Helicon, student groups sell unique Valentines

Stephanie Damon-Moore Assistant Life Editor

For Vassar students, there are plenty of creative options for wishing friends and lovers a happy Valentine’s Day.

To start, Helicon, Vassar’s literary magazine, is selling Valentines that celebrate the College’s proud tradition of producing accomplished female writers.

Helicon Co-Editor Hannah Blake ’08 described the valentines as “a project to raise money and raise awareness for the magazine,” and one that celebrates Vassar’s literary heritage.

“Personally, when I came to Vassar, a big draw for me was all of the famous writers who had come out of the College,” Blake said. “We wanted to use authors who were very strongly tied to Vassar.”

The valentines include an image of the author on the cover, and a love-themed quote inside. But these quotes weren’t chosen for their sugary sweetness.

“We tried to choose quotations that weren’t always the nicest,” said Blake. “We definitely didn’t want to go for sappy love poetry.”

One example of the cards’ unusual valentine messages comes from Mary McCarthy ’33: “You mustn’t force sex to do the work of love or love to do the work of sex.” Other featured authors include Mary Oliver, Edna St. Vincent Millay and Elizabeth Bishop.

In previous years, Helicon has sold what they called an anti-valentine, with a seemingly conventional Valentine’s day message on the outside, and a mordant reversal on the inside.

One sold in 2006, for example, has a picture of an arrow piercing a heart. Its front reads, “The arrow of love has pierced my heart.” Once you flip the page, though, the message continues, “and I’ve been bleeding ever since.”

Other groups are selling more traditional Valentine’s Day offerings. Various a capella groups are gracing lovers with their talent by selling singing telegrams that will occur throughout the day.

Daisy Chain members, in collaboration with the African Violets, have been selling flowers in the College Center as well.

Whether you’re hankering for your very own love song, flowers or some sober advice, Vassar groups have got it this Valentine’s Day.