Famously, the writing of author Ottessa Moshfegh, BC ’02, does not shrink away from the abhorrent or repugnant. In turn, this is what makes her novels so jarring, so disruptive, so fun. Currently working on her eighth novel, Moshfegh spoke with Spectator about coming to fresh realizations about her relationship with the grotesque, and feeling inspired by revisitation.

By 7:55 p.m. at AMC Lincoln Square 13, tickets to NEON Rated’s screening of “The Monkey” were sold out, and the theater was packed to the brim with students. The event began promptly at 8 p.m. Columbia affiliates sat ready for the gory feast that is horror director Osgood Perkins’ latest movie.

Decked in monochrome white outfits and backed by a powerfully contrasting colored screen, “Hello Bitches” by CL begins to play as CU Generation opens with the first dance of its spring showcase: Genesis 2024.

On Arrakis, nothing can survive without faith. In an almost exclusively desert terrain, the planet’s blistering sun beats down on its oceans of sand, and wind storms whip the granular tides. There is no mercy in the heat, and there is no solace when the sun swings low, for the burning cold of the desert’s night will kill you all the same. Yet, despite its danger, Arrakis is beautiful.

Dragons heave boiling flames, eldritch forms lurk and prowl, and cyborgs roam the wild west: all within the imagination of Kevin Lau, SoA ’13. For Lau, writing cuts these fantasies loose. Luckily, they have somewhere to go, with film and television serving as the canvas upon which these images can find their new home.

The handwriting projected onto the large screen in Roone Arledge Auditorium read “4BF = 6CCR = Full Loop Extraction,” or “Four bars forward is equal to six counterclockwise revolutions, equals full loop extraction.”

After sending in an audition for the iconic role of Karen in the newest rendition of “Mean Girls,” Avantika Vandanapu, CC ʼ27, shut her computer and completely forgot about it. The next thing she knew, she was in rehearsal with Tina Fey and Reneé Rapp.

For Frédéric Tcheng, SoA ’07, the phrase “I always forget that you’re here,” is one of the highest compliments he can receive.

Motherhood—and its labyrinthine emotions, circumstances, and surprises—is different for everyone and never stagnant, making it hard to capture on film. Yet in her first feature-length film, director Savanah Leaf manages to translate the intensity that comes with birth and motherhood into “Earth Mama,” an afro-surrealist work of cinema screened last month at the Maysles Documentary Center in Harlem.