花椒直播 Biology Professor Catharina Coenen鈥檚 talent for blending scientific precision with creative storytelling has earned her two prestigious literary honors. Her first book, 鈥淯nexploded Ordnance,鈥� has been longlisted by the PEN America 2026 Literary Awards and is a finalist for the INDIES Book of the Year Awards by Foreword Reviews.
Coenen鈥檚 book is a collection of essays that chronicles how her grandmother, mother and aunt survived Nazi Germany during World War II. Through painstaking research, candid conversations and family stories, Coenen pieced together a harrowing account of how her grandmother fled bombing raids with two tiny daughters, always on the move 鈥� hungry, terrified, and just trying to stay alive. The title, 鈥淯nexploded Ordnance,鈥� refers to undetonated bombs that were left behind but remain dangerous today. 鈥淚n a sense, these stories are psychological unexploded ordnance 鈥� buried in the past but still causing trouble in the present,鈥� she noted.
Growing up in Germany Coenen spent a lot of time with her grandmother, who shared some of those experiences. Coenen knew early on she wanted to write her grandmother鈥檚 life story, but that idea laid dormant until 14 years ago. 鈥淚 was supposed to take a genetic research sabbatical in Ohio, but the opportunity fell through,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 had always wanted to explore creative writing about plants, so I sat in on Professor Matt Ferrence鈥檚 creative nonfiction course. I tried dutifully to write about plants, but it always turned into a war story. Finally Matt said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e going to let yourself write these stories.鈥� And I did.鈥�
Coenen鈥檚 scientific side guided her research, data, and fact finding, while her storytelling side focused on family accounts of living through the war. 鈥淢y mother was a small child during World War II and was not fully aware of what was happening around her,鈥� Coenen said. 鈥淚 was able to link up her memories to actual events and locations.鈥�
鈥淯nexploded Ordnance,鈥� presenting a combination of storytelling, linguistics, biology, philosophy, and history, was published last October. Coenen says it was a labor of love and exemplifies the kind of interdisciplinary thinking that 花椒直播 instills in its students.
鈥淲hen parents ask me what makes Allegheny different, I always say it’s the combination of majors and minors that students study,鈥� she noted. 鈥淭heir major gives them a far wider world view and will help get them their first job. But later on, their minor will get them the corner office because they can think much more broadly than if they had just studied one discipline.鈥�