Poetry reading in the library

Did you know that April is National Poetry Month?

Come celebrate with a poetry reading in the library on Thursday, April 2 at 4:00 p.m. The Illinois Poet Laureate, Kevin Stein, will read from his work. Refreshments provided!

Named poet laureate in 2003, Stein is the fourth poet to hold that position following Gwendolyn Brooks, Carl Sandberg, and Howard Austin. Stein is a professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Bradley University and has published numerous books of poetry, including his latest collection in 2008, “Sufficiency of the Actual.” He has also written on the interplay of history and poetry and edited anthologies of Illinois poetry. The winner of numerous awards, Stein most recently won the Vernon Louis Parrington Medal for Distinguished Writing.

 

LunchBytes on Tuesday

 

March 31, 2009 11:30a.m. – 12:30p.m.

Almost all writing is done electronically these days.  However, much of the proofing and revision tends to involve paper.  Digital tools can facilitate prompt feedback and allow group editing of drafts. This session will look at the challenges and opportunities of tools for moving the writing process to a fully digital cycle.  Pizza will be served; bring your own beverage.  Lunchbytes is a joint program of the Tredway Library and ITS exploring teaching resources and issues in higher education.

 

 

 

 

 

Local Authors in Special Collections

Special Collections is home to a number of books by two important local authors: Arthur Davison Ficke and Susan Glaspell. Although these names many no longer be familiar to many, in the first half of the twentieth century, they were widely read and well known.

Arthur Davison Ficke (1883-1945) was born in Davenport, where his parents were important members of the community. After graduating from Harvard, Ficke went to law school and was admitted to the Iowa bar, but he was more interested in writing poetry than anything else. His first book, From the Isles, was published in 1907. In addition to poetry, Ficke also wrote drama, short stories, treatises on Japanese art, and one novel. Ficke is perhaps best known today for Spectra, a book he wrote with Witter Bynner.  A satire on modern experimental verse, it claimed to start the Spectric school of poetry.

Susan Glaspell (1882-1948) was also born in Davenport, which, disguised under the name of Freeport, became the setting for a number of her stories. After graduating from college, she worked for a Des Moines newspaper, where one of the stories she covered because the basis for her best-known work, the story “A Jury of Her Peers.” Glaspell was also a founding member of the Provincetown Players, a group of writers and actors who would include both Eugene O’Neill and Edna St. Vincent Millay. Glaspell wrote 50 short stories, fourteen plays, and nine novels, and recieved the Pulitzer Prize for drama in 1931 for her play Alison’s House.

Book discussion coming.

 

I’m so excited–about 15 people have signed up to read Aryn Kyle’s book The God of Animals, and participate in a lunch/book discussion on Friday, March 20, at noon in the Dahl Room in College Center. Aryn will be visiting campus the next week and presenting a public reading Thursday, March 26, at 7:00 p.m. in Wallenberg Hall, part of The River Readings at Augustana. Aryn is a vibrant young writer; this is her first book and she has won universal praise for it, including an Alex Award from the American Library Association. The book is about a young girl coming of age on her father’s failing horse ranch in Colorado. I’m not a horse person but I loved the horses in the book, and Alice’s voice (the girl who tells the story) is funny, curious, longing, real. At this writing, I have a few more books if anyone wants to read and join the discussion. –Margi

Librarians in Seattle

Librarians Anne Earel, Amanda Makula, and Connie Ghinazzi attended the 14th national Association of College and Research Libraries (ACRL) conference in Seattle, Washington on March 12-15. Anne and Amanda presented a poster at the conference: “Enhancing Pedagogy Through Technology: Using Beyond Question and RefWorks to Engage Students in Information Literacy Across the Curriculum.” The poster highlighted Amanda’s work with first-year students using an audience response system (“clickers”) and Anne’s utilization of collaborative bibliographies in RefWorks within an upper-level Anthropology course.

Other conference events included keynote speeches by author Sherman Alexie and radio host Ira Glass, as well as numerous workshops, paper presentations, panel discussions, and vendor exhibits. The three librarians had a wonderful time seeing what other academic libraries are doing and came back to Augustana with some exciting new ideas!

In addition to the conference, they were able to enjoy the city’s many sights and sounds. They visited the famous Pike Place fish market, the original Starbucks store, Snoqualmie Falls, Boehm’s local chocolate factory, and Chateau Ste. Michelle winery. They also caught a glimpse of the beautiful Seattle public library!

–Amanda

Interested in becoming a librarian?

Join us on Tuesday, March 24 @ 4:30 to talk about careers in the library world. Come with your questions and we’ll discuss what is most interesting to you in this widely divergent field. We can talk about library school programs, jobs, and the fun involved in the hunt for the best answers. 

This is your chance to find out more – join us on Tuesday at the south end of Tredway Library. Light refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Connie Ghinazzi at connieghinazzi@augustana.edu or -7494.