College of Liberal Arts alumna and member of the Cherokee Nation Boehlecke combines her degrees in creative writing, Indigenous studies, and German to create impactful and reflective poetry
Brynne Boehlecke
By Halle Sheppard, CLA Student Writer - December 1, 2025
Brynne Boehlecke, ‘25, has always been a poet and a writer at heart, but during her time at Oregon State, her poetry was such a stand out that it ended up winning her the Provost’s Literary Prize, one of the most prestigious creative writing awards across the entire university. Her journey to OSU though, was a bit less straightforward than her love of writing.
Boehlecke originally took a tour of OSU when she was 15 with her brother. “My brother immediately fell in love with it, he's a rower and nuclear engineer major which made OSU a perfect fit for him.”
She, on the other hand, was a bit more unsure and was still exploring a few other options, but was soon convinced due to the proximity to her family and love for Oregon. Boehlecke, a citizen of the Cherokee Nation, soon found another convincing reason to stay.
“I knew OSU had a really good creative writing program, but then OSU announced that any student who is a member of federally recognized tribes would get in-state tuition,” and she took it as a sign. “I had a great experience and have never regretted it, and would probably have chosen OSU anyways because it had everything I was looking for.”
While she always knew that she wanted to pursue writing as a career she enrolled in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film to achieve those goals. She was already a step ahead too, as she arrived at OSU with sophomore status, given the amount of advanced courses she took in high school back in Las Vegas. Boehlecke still wanted the traditional four-year college experience though, and decided to add on minors to further fill up her schedule and credentials.
Boehlecke tried out several different options, but none of them felt quite right. “It wasn’t until I took Native American Literature [ENG 360] that I thought it was really cool and I could see myself doing this.”
Boehlecke loved the minor, saying, “it was great for me, I loved every single class that I took in that minor, and it really helped my writing.”
One minor still wasn’t enough to fill her four years though, and she soon looked at other options to add on. Since her brother also needed language credits, they decided to take German together.
While the minors were fun for her, Boehlecke retained a deep focus on writing and a lifelong love for the craft,“I’ve always been a writer, it's the way my brain feels comfortable expressing itself, through poetry and fiction.”
A love of writing also ran in her family, with members who were children’s poets, as well as librarians, which exposed her to the literary arts from a young age.
“Having grown up around someone who was so deep in their love for libraries, it was hard not to follow in their same path.” She passionately defends libraries in the growing modern age, explaining that “there’s nothing more punk than a public library” in its vital role of providing resources and services.
“There will never ever be a time in humanity when information is not needed, and libraries aren’t an instrumental part of society” she explained, as she hopes to perhaps follow her grandmother’s path someday.
While she loves libraries, it is the stories they hold that fascinate her too. Throughout her time at OSU she continued to weave stories herself, including her Provost’s Literary Prize-winning poem: Spider Web. While she wanted to write about the concept for a long time, it was not the one she expected to win out of her submissions, even completing the poem “the day before I turned it in.”
Her poem was inspired by the concept of an “earth diver,” a figure in many Indigenous mythologies that dove to the bottom of the ocean and retrieved the land, bringing it to the surface to create the world for the rest of Earth’s creatures. Sometimes, the creature drowns and other times it survives, but their role is crucial in creating land.
“I had been trying to connect that concept of an earth diver to my relationship with Cherokee as a language,” she explains. “One day when I die there will be all of my ancestors who speak this language that I don’t speak, and I won’t know how to communicate with them and thank them for the life I have.”
She had struggled to connect the two concepts for a long time, but finally succeeded through the lens of the Cherokee story of the water spider (who was not technically an earth diver, but brought fire and life in a similar manner), as a demonstration of her struggle to connect with her past.
Her role in the School of Writing, Literature, and Film’s creative writing program extended beyond her poetry submissions though, as she also served as editor-in-chief for PRISM, the university’s premier art and literary journal.
Boehlecke started as a volunteer her first year, but soon became very involved due to her enjoyment of the time she spent there. “PRISM really was the highlight of my college experience, and I’m so glad that I found it when I did.”
She expressed how the College of Liberal Arts set her up for success in her future career, not only through her award and experience, but also through the opportunities the college provided.
“I have a lot of aspirations,” Boehlecke explained, “ the main thing OSU and the college really helped me with that I didn’t anticipate was showing me that there’s way more out there for creative majors than I realized.”
Both PRISM, her major, and two minors exposed her to avenues in publishing, libraries, academia, and teaching that she could see herself pursuing in the near future.
She has always wanted to be a writer though, and hopes to one day be a children’s and middle grade writer. “I was the kid who got made fun of for eating lunch in the school library, and I can’t wait until there’s a day where people are jealous of those kids that get to eat lunch in the library.”
She hopes to write stories that will bring hope and connection, and create work that inspires, like how fantasy serves as a mirror to reality and even depressing poetry is uplifting in its showing that the reader isn’t alone.
Her passion continues to drive her, and Boehlecke is ready to continue to leave her mark on the literary world, and make a brighter future.