Talia Reed’s Poetry Chapbook!

Congratulations to recent IUSB graduate and former Analecta editor, Talia Reed, whose chapbook of poems, This Admirable Miry Clay, has just been published by Dancing Girl Press!

Order yours today: http://www.dancinggirlpress.com/admirable.html

This Admirable Miry Clay by Talia Reed

Remembering Places Facebook Group

Remember Remembering Places, the blog we share with De Montfort University (UK) and St. Peter’s College in New Jersey?

As we continue to try to get the blog off the ground, we’ve developed a Facebook group so students from the different campuses (and countries!) can better interact with one another. Just go to FB and search “Remembering Places” and ask to join the group. I’m an administrator and will approve you ASAP.

There are currently 41 members from the other schools, so it’s time for IUSB to get on board!

We were there. Writers’ Group

Next IUSB ET AL writers’ meeting is 1 p.m. at Chicory Cafe, Wednesday, May 20.

mf robinson reviews In Persuasion Nation

George Saunders’ In Persuasion Nation
Reviewed by mf robinson

Let me preface this review by letting you know that I am not an unbiased reviewer. George Saunders’s, Civilwarland in Bad Decline (1996), his first book, was one of those books that morphed the way I thought about short stories.  I had always assumed one had to write around a subject as opposed to confronting it dead on. In that collection, Saunders wrote of jobs with dictator-like bosses and of souls haunting the living not because of soul’s unfinished business, but rather, the unfinished business of the living (see: “The Wavemaker Falters,” “Civilwarland in Bad Decline”). This book changed the way I thought about writing and, in particular, how to create an epiphany within the reader.

Saunders’s newest collection, In Persuasion Nation (2006), follows naturally in the narrative arc of Saunders’s first collection.  Whereas before it was the demoralization of man, it is now the loss of what makes us human.

These stories take place in a reality in which commercials have become our most fond memories and where life has become reality TV.  Our humanity has been replaced by Doritos and MacAttack Mac&Cheese.  And the scary thing: the people populating this alternate reality enjoy it. This is a reality in which frenzied killing of dogs (and eventually all animals) is preferable to dealing with loss and pain. This is a reality in which it is better to ignore reality. After all, as Doris believes, in the story, “Brad Carrigan, American,” it is better to be like the character Chief Wayne who “…has zero opinions. He’s just upbeat.” If reality is what we choose it to be (in a post-modern society) then it is a desirable trait to just ignore the world’s problems in favor of staying “upbeat.”

Ultimately, what makes Saunders’s stories so powerful is the vast amount of empathy Saunders has for his characters.  I think, as writers, we must feel for our characters, whether they are oblivious to the world or just becoming aware that life is much larger than what our small pupils can see.

Highlights: “Jon”; “Brad Carrigan, American”; “in persuasion nation”; ”my flamboyant grandson”

Writing Group at Chicory Today!

Open invitation to IUSB students and friends. We’ll meet at the Chicory Cafe to start a South Bend summer writing group:

Chicory Cafe, downtown South Bend
12:00 noon, TODAY (Wed. May 13)

Join us!

Summer Writing Group – Open Meeting

*Change in meeting day! (updated Mon. 5/11)

Many of you have been talking about starting up a summer writing group, and I’d love for students in my different classes (or other classes at IUSB) to meet one another. I’d like to help get things started by holding an open meeting to get everyone acquainted and let you take it from there.

Chicory Cafe, downtown South Bend
12:00 noon
Thursday, May 14 Wednesday, May 13*

Hope to see many of you then!

Questions, contact Kelcey Parker.
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Update on Fall Course:

ENG-A 399* Compose Your Own Book of Narrative Collage
(Prof. Kelcey Parker)

*Register for: ENG-T 390 (30677) This course will convert to A399.

Pics from student fiction reading

Here are a few pictures from Kelcey Parker’s W401/W511 Student Fiction Reading, and  from  the Oaken Bucket after that.

NEW Creative Writing Classes for Fall 2009

We have 2 new creative writing classes available for Fall 2009:

W303 Advanced Poetry Writing–Prof. David Dodd Lee (T/Th 4-5:15) – not yet on Course Schedule, but it will be soon!

A399* Art, Aesthetics, & Creativity: Narrative Collage–Prof. Kelcey Parker
(T/Th 2:30-3:45) This course will focus on the practice of COLLAGE in visual and written forms, and students will write, design, and self-publish their own BOOK of writing, photography, and other art forms.
*Register for: ENG-T 390 (30677) This course will convert to A399.

Both courses count toward the Creative Writing Minor, and A399 counts toward General Education Requirements.

Student Fiction Reading Wednesday

Please join us for this free event.

Students in Kelcey Parker’s W401/511 Advanced Fiction Workshop will read excerpts of stories written this semester:

Wednesday, 4/29
4:00-5:15 p.m.
The Bridge (Wiekamp, 3rd floor)

Afterward, join us as we head over to ND’s Hammes Book Store for a reading by Ben Marcus! 7:30 p.m.

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Also, congratulations to the following students from the class who read creative work at the first annual Undergraduate Research Conference:
Cody Miller, Jeff Carrier, Jake Jones, and mf robinson.

Multi-lingual Poetry Reading by IUSB Students

Anne Magnan-Park’s international students will give a poetry reading during the lunch hour on Tuesday. Here’s her info about the event:

How often do you get the opportunity to listen to poetry originating from 7 different countries during your lunch break? It is possible at IUSB! It is possible once a semester only! So pack your lunch and come and support our talented and courageous international students.

They will introduce and read poems in Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Spanish, and Tamil, followed their English translations. A great way to celebrate poetry… and our international gems!

April 21, 2009, Tuesday
12:00-1:00 p.m.
Faculty Lounge (DW 3001)