"WVU Student Voices: Undergraduate Writing on Display"

As part of WVU's upcoming Mountaineer Week festivities, students from several undergraduate English courses will showcase their writing at the following event:

"WVU Student Voices: Undergraduate Writing on Display"

Friday, November 5, 4-5 p.m.

Bluestone Room, 2nd floor, Mountainlair

This event will be a great opportunity to learn about the many interesting and intellectually engaging ways that WVU undergraduates use writing in their academic lives. A variety of the English department's courses and programs will be represented, including the Undergraduate Writing Program (English 101, 102, and 103); the Shakespeare course (English 363); the Professional Writing & Editing program's Multimedia Writing course (English 303); and the Creative Writing and Literature capstone courses (English 418 and 496).

Please support our undergraduates and their writing by attending this fun, enlightening event.

On Richard Ford, Kids, and the MFA

In case you haven't seen it, Richard Ford gives his list of ten rules for writing here.  For the most part, I think they're pretty good rules.  I get it.  I shouldn't drink and write.  The same advice probably goes for drinking and Facebooking too.  And drinking and blogging, which I'm not, by the way, doing right now.

Still, I struggle with advice #2, which says "Don't have children."  I'm a parent, and I just don't agree with that.  I'll be the first to admit it's not easy trying to write and raise a child, but it's no harder for me than for the person who has to work an extra job proofreading at night, or the person with insomnia, or the person with a chronic illness.  And I'm inherently resistant to the implication that there is one writing process that works unilaterally.  For that reason, I also struggle with Annie Dillard's, The Writing Life, because ahem, I have a life life.  I can't go isolate myself in a windowless tool shed and write for twelve hours a day.  Does that make me less of a writer? 

Well, actually, yes it does, but maybe someday, I'll have the luxury of time.

For now, I may not have marathon nights of manic writing, but I have Sunday mornings where I sit in my office with the sun coming through the window, a cup of coffee next to me, and my laptop on the desk.  The writing still happens; it just happens differently.  My MFA gives me the structure and allows me time to be a writer, rather than just a parent, and our program here has a diverse population with multiple candidates like me. Fortunately for us, this program provides that space for difference. 

You can see my work here .

And you can read more about the WVU MFA here .

From Kelly Sundberg: Secretary, Council of Writers.  Moo.

EGO's Annual Book Sale/Bake Sale

Last Wednesday, October 20th, was EGO's annual book sale/bake sale extravaganza in Colson 130. The doors opened at 9AM, and there was a fair amount of traffic until we closed the doors at 4PM. We had many awesome book donations and over 25 people who donated baked goods.

VP Rebecca Schwab setting up the baked goods table.

Overall, we had a successful day. There were many delicious treats--apple pies, mocha brownies, Halloween-themed cookies, cupcakes, etc.--and a great selection of books, with sections ranging from fiction to history to religion & philosophy.

Want to know the best part? EGO made $1,056.68. The bake sale brought in $210.50, and the book sale made $846.18 (why yes, yes I am counting the spare change found on the floor). So a very big thank you to the donators, the volunteers, and everyone who supported EGO last Wednesday.

This post brought to you by Allison Hitt, EGO secretary.

RECENT ACHIEVEMENTS IN ENGLISH
News of Student, Faculty, and Staff Professional Activity
Issue 2010 No. 4

PATRICK CONNER presented two papers from his research on the work of early medieval guilds this summer: “A Collection of Anglo-Saxon Additions to a Gospel Book from England:Bern, Burgerbibliothek, MS. 671,” was presented to the International Association of University Professors of English at its triennial meeting in Valetto, Malta on July 20, 2010.

Conner also presented “Fifteenth-century Abingdon’s Richard Forman, Ironmonger and Poet,” to the International Association of University Professors of English Pre-Conference Medieval Symposium in Sliema, Malta on July 16, 2010.

A family emergency kept Pat from attending the Medieval Association of the Midwest, Iowa City, IA, on September 15-17, 2010, to present "Abingdon‘s Bridge Poem, A Fifteenth-Century Monument to Labor"; it was nevertheless read there, and a report of its very positive reception was shared with him.

On October 27, 2010, Pat was invited to present "Clues in the Exeter Book: A Case History in Manuscript Study" at the University of Massachusetts and Amherst College in the Robert Frost Library at Amherst College.

Conner will present "Abingdon's Guild of the Holy Cross, Celebrating the Subjugation of Nature" to the Southeastern Medieval Association on November 20, 2010, in Roanoke VA. This year's conference is sponsored by Virginia Tech and Roanoke College.

Pat is moreover humbled by a rare honor. The Richard Rawlinson Center for Anglo-Saxon Studies and Manuscript Research at Western Michigan University has issued a call for papers to sponsor two sessions for the 46th International Congress on Medieval Studies, Kalamazoo, MI in May, 2011. The sessions will be titled “ Rethinking Anglo- Saxon Manuscripts: Papers in Honor of Patrick W. Conner” and “Anglo-Saxon Exeter and Its Afterlife: Papers in Honor of Patrick W. Conner.” Furthermore, the international project known as “Sources of Anglo-Saxon Culture” is also sponsoring a session titled “Anglo-Saxon Studies in the Digital Age: A Session in Honor of Pat Conner.”
A full call for papers can be accessed at http://www.wmich.edu/medieval/congress/sessions.html

*
MARY ANN SAMYN published five poems- “The Moon Through a Skylight,”
“Octoberish,” “Speaking of Ferocity at Sunset,” “You Can Thank Me
Later,” and “You Got Your Wish; I Got Mine"-in POOL. A review of her
most recent book, Beauty Breaks In, appeared in Mid-American Review.

*
JIM HARMS read with Sharon Olds as part of theConcord Literary Festival to benefit the New Hampshire Writers Project (October16, 2010). He has five poems inthe current issue of Hamilton StoneReview: “What Leonardo Knew,” “Wetback(1967),” “Understanding Opera,” “Thom Gunn,” and “The Sunday Birds.” His poems “Condition Blue” and “TheBuilding” are in the current issue of TheLouisville Review. Finally, Animals in Distress & Pluto, a limitededition book of two stories, will be published by Wallflower Press (New York)in March 2011.

*
KIRK HAZEN published a chapter entitled "Labov: Language Variation and Change" in The SAGE Handbook of Sociolinguistics. The chapter is an argument for William Labov's place as a linguist, rather than a sociolinguist, in modern language study. SAGE (who uses the full capitalization as bumper nuts in the publishing world) was able to shrink down the 10,000 word article to 15 pages with double columns and 9 point font.

*
JOHN SHUMATE's short story "Garfield Park" will appear in this fall's themed ("nourishment") issue of 5X5 Literary Review.

*
RUDY ALMASY's essay "The Elizabethan Church as Restoration: Notes on Richard Hooker's Rhetorical Strategy" has just appeared in Renaissance and Reformation, Volume 32, Fall 2009.

Rudy also participated in two sessions sponsored by the Richard Hooker Society at the recent Sixteenth Century Society Conference held in October in Montreal. He was one of three individuals on the Richard Hooker Roundtable: The Future of Hookerian Studies, and he presented "The Redeemed and Unredeemed Mind at Work: Hooker's Rhetorical Strategy in Two Sermons." He also continued on the Executive Council for the Society for Reformation Research, and was elected to a term on the nominating committee for the Sixteenth Century Society.

*
IRINA RODIMTSEVA’s article “On the Hollywood Chain Gang: The Screen Version of Robert E. Burns’s I am a Fugitive from a Georgia Chain Gang! and Penal Reform of the 1930s-1940s” came out in the Fall 2010 issue of Arizona Quarterly.

*
VLADIMIRA DUKA recently presented a paper titled "Cultural and Linguistic Pluralism in the Writing Classroom" at the Watson Conference, in Louisville, KY on Oct 15 2010.

*
DONALD E. HALL gave a paper titled "Is There a Transnational Queer Studies?" at a workshop on transnational issues in American Studies sponsored by the University of Graz at the City College of New York.

Happy Halloween!

Lisa Russ Spaar Reading

Poet Lisa Russ Spaar will read at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 21, in the Robinson Reading Room of the WVU Library. This reading is sponsored by the Department of English and the College of Arts and Sciences. It is free and open to the public and will be followed by a reception and book signing.

Spaar is the author of Satin Cash (Persea Books, 2008), Blue Venus: Poems (Persea Books, 2004), and Glass Town: Poems (Red Hen Press, 1999), for which she received a Rona Jaffe Award for Emerging Women Writers in 2000. Twelve of her poems appear in The Land of Wandering: Exquisite History, Volume 1 (The Printmakers Left / University of Virginia Press, 2005), and numerous anthologies, most recently in Best American Poetry 2008. She is the author of two chapbooks of poems, Blind Boy on Skates (Trilobite/University of North Texas Press, 1988) and Cellar (Alderman Press/University of Virginia, 1983), and is editor of Acquainted With the Night: Insomnia Poems (Columbia UP, 1999) and All That Mighty Heart: London Poems (University of Virginia Press, 2008).

Spaar's work has appeared in many literary journals, including Denver Quarterly, Image, The Kenyon Review, The Paris Review, Ploughshares, Poetry, Slate, Shenandoah, Southwest Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, The Yale Review, and elsewhere. The recipient of awards from the Academy of American Poets and the Virginia Commission for the Arts, Spaar is the Director of the Area Program in Poetry Writing at the University of Virginia, where she is Professor of English and Creative Writing, an Advising Fellow, and the winner of an All-University Teaching Award, a Harrison Award for Undergraduate Advising, and a Mead Honored Faculty Award.

"It's an honor and a pleasure to have Lisa Russ Spaar read her work at WVU," said Mark Brazaitis, the director of WVU's Creative Writing Program. "Her poety is precise, elegant, and evocative. And her insomnia anthology is must reading for anyone who has ever been acquainted a little too intimately with deep hours of the night."

For more information, contact Mark Brazatis, director of creative writing, at (304) 293-9707 or Mark.Brazaitis@mail.wvu.edu.

Temporary Positions at Indiana University of Pennsylvania

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
INDIANA UNIVERSITY of PENNSYLVANIA
DATE: October 20, 2010

TO: Applicants for Anticipated Temporary Positions in the Department of English

FROM: Dr. John Marsden, Temporary Faculty Recruitment Chair.

SUBJECT: Procedure for application

We invite applications to generate a pool for anticipated temporary positions for Spring 2011. Applicants must have a master’s degree (ABD or PhD preferred) and experience in teaching both composition and literature.

Deadline for application: The Recruitment Committee will begin reviewing applications November 20. 2010. Applications should contain:

A letter of application including a statement of the numbers of years’ experience and courses taught.

A curriculum vitae including date and place of employment as well as your status (full time, part time, TA, etc.) for positions you have held. The c.v. should also provide full evidence of scholarship and professional growth, and detail the extent of department/ university/ community service.

A one-page statement of teaching philosophy making clear how your teaching practice is informed by and reflects your philosophy.

A select packet of recent material to indicate the quality of your teaching including materials such as:

•student evaluations and peer observations
•sample syllabi and sample assignments
•list of relevant course work

Transcripts (unofficial acceptable at this time)

Three letters of recommendation

Procedure:

1. Initial reading of applications

Members of the R&S Committee will independently read and evaluate applications.

2. Ranking

Teaching ability and experience is the most significant qualification for this position. Scholarly growth and service will also be taken into account. After reviewing applications, the R&S Committee as a whole will discuss and rank candidates and prepare a list for departmental approval. Review of files will begin on November 20, 2010 and a meeting to rank qualified applicants will follow shortly thereafter.

3. The departmental vote to approve candidates

Candidates’ materials will be open to departmental scrutiny prior to voting. Once presented with a slate of candidates, the department will vote to approve or not approve each candidate listed individually. To be approved for a temporary position, the candidate must be approved by the majority (50% plus one) of tenured or tenure track faculty in the department. The departmental vote will take place over two full days.

4. Final approval

Once approved by the department, the candidates’ folders of materials along with official transcripts will be forwarded to the Dean’s office for approval.

5. Notification

Notification in writing that a candidate has been approved by the department for teaching will come from the Chair of the R&S Committee after the departmental vote. The official offer of employment will come from the Dean.

According to current English Department policy, temporary faculty may teach for a maximum of three years in the Department.

Please feel free to contact me regarding any questions you may have concerning the recruitment and selection process.

Address:
English Department
110 Leonard Hall
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
Indiana, PA 15705
Phone: 724-357-2261
E-mail: marsden@iup.edu

[Blog Editor's Note: This should entail a 4/4 courseload, but, since Pennsylvania schools are unionized, the positions at IUP tend to pay quite well. Note the possibility, suggested at the end, that this position might be renewable for up to three years.]

From the Second-in-Command COW Officer

Attention: The Book Sale/Bake Sale is going on right now! Colson 130. You can find great books, scrumptious baked good, and free coffee all in an 800 square foot room. What a deal.

I am continuing what Heather Frese started last week--ie. musings from us MFAers. First, I want to give a shout out to Charity Gingerich, whose essay “Of the Meadow”, was recently accepted for publication in Ruminate. Nice work, Charity! I also want to give a shout to all the Tenant professors who graciously agree to conduct independent studies. My two studies, led by Mary Ann and Katy Ryan, have been invaluable. Go give your independent study prof a hug, or better yet buy them a gift certificate to their favorite restaurant. They don’t get paid for this folks.

Now for the art over which I’ve recently obsessed:

-David Simon's The Wire: This Baltimore-based TV drama should be required viewing for every aspiring novelist. I tried to convince myself the characters weren’t real people by watching actors’ interviews. It didn’t work; I still keep thinking about them when falling asleep.

-Veronica by Mary Gaitskill: The minute I finished this book I immediately typed out paragraphs so I could study Gaitskill’s writing. Yes, it’s that good. I especially love the precise and innovative way she describes characters’ physical movements and emotions.

-Andrew Wyeth’s painting, esp. his Helga series: An occasional bright color among earthy tones. Use of light and shadow to illuminate his subjects. His own descriptions of his painting.

While in an independent study on ekphrasis, I wrote flash-fictional vignettes based on photographs in Robert Frank’s The Americans. I included a vignette below. You can find the "Bar--Las Vegas, Nevada" photograph, and other Frank photographs, here.

Bar—Las Vegas, Nevada

A man gazes at a list of song selections on a jukebox. It’s early morning, and light from large round windows form three spotlight-like circles across the white floor. The man stands between torn tiles and cement on which the jukebox sits. The light is harsh on his eyes. He’s had a long night—an average night around here. He’s kept his shirt tucked in, remnants of gel hold down his very black hair. Except for face, revealing his too many beers, and his slouching, he could be ready for another night on the town. Having mused too long over his final gambles, he hasn’t thought left to pick a song. He wants something more upbeat than the last selection--”Earth Angel”, something to wake him so he head north, home. His wife will have breakfast waiting—pancakes and eggs, good crispy bacon, not like the floppy stuff around here. She doesn’t complain. One of the lucky ones, he never loses. He never wins much, either but he always breaks even. “How does he do it?” Women on the reservation ask his wife. “Good luck,” she says and grins. “Only Indians would call breaking even good luck.” All the women laugh. “I call it good luck when my drunken man collapses on the couch and not the front steps,” another woman says. And they all laugh again. The song titles finally focus in the man’s eyes. Afraid they’ll merge again, he hastily chooses, “Rock Around the Clock.” He turns his body away from the noise, the tune grating on his nerves rather than waking him. A thin white man slides off a bar stool, whoops, and, standing in one of the rings of light, moves his body to the song’s rhythm. The light’s glare doesn’t hurt the man’s eyes as much now, or maybe he’s used to it. He rubs his pupils with his fists and spits on a palm and rubs the spit against his shoes to polish them. No matter how he’s feeling or how much money he’s got, it’s important to him to look good. Listlessly his eyes search the bar for his friend in whose car he road down. He knows he’ll have to hitchhike. No big deal, he thinks. Done it dozens of times. Resisting the urge to sit back down, he completes his hardest task of that day: pushing himself out the double doors and into the very bright morning.

Too Good Not To Share

Today, Sarah Palin endorsed John Raese for the Senate seat....representing Pennsylvania.

David Jolliffe Lecture

"Literacy--Urban, Rural, Suburban: What's the Difference, and What Difference Does It Make?"

Eberly College Alumni Recognition Award & Lecture
Honoring David Jolliffe
Wednesday, October 27th
4:30 p.m. Gold Ballroom, Mountainlair, WVU

David Jolliffe was born in New Martinsville, West Virginia, and received his B. A. from Bethany College and his M. A. from West Virginia University before moving to Texas, where he earned his Ph.D. in English, with a specialization in rhetoric and composition, at the University of Texas at Austin. A former high school English teacher (at Wheeling Park High School), Jolliffe taught for 10 years at the University of Illinois at Chicago and 11 years at DePaul University. Since 2005, he has been Professor of English and Curriculum and Instruction and the initial occupant of the Brown Chair in English Literacy at the University of Arkansas.

In his address, David first will provide an overview of what many commentators characterize as 'the literacy problem' in contemporary culture. He will then clarify a definition of literacy that focuses on a person's ability to recognize and deal with situations in his or her life that involve substantial reading and effective writing, and he will explain the degree to which several features of urban, suburban, and rural communities support the development of this critical literacy. He will conclude by offering five specific recommendations that will, ideally, help residents of different kinds of communities confront the literacy demands that 21st-century life and work present. There should be time for questions at the end of the talk.