WMU Writing Center to Organize two Events during MLK Celebrations

On January 20, the Writing Center will offer a panel discussion of three books and two films based on two of the books to provide background for a February 17 book circle.

Writing Center Director Kim Ballard informs:
"At the January 20 talk we'll determine readers who can borrow copies of Alice Randall's The Wind Done Gone, so they can participate in a February 17 book circle.  The Writing Center is also happy to work with any classes interested in focusing assignments around these two events.

Whose Dreams? Cultural Narratives in Thomas Dixon’s The Clansman, Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind, and Alice Randall’s The Wind Done Gone; January 20, 2 to 4 p.m., Brown and Gold Room, Bernhard Center; Kim Ballard, Carly Fricano, Marcus Johnson, Laura Citino, Owen Horton

In our initial event, a panel discussion, we will first consider the cultural narratives of white and African-American relationships introduced through two popular American books that became movies, Thomas Dixon’s The Clansman (1905), which Dixon revised into a screenplay for D. W. Griffith’s The Birth of a Nation (1915), and Margaret Mitchell’s Gone With the Wind (1939).  We will share passages from the books, clips from the videos of the two movies, and film of civil rights struggles to review a history of these texts and a history of the cultural narratives depicted in the texts. Next, to contrast the degrading historical narratives offered in those texts, we will consider how Alice Randall’s The Wind Done Gone (2001) revised the earlier racial narratives while echoing them and highlighting the human and historical damage they caused.

Book Circle: Whose Dreams? A Discussion of Alice Randall's The Wind's Done Gone (2001); February 17, 2 to 4 p.m., Writing Center, 1343 Ellsworth Hall; Carly Fricano, Laura Citino, Marcus Johnson, Owen Horton

At our panel talk and through other media available for free to the Western Michigan University community (Western Today, Western Herald, etc.), we will invite interested audience members to further their own experience with Randall’s book and our ideas in a book circle.  We will share copies of the book with student participants who agree to read the book and to participate in a book circle by discussing their thoughts about the book as well as the ideas we explored in our panel presentation. We will also encourage faculty and staff members to read the book and to participate in our book circle.

Horton in Hilltop Review

Lisa Horton, PhD candidate in WMU's English Department, recently published an essay, "Singing the Story: Narrative Voice and the Old English Scop," in the most recent volume (4/1 [2010]) of The Hilltop Review: A Journal of Western Michigan University Graduate Student Research. You can read Lisa's essay HERE.

Swearingen wins Mississippi Review Prize

Rachel Swearingen will be recognized with the 2011 Mississippi Review Prize in Fiction for her short story, "Felina," which also won the Frostic First Prize in Fiction last year here at WMU. The MR prize is especially associated with innovative work.

Schubert Sung; trans. Arnie Johnston

Nature in Words Fellowship

Announcing the Nature in Words Fellowship

Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, a private environmental education center, is pleased to announce Nature in Words, an exciting, new opportunity for undergraduate students interested in writing.  Nature in Words is modeled after the Institute's science research program and Gordon Art Fellowship.  This unique program will provide an undergraduate student, in conjunction with a faculty mentor, the opportunity to spend the summer at Pierce Cedar Creek Institute, utilizing the close interaction with the natural world available here to inspire and develop their writing skills.  The Nature in Words Fellowship will provide an undergraduate student the chance to bring together his or her love of nature and writing into one unique learning experience.   The undergraduate fellow is eligible for a $3500 stipend, on-site housing, and partial meal support during their 10-12 week summer experience.  Faculty advisors are also eligible for a stipend that can be used for time, supplies, travel, or other project support.  This program is open to full-time students who have not yet completed the requirements for graduation and attend one of the consortium member institutions. More information about the program is found in the application, which is available at the Nature in Words webpage on the Institute website.Proposals must be submitted by February 25, 2011.  You are also welcome to contact Matthew Dykstra at 269-721-4473 with any questions.