Events

Professor Lynn DeVore says he’s not a fan of readings, and so he knew he had to do something different when Tributaries asked him to read from Feast of Light, his lyrical novel about the Vietnam War, based on his experiences. And so he adapted his novel for performance and enlisted the aid of four colleagues and two students to help him present a reader’s theater this past Thursday, Nov. 19, complete with a ’70s background soundtrack.

A nice crowd filled the Hansen Student Center and was clearly taken with the performance, which featured DeVore, students Mike Whitfield and Shanna Cardea, and professors Bob Bray, Alison Sainsbury, Spencer Sauter (from Art), and Mike Theune.

This Thursday, Nov. 19, at Professor Dan Terkla’s house, Sigma Tau Delta will host a colloquium featuring two English majors . . . and free pizza. It’s a great way to “warm up” for Professor DeVore’s presentation at the Hansen Student Center later in the evening (see Nov. 9 post).

Nathaniel Strauss (’10) will present his paper on Richard Brautigan’s Trout Fishing in America, and Linda Martin (’09) will present her senior research honors project on consciousness in Virginia Woolf’s novels. STD colloquia are a great way to meet other majors and interact with professors in an informal setting.

Professor Terkla’s house is only a five-minute walk from campus. From Ames Library head east on Empire, cross Clinton, and turn left on White Place. The address is 18 White Place.

Sigma Tau Delta is the English honor society, but all English majors and minors are invited to attend.

Robert Bray, R. Forrest Colwell Professor of American Literature, will deliver a lecture on “Lincoln and the Classics” on Thursday, Nov. 12, at 4:00 p.m. in Beckman Auditorium (Ames Library basement). He is this year’s speaker for The Ides Lecture & Performance Series presented by Greek and Roman Studies.

Professor Lynn DeVore will read from his Vietnam war-era novel, Feast of Light, at 8:00 p.m. on Wednesday, November 19 in the Hansen Student Center, followed by a Q&A on the creative process. This is the third event sponsored by Tributaries focusing on faculty and their writing. Thus far Professors Mike Theune and Alison Sainsbury have shared their creative work.

Both events are free and open to the public.

Poet John McAuliffe, co-director of the Centre for New Writing at The University of Manchester, Britain’s largest single-site university, will read his poetry in a special appearance on November 5, 2009. The reading will take place in the Davidson Room of Memorial Center and is scheduled for 10:50 a.m. Two creative writing classes will attend, but the event is also open to other students and poetry-lovers.

McAuliffe is the author of A Better Life (2002) and Next Door (2007), and his poems have also appeared in TLS, Poetry Ireland Review, Metre, PN Review, Poetry London, and Poetry Review. It’s a good chance to hear an award-winning poet from the U.K. and also learn about Manchester’s popular summer writing program.

Nathaniel Strauss (’10) and Stephanie Nudelman (’10) will be featured at a special Spooky Slam on Thursday, October 29, with a student slam to follow. There may not be blood, but there will be prizes, candy, and refreshments—all sponsored by Tributaries, IWU’s biannual literary magazine. The fun (or trauma) starts at 7:30 p.m. in the Hansen Student Center.

Professor Alison Sainsbury will read from her memoir, Lost River, and discuss the creative non-fiction process at an event sponsored by Tributaries, IWU’s literary journal. The reading, which is scheduled for 8 p.m., Tuesday, October 20 in the Hansen Student Center, is free and open to the public.

Sigma Tau Delta has announced their schedule for the Fifth Annual Muse Undergraduate Literary Conference, which will be held this Saturday, October 3, at the Center for Natural Science, Illinois Wesleyan University:

Registration, Atrium (8:30a.m.-1:00p.m.)

Session  I (9:30-10:45a.m.)

Room E103: Race and Ethnic Identity. Presenters: Korey Williams, “Claude McKay and Langson Hughes Discuss America: A Two-Part Study on Poetic Turns”; Diane Kevin, “Her Silence Shouts: A Comparison of Margaret and Alice in Octavia E. Butler’s Kindred”; Mike Whitfield, “Dysfunctional Dads: Native American Fathers in Life and Literature”

Room E104: The Big Picture: Applying Literary Theory. Presenters: Laura Spradlin, “The Use and Implications of Foreshadowing as a Deictic POP”; Linda Martin, “Re-Thinking Conceptual Metaphor”; Angela Lee “The Imperialistic Quest: Exploring Conrad’s Heart of Darkness through Archetypal and Post-Colonial Theories”

Session II (11:00a.m.-12:15p.m.)

Room E103: Sexuality and Identity Formation. Presenters: Amy Glaves, “‘A Figure with Full Breasts and Male Genitals’: Jack Gladney’s Bi-gendered Identity in Don DeLillo’s White Noise”; Anne Marquette, “Boys to Men: Nameless Narrators and the Men They Become”; Kerry Devitt, “Boy Meets Boy: Not Just Another Love Story”

Room E104: Revisiting Ancient and Medieval Texts. Presenters: Kate Norcross, “Crossing Over: Assimilating Opposites in Riddle 26”; Scott Schneider, “Poisoned Grails: Sipping the Wine of Civilized Greed”; Lydia Martin, “‘I, Who Am Dead, Must Guide Him Here Below’: Virgil as a Guide in Dante’s Inferno.”

Lunch, E103 (12:15-1:00p.m.)

KEYNOTE ADDRESS, C101 (1:00-2:15p.m.): Dr. Eric Rabkin (University of Michigan), “The Nature of Character: Science Fiction Speaks of the Soul”

Panel Presentations (2:30-3:30p.m.)

Room E108: Teaching and Education in English. Panelists: Casey Kelley, Tara Hohulin, Tyler McWhorter, Jared Johnson

Room E106: English Graduate School and Academia. Panelists: Prof. Chris Breu, Jenna Goldsmith, Jane Carman, Catherine Ratliff

Room E105: Technical Writing and Publishing. Panelists: Sarah Haberstich, Dr. Gerald Savage, Godwin Agboka

Session III (3:45-5:00pm)

Room E103: Literature Interacts With the World. Presenters: Natalie Lalagos, “Lending the World a Paintbrush”; Marie Huey, “The Meaningful Balance of Being”; Jonathan Gerard, “A Damnable Life”

Room E104: Writing the Self: Autobiography. Presenters: Travis Williams, “Building Bridges through Images in Alison Bechdel’s Fun Home”; Peter Vrousouris, “Dispatches and the Problem(s) with Autobiography”; Ashley Jaconetti, “Making a New Pact: Discrepancies and Limitations of Autobiography Exposed in A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius”

IWU students may attend free, but should RSVP to muselitconf {at} gmail(.)com.

Sigma Tau Delta will sponsor its Fifth Annual MUSE Undergraduate Literary Conference on Saturday, October 3, 2009. Students who are presenting papers have already been notified of their acceptance, but you don’t have to present a paper to attend. RSVP to muselitconf {at} gmail(.)com to be able to attend all the student presentations, panels, and keynote speech. It’s free for IWU students, but you do need to reserve space.

This year’s keynote speaker is Dr. Eric Rabkin, who teaches Science Fiction at the University of Michigan and maintains the award-winning University of Michigan Fantasy and Science Fiction Web Site. The title of his talk is “The Nature of Character: Science Fiction Speaks of the Soul.”

Three panels on Graduate School, English Education, and Technical Writing and Publishing will allow students to access basic information that can help them when it comes time to take that next step, and maybe even do a little networking. Students presenting papers from from a number of universities.

Tomorrow, Thursday, September 24, at 8 p.m. at the Hansen Student Center, Professor Michael Theune and Chip Corwin (’05, currently Adjunct Instructor of English at Heartland Community College) will present new creative works, including their latest project, The Divine Pregunta.

Saturday, September 26, in Beckman Auditorium of Ames Library there will be a double-feature for the writing community. First, leaders of the writing organizations on campus (Lyrical Graffiti, Tributaries, and Pseudonym Required), will read/perform their own work. Then the movie Dead Poets Society will be shown. Doors open at 6:30 p.m, and the film will be shown at approximately 7:45 or 8 p.m.

Both events are free and open to the public, so majors can bring friends or dates.