On May 19, 2021, Chap­ter 27 unfolds as Marie, Bar­bara, and Olivia gath­er in the com­fort of Olivia’s liv­ing room, their con­ver­sa­tion flow­ing over the sooth­ing famil­iar­i­ty of shared bev­er­ages. While Marie and Bar­bara enjoy their cof­fee, Olivia, grap­pling with heart­beat arrhyth­mia, opts for caf­feine-free Red Zinger iced tea. The atmos­phere is relaxed yet charged with sig­nif­i­cance as Olivia, a sea­soned men­tor and accom­plished poet, delves into the grad­ual process of the Pen­ley Prize announce­ment. She com­pares the extend­ed time­line to a drawn-out tele­vi­sion com­pe­ti­tion, much to Barbara’s frus­tra­tion, as she learns that no fur­ther sub­mis­sions of her poet­ry will be required for the next stage.

Olivia, aware of the weight her advice car­ries, cau­tions Bar­bara against send­ing addi­tion­al works, sub­tly sug­gest­ing that her exist­ing port­fo­lio should speak for itself. With a know­ing glance, she empha­sizes the impor­tance of a state­ment of poet­ic pur­pose should Bar­bara advance to the final five, fram­ing it as an oppor­tu­ni­ty to define her jour­ney as a poet. Mean­while, Marie, ever attuned to Olivia’s con­di­tion, gen­tly sug­gests she rest, not­ing her mentor’s fatigue. Olivia resists momen­tar­i­ly, her deter­mi­na­tion shin­ing through, before con­ced­ing with a good-natured laugh, her resilience a tes­ta­ment to her endur­ing pas­sion for the art of poet­ry.

As the con­ver­sa­tion deep­ens, Olivia’s role as a men­tor becomes evi­dent, her wis­dom extend­ing beyond mere lit­er­ary cri­tique. She recounts sto­ries of past inter­ac­tions with fig­ures in their aca­d­e­m­ic cir­cle, weav­ing mem­o­ries of Jorge—a beloved but often side­lined teacher—with reflec­tions on Emi­ly Harris’s exclu­sion­ary atti­tudes. Her nar­ra­tive offers a nuanced view of their com­mu­ni­ty, reveal­ing both the cama­raderie and the under­ly­ing ten­sions that shaped their expe­ri­ences. For Bar­bara, these sto­ries are more than rec­ol­lec­tions; they are lessons in nav­i­gat­ing the com­plex­i­ties of per­son­al and pro­fes­sion­al rela­tion­ships with­in the lit­er­ary world.

Bar­bara lis­tens intent­ly, reflect­ing on Olivia’s advice about craft­ing a state­ment of poet­ic purpose—a task that now feels less daunt­ing and more like an oppor­tu­ni­ty for intro­spec­tion. She begins to con­sid­er what tru­ly defines her as a poet, con­tem­plat­ing how her unique voice and expe­ri­ences have shaped her cre­ative jour­ney. Olivia’s anec­dotes, lay­ered with humor and poignan­cy, serve as both inspi­ra­tion and a reminder of the resilience need­ed to thrive in a world where artis­tic expres­sion often inter­sects with soci­etal expec­ta­tions and per­son­al strug­gles.

The dia­logue takes a lighter turn as Olivia jokes about her age and the phys­i­cal chal­lenges that accom­pa­ny it, her wit elic­it­ing laugh­ter from Marie and Bar­bara. Yet beneath the humor lies an indomitable spir­it, a reflec­tion of Olivia’s endur­ing com­mit­ment to her craft and her belief in the trans­for­ma­tive pow­er of poet­ry. The cama­raderie shared among the three women high­lights the strength of their bond, a tes­ta­ment to the mutu­al respect and admi­ra­tion that fuels their con­nec­tion.

As the after­noon wanes, Olivia recounts a vivid mem­o­ry from a depart­ment meet­ing, her sto­ry­telling bring­ing the room to life. She shares a humor­ous yet insight­ful tale about Emi­ly Harris’s insis­tence on pre­serv­ing the tra­di­tion of the department’s Christ­mas par­ty dur­ing the pan­dem­ic, a moment that encap­su­lates both Emily’s deter­mi­na­tion and the chal­lenges of main­tain­ing nor­mal­cy in extra­or­di­nary times. For Bar­bara, these sto­ries res­onate deeply, offer­ing glimpses into the intri­cate dynam­ics of their com­mu­ni­ty while rein­forc­ing the impor­tance of resilience and adapt­abil­i­ty in both life and art.

The chap­ter clos­es with a sense of warmth and reflec­tion, as Bar­bara absorbs the wis­dom impart­ed by Olivia and Marie’s qui­et sup­port. For Bar­bara, the day’s con­ver­sa­tions serve as a reminder of the impor­tance of both men­tor­ship and self-dis­cov­ery, urg­ing her to embrace the chal­lenges ahead with renewed clar­i­ty. As the sun­light fil­ters through the room, it casts a glow on the three women, their shared moments under­scor­ing the endur­ing pow­er of con­nec­tion, cre­ativ­i­ty, and the pur­suit of artis­tic truth.