiction was just so much better than poetry for so many reasons,” Waters said. “So as you know, I always carry a thermos of tea, so I immediately walked over and just dumped that tea over both of the students’ head and said ‘If I ever hear that kind of thing again, I will report you to student services.’” 

As Waters exited the encounter, he realized that there was a serious intellectual void on campus. He thought of ways to ameliorate the differences between students, and realized he could objectively create a situation where students could philosophically and intellectually export the difference between genres. 

The answer? A fight club, called Battle of the Genres. 

The first fight will be a pay-per-view fight broadcast on ECTV, the campus news station, between the two students who started the whole thing: senior digital media production major Layla Murphy, representing poetry, and junior digital media production major H Zangwill, representing fiction. 

“I think I’m really prepared as a senior,” Murphy said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment and I think this is the best time.” 

Murphy said she’s been in the gym training with poetry books, lifting them and reading them to prepare both mentally and physically. 

Zangwill said they are also prepared. 

“I have a sleeper build, so it might not look like it but I hit the gym every day for five hours a day,” Zangwill said. “I have audiobooks in the whole time, fiction obviously. No pain, no gain.” 

The event has generated an air of excitement around campus, as student gather to watch the two student train. The event will take place in the basement of the Bowers Writers House, which takes up the whole landscape of the house. Waters is heavily anticipating the event. 

“If I had to pick up a catcher’s mask and boxing gloves and pad myself with newspaper and go out and take combat to defend poetry as a student, I’d be excited about it, but Etown students are soft,” Waters said. “I’m really excited to see who’s going to step up. We have some fierce people out there and I bet some of them are willing to get into this foray.” 

Zangwill and Murphy definitely are. 

“I think people just don’t get poetry,” Murph said. “They take it surface level, and they just really need to open themselves and look into themselves and they’ll be able to understand the poetry genre.” 

Zangwill is excited to defend all of the different areas of fiction, including vampire romance and space robot novels. 

“A lot of people think that writing books is a dying art,” Zangwill said. “I don’t think the same way. Fiction and literature is thriving and living. If I win this, people will know that books still have a place in the world.” 

Zangwill said they are concerned about Murphy’s “scrappiness,” and Murphy refused to confirm or deny any battle plans to keep their opponent in the dark. 

Waters said the fight will prepare students for the real world, where publishers and bookstores are not always kind and accepting. There will be rules for the new fight club. 

“The first rule about the Bowers Writers House Battle of the Genres is that you don’t talk about Battle of the Genres,” Waters said. “And the second rule of Battle of the Genres is you don’t talk about Battle of the Genres.” 

It’s unknown how the fight club expects to maintain anonymity after giving press releases and interviews to members of the media. 

The Etownian will not be participating in Battle of the Genres. As a serious newspaper full of editors and reporters who train their physical and mental capabilities constantly, the editorial staff decided they would have an unfair advantage over others. 

At the end of the day, both Murphy and Zangwill expressed hope for a future after Battle of the Genres. 

“There will be no hard feelings,” Murphy said. 

“We’re still friends, don’t get it twisted,” Zangwill said.