A room full of writers might be easy to find at The New School, but until this past week, a space reserved for writers was nowhere to be found. The opening of The Writers Lounge on Tuesday, Feb. 25 was the culmination of a years-long collaboration between writing faculty from Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts and the New School’s Creative Writing MFA program — born out of a desire to give writers at The New School a place to unwind, create, and connect. 

On opening night, The Writers Lounge, located on the third floor of Alvin Johnson/J.M. Kaplan Hall, was filled to the brim with students and faculty eager to catch a glimpse of the long-awaited space. Guests crowded onto the plush couches, sat cross-legged on the floor, and gathered in the doorway. Wooden side tables and cabinets were laden with snacks and drinks, and conversation filled the small room.

Room 306 was once a conference room used by the dean’s office and faculty. “It had sad meeting energy,” Laura Cronk said, chair of poetry and assistant professor of writing for The New School’s MFA Creative Writing program.

It’s nearly unrecognizable with soft lighting, paintings adorning the walls, and warm wooden furniture. “It’s thrilling to have a place that doesn’t look like an institution,” Co-chair of Literary Studies and Associate Professor of Writing at Lang, Jennifer Firestone, said in her opening speech which kicked off the evening. 

Firestone highlighted her collaborators, including Cronk, Associate Professor and Departmental Faculty Advisor of Writing at Lang, Albert Mobilio, Assistant Professor of Writing and Capstone Coordinator of Writing at Lang, Wendy Xu, and Director of the Creative Writing Program, John Reed. She then introduced the first two readers of the evening, Marco Cortese and Amaya Branche, both undergraduate students at Lang.

The following and final two readers were both from the creative writing MFA program: Michelle Woods, a first-year student in the nonfiction concentration, and Nandini Sharma, a first-year student in the fiction concentration. One goal of The Writers Lounge, according to Firestone, is to make connections across genre, year, and program. Woods agreed. “It’s a space for communities to merge,” she said. It’s important to have spaces for connection that are informal, Woods further explained, describing the lounge as “a low-stakes space for people to find each other.”

It’s convenient, too. Sharma sees herself spending a lot of time there — all of her classes are in Lang buildings. According to Sharma, there aren’t a lot of great study spaces for students at Lang. The lounge presents an alternative to the Lang Café, Vera List Courtyard, and sporadic red and black couches strewn throughout the buildings. 

Hijab Ahmed, a first-year MFA student in the poetry concentration and editor-in-chief of the Lang literary magazine The Inquisitive Eater, agreed. “It’s a good place for those awkward 30-minute gaps between classes,” she said. Need to do a quick assignment? Here’s a comfortable space to get it done. 

The lounge isn’t just for writing and homework — it’s for reading, too. The room features an area for books written by faculty, including Assassin of Youth by Professor of Literary Studies Alexandra Chasin and Borges and Kafka, Bolaño and Bloom, by Co-Chair of Literary Studies at Lang, Juan Decastro. Near the door is a shelf labeled “Book Exchange: Take a Book, Leave a Book.” 

To maintain the calm, inviting energy that is a priority of the lounge, there is a list of community agreements posted near the door. It’s pretty much common sense: no phone calls, clean up after yourself. 

According to Reed, the process of bringing the lounge to life was surprisingly easy. “We thought there was no chance,” he said, but an open spot on a capital improvements spreadsheet run by the ›provost’s office provided the opportunity the department had been waiting for. They even came in under budget. 

“Space is a restricted resource at The New School,” Cronk said. Finding the right spot was the hardest part. A reserved area, curated by writers, for writers, is a victory. The faculty that brought it to life hope it’s a haven for the many kinds of writers that work and learn at The New School. Students are tuned in, if the attendance at the opening is any indication. “Writers need more space everywhere,” Ahmed said. The Writers Lounge is answering that call.