Based on the success of such programs at other single-author conferences, The John Updike Society has decided to offer a parallel one-day seminar for local high school teachers to coincide with the First Biennial John Updike Conference at Alvernia University, Reading, Pa., Oct. 1-3. Registration, which will be open until September 12, is $25 for the day, including a box lunch. The Society reserves the right to close registration if the numbers grow too large. The special seminar at Alvernia includes three pedagogy sessions, two sessions open to the public, and one session open to members (and teachers) only.

8-8:50—Registration

9-9:50am—Plenary Session: “Updike in Pennsylvania.” Jack De Bellis (program director) and Dave Silcox (site director)

10-10:50am—Family panel: Mary Weatherall (Updike’s first wife) and Updike children Elizabeth Cobblah, Miranda Updike, and Michael Updike; James Plath, moderator

11:00-12:15—Pedagogy Session I: “’Ex-Basketball Player’: Approaches to Teaching Updike’s Most Anthologized Poem and suggested segments from the Rabbit novels.” James Plath (Illinois Wesleyan University)

12:30-1:45  Box Lunch, and a chance to mingle and talk with other teachers

2:00-3:00—Plenary Session II: “Headier Stuff: Resources for Teaching ‘A&P,’ ‘Pigeon Feathers,’ and ‘Separating.’”James Schiff (University of Cincinnati)

3:15-4:15—Plenary Session III: “Teaching Updike’s Lesser-Known Short Fiction.” Marshall Boswell (Rhodes College)

4:30-5:30—Keynote speakers Ann Beattie and Lincoln Perry. Ann Beattie is Edgar Allan Poe Professor of Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Virginia and a distinguished writer of fiction, and Lincoln Perry is a renowned artist whose paintings and sculptures have been influenced by John Updike’s fiction. His paintings will be on display.

To Register: Send check for $25 along with your name, school, phone, and email to seminar director Richard Androne, Dept. of English, Albright College, P.O. Box 15234, Reading, PA 19612-5234.