Latest Collection from Lit House Director Dubrow Draws from her Adolescence in Communist Poland

CHESTERTOWN, MD—In the cover image of professor Jehanne Dubrow’s latest volume of poetry, tight rows of bullets stand on end like soldiers at attention, their lockstep rigidity broken front and center by an open tube of lipstick.  That red-tipped symbol of female sexuality and heat disturbing the relentless monotony of cold, hard metal is a perfect introduction to the storylines Dubrow’s poems trace on the pages inside.

Red Army Red (TriQuarterly Books, October 31, 2012) paints scenes from Cold War Poland and the lifting of the Iron Curtain while it also shares a young girl’s journey through the bewildering geography of puberty and into sexual awakening. Dubrow uses the oppressive language of the Cold War to speak about the oppressive nature of  adolescence, and she employs the vocabulary of economic systems—Communism and capitalism—as metaphors for the excesses and deprivations of puberty. “That we experience large-scale, structural traumas as small-scale, personal ones is among the profundities on which Jehanne Dubrow’s Red Army Red is built,” poet H.L. Hix writes on the book jacket.  

In many of its details, the book chronicles Dubrow’s own coming of age as the daughter of American diplomats stationed in Poland in the 1980s. Born in Italy, she also spent time with her family in Yugoslavia, Zaire, Belgium and Austria. But for seven of her pre-teen and teenage years, the family lived in Communist-era Warsaw.

Dubrow teaches creative writing and literature and is Director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House at Washington College. Red Army Red is her fourth book. Her first, The Hardship Post, won the Three Candles Press Open Book Award in 2009, and her second, From the Fever-World, won the Washington Writers’ Publishing House Poetry Competition, also in 2009. Stateside was published by Northwestern University Press in 2010. Dubrow’s poetry, creative nonfiction and book reviews have appeared in numerous journals, including Southern Review, The New Republic, Poetry, Ploughshares, The Hudson Review, The New England Review, West Branch, Gulf Coast, Blackbird, Copper Nickel and Prairie Schooner.

Her many honors include the Poetry Society of America’s 2012 Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award, an Individual Artist’s Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, and a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship and Howard Nemerov Poetry Scholarship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference.

Professor Olsen's Book on "The Hobbit" Explores Tolkien's Book Chapter and Verse

CHESTERTOWN, MD—One of the most beloved books of the 20^th Century, The Hobbit, turns 75 tomorrow, September 21, and Washington College assistant professor of English Corey Olsen is marking the occasion with a book of his own.  Olsen’s Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit,” released this week by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, takes its readers on an in-depth, chapter-by-chapter journey through the richly layered children’s book and reveals stories within the story.

            As the creator of the “Tolkien Professor” podcasts, Olsen is known for aiming his scholarly insights at a general audience. The same philosophy guides his book as he delves into Tolkien themes such as the nature of evil and its hopelessness, the mystery of divine providence and human choice, and, most of all the transformation in the life of the main character, Bilbo Baggins.

            The Hobbit now boasts some 100 million copies in print in more than 50 languages. December will bring the first installment in the long-awaited film adaptation by director Peter Jackson, who has divided the story into a trilogy for the big screen. Amid all the excitement about the book’s 75 anniversary and the upcoming movie, Olsen’s book has been warmly received by fellow Tolkien scholars and book reviewers, alike. “Tolkien’s roads, it seems, go ever, ever on, but with as amiable and knowledgeable a guide as Olsen, the weather remains fine and the journey sweet,” opined Kirkus Reviews.

            A Publisher’s Weekly review described it as “a work of love backed up by professional experience,” and wrote that “the author’s infectious enthusiasm pervades his words, ensuring that what could have been a dry work in other hands will retain even a casual reader’s interest. The result is a text suitable for fans and scholars alike.”

            Professor Olsen will be signing books and communing with fellow Tolkien fans at book events across the country this fall, including a visit this Saturday, September 23, to the National Book Festival in Washington, the Southern Festival of Books on October 14 in Nashville, and the Boston Book Festival on October 27 in “Beantown.”

           

In the interview below, provided by his publisher, Olsen discusses his passion for Tolkien and his approach to teaching:

A Conversation with Corey Olsen

How did you first get interested in Tolkien?

I first read The Hobbit when I was eight, and I’ve been rereading it and The Lord of the Rings every year since then. I have always loved reading the books slowly and carefully—there is so much to enjoy and to notice when you do that! Ultimately, that’s what I try to do in my book. I want to take readers on a leisurely walk through The Hobbit, helping them to slow down and look at the many fascinating developments that you can notice when you aren’t rushing through.

How did you become a Tolkien scholar? Did you get a degree in Tolkien?

I am an English professor, and I got my PhD in English and Comparative Literature from Columbia. I did not actually work on Tolkien in my graduate studies, though I consider that a very valid field of study, obviously. My own focus was medieval literature, with a specialization in fourteenth-century English literature—Chaucer and his contemporaries. In fact, I blame Tolkien for making me a medievalist; my curiosity about the Middle Ages and about Old and Middle English began in Middle-earth.

Isn’t The Hobbit just a children’s book? Why should adults read it seriously?

It is true that The Hobbit was written with an audience of children primarily in mind, yes. But what of that? Why should we assume that a book intended to be enjoyed by children should necessarily be beneath adults? This assumption is never true of good children’s books. In The Hobbit, Tolkien deals with many complex and important ideas, and by the end of the book, in particular, he has gotten into dome pretty deep waters. The book deals with the effects of greed and the temptations to abuse power. It undertakes a very nuanced psychological study of Bilbo’s character, which is very complex and develops in some quite unexpected directions. It even considers some very difficult philosophical ideas, such as the relationship between fate and free will. Tolkien does a remarkable job of making his story accessible to kids, but that does nothing to make it a less interesting and provocative story!

What exactly is the relationship between The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings?

The Hobbit was written first, and it was published in 1937. The book was so popular that the publisher requested a sequel. Tolkien started to write a sequel, another hobbit adventure story, but it grew into something much larger. Seventeen years later, Tolkien finally published The Fellowship of the Ring (the first part of Lord of the Rings), which no longer resembled anything so simple as a sequel to The Hobbit. Tolkien even had to go back and rewrite part of The Hobbit to make it fit with the larger and rather darker story that had grown out of it, as I explain in my book.

Any notion of how Peter Jackson will be able to make three movies out of one book?

Although the idea of making three feature films out of The Hobbit might seem strange at first glance, I actually think it makes a great deal of sense. Tolkien worked for years to show how The Hobbit fit into the historical framework of the Middle-earth of The Lord of the Rings, and to fill in some of the stories that were left untold in The Hobbit. For instance, we are told in one sentence in the last chapter of The Hobbit that when Gandalf left Bilbo and the dwarves, he had been to “a great council of the white wizards” and that they had driven the Necromancer out of his stronghold in southern Mirkwood. In his later writings, some of which appear in the Appendices of The Return of the King, Tolkien explains more about what happened at that council, which was a more important event in the history of the Third Age of Middle-earth than the retaking of the Lonely Mountain. Between the story of the White Council’s attack on the Necromancer and other ideas with which Tolkien later contextualized the original Hobbit plot, there is actually plenty of material of Tolkien’s invention to fill three movies. From all the evidence, Peter Jackson and crew will be relying heavily on this supplemental material that Tolkien wrote, so it isn’t surprising that they want multiple films to develop that story.

Why did you decide to start a podcast?

The fact is, very few people have access to scholarly publications, even if they want to read them, and I wanted to engage the public in a broader conversation. I knew that there were a lot of Tolkien fans out there who would probably be interested in a serious academic discussion of Tolkien’s books. So I started recording a lecture series and putting it online. It turned out there were even more enthusiastic Tolkien fans out there than I had expected! Exploring J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Hobbit” is a natural outgrowth of my work on the podcast. I hope that Tolkien aficionados and new readers alike will enjoy my discussion of The Hobbit, and perhaps even come and continue the discussion with me through my podcast and website: www.tolkienprofessor.com. 

Do you plan to continue this work in public scholarship?

Working on my podcast over the last few years, I found so much enthusiasm for a publicly accessible academic discussion about Tolkien’s works that I decided to widen the conversation even further. I founded the Mythgard Institute (www.mythgard.org), an online teaching and research center for the study of Tolkien and other works of imaginative literature. We’ve begun by organizing live, interactive online discussion courses with top scholars and teachers, and we are also developing resources to help facilitate and encourage further study in the field by a wider range of people. Academia has neglected fantasy and science fiction as fields of intellectual inquiry for too long; at Mythgard, we’re trying to change that.

Jehanne Dubrow Named Director of Rose O'Neill Literary House at Washington College

Jehanne Dubrow with Argos. Photo by Jeremy Schaub. 

No longer just an interim position for the

 acclaimed poet and professor. 

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Award-winning poet Jehanne Dubrow, originally appointed to a two-year interim term as director of the Rose O’Neill Literary House at Washington College, has officially been named director in full.

In making the announcement, English Department Chair Kathryn Moncrief described Dubrow as “an unusually prolific and well-published poet who is a rising star in the literary world.  Jehanne’s national reputation as a writer, her scholarly and creative energy, her teaching ability, and her administrative skills combine to make her an ideal choice as Director of the Literary House,” she added.   

Dubrow, who teaches creative writing and literature at the College, has produced four full-length volumes of poetry. Her newest collection, Red Army Red, is due out from Northwestern University Press in October of this year.  Her 2010 collection, Stateside, is based on her experiences as a military wife, or “milspouse” (her husband, Jeremy, is an officer in the U.S. Navy). Earlier work includes two poetry collections, From the Fever World and The Hardship Post, and a chapbook titled The Promised Bride. Excerpts of From from the Fever World were recently set to music in a song cycle by Polish composer Joanna Bruzdowicz.

She has been a recipient of the 2012 Alice Fay Di Castagnola Award from the Poetry Society of America, the 2012 Towson University Prize for Literature, an Individual Artist’s Award from the Maryland State Arts Council, a Walter E. Dakin Fellowship and Howard Nemerov Poetry Scholarship from the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, and a Sosland Foundation Fellowship from the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. 

The daughter of U.S. diplomats, Dubrow was born in Italy and grew up in posts around the globe, including Poland, Austria and Zaire. She earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from St. John’s College, then completed a master’s in creative writing at the University of Maryland and a doctorate from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Dubrow’s poems, creative nonfiction and book reviews have appeared in journals such as The New Republic, Poetry, Ploughshares, The Hudson Review, The New England Review, Barrow Street, Gulf Coast, Blackbird, Shenandoah and Prairie Schooner. She also blogs about the writing life at “Notes from the Gefilte Review.”

In accepting the interim post last year, Dubrow said she wanted students to view the Lit House as both a fun gathering place and a space where they  can practice and develop the skills, behaviors and strategies of professional writers. She also aims to bring to campus, more emerging artists, “writers who have already built impressive careers but who are also young enough to connect with and inspire our undergraduates.”

The Literary House was founded in 1970. It moved to its present location at 407 Washington Avenue in the mid-1980s after a generous gift from Mrs. Betty Brown Casey ’47 and her husband Eugene B. Casey helped the College purchase and renovate the building. The House is named in honor of Eugene Casey’s mother, Rose O’Neill Casey.

Professor Bob Day directed the Lit House until his retirement in 1997. Since then, it has been led by Professor Robert Mooney (1997-2005), novelist Benjamin Anastas (interim, 2005-06), historian Joshua Wolf Shenk (2006-2009) and documentary poet Mark Nowak (2009-2011). For more on the Literary House:  http://lithouse.washcoll.edu.

Finalists for 2012 Sophie Kerr Prize Announced

Congratulations to the 2012 Finalists: seated, Doug Carter, Maria  Queen, Katie Manion; standing,  Erica Walburg and Natalie Butz.

 * Read Portfolio Excerpts * 

* More about Sophie Kerr *

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Washington College has named five finalists for the famous Sophie Kerr Prize, the largest undergraduate literary prize in the nation, this year valued at more than $58,000.  They are:

Natalie Butz, an English major from Falls Church, Va., who minors in History, Psychology and Creative Writing.  In her four years in Chestertown, Butz has served as Editor-in-Chief of the student newspaper, The Elm, worked in the Writing Center, participated in drama productions, joined the Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows, and achieved distinction as a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She traveled to Tanzania as part of the College’s summer program there, spent a semester studying in Ireland and worked in New York as an intern at Folio Literary Management. Her writing portfolio includes excerpts from a historical novel-in-progress, short stories, and articles published in The Elm, the Chestertown Spy and Washington College Magazine. “Her creative work is distinctive for its commitment to research, and she tackles difficult topics such as race, class and gender with real honesty,” judges from the Sophie Kerr Committee said of her portfolio.

Douglas S. Carter, Jr., an English and Art History double major with a minor in Creative Writing who hails from Pasadena, Md. A member of Phi Beta Kappa, Carter has volunteered in New Zealand through Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WOOF) and, as a Douglass Cater Fellow, hiked the mountain ranges of Northern England and Southern Ireland on Professor Richard Gillin’s Kiplin Hall trip. His writing portfolio includes poems, short non-fiction, scholarly writing and a travel essay. “Doug’s portfolio is defined by a passionate interest in literature and the arts and an engagement with social issues, especially environmental stewardship,” said one judge. “He is optimistic and believes in the power of the arts to do good in the world. He establishes an intimacy with the readers, and his intellectually cordial personality shows through.” Local residents may know Doug through his work as a barista at Sam’s coffee shop and a server at the Chester River Yacht and Country Club. After graduation, he will intern for the new vineyard and winery at Crow Farm, a B & B and grass-fed beef farm in Kennedyville, Md.

Kathryn Manion, a resident of Clarksville, Md., who majors in English with minors in Creative Writing and Anthropology. Involved with many on-campus publications, Manion  has worked as a consultant at the Writing Center and served as head of the Writers’ Union for the past two years. She is a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows, and the English and Anthropology honor societies. Her writing portfolio included short stories and an excerpt from her senior thesis on letter-writing in novels. The judging committee described Manion as a mature, focused student whose scholarship and fiction both display an intensity of purpose. “Her fiction shows flashes of brilliance through her ability to create voice keenly appropriate to the story in progress. Both on the page and as a member of this community, Katie has a quiet confidence in her ability to lead, write and edit,” they added. This summer, Manion will attend the University of Denver Publishing Institute’s prestigious program in writing and editing.

Maria Noelle Queen, a Humanities major and Creative Writing minor from Hagerstown, Md. Queen, a member of Phi Beta Kappa, submitted 18 pages of poetry to the Sophie Kerr Committee, much of it focused on the relationship between a daughter and her parents.  “Her poetry is at times very funny and at times very sad, and it manages to be both extremely personal and yet objective about how she sees herself in the world,” said one committee member. “She has a well defined voice for a young writer and manages that difficult balance between subjective and objective very well.” An avid gamer, Queen hopes to work as a writer for a video game production company such as Bethesda or Bioware, developing plot, characters and dialog.

Erica Walburg, a double major in English and Studio Art from Pewaukee, Wis., who minors in Creative Writing. Walburg is a member of the Douglass Cater Society of Junior Fellows and the Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society and has been involved in myriad campus activities, including acting in drama productions, singing with the Vocal Consort, serving as Vice President of the Writers’ Union, and editing the Washington College Review, an annual liberal arts journal. She also interned for a summer at The American Scholar, the magazine published by Phi Beta Kappa. Walburg’s portfolio includes parts of a novel, poetry and her thesis on the history and evolution of the graphic novel, which incorporates her research on Aristotle and Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman. “Erica’s work reflects her Midwestern roots and her interest in the marriage of the verbal and the visual,” the committee said of her writing. “As she says in the introduction to her portfolio, she wants to return words to their basic function as visual symbols.” 

The five finalists, all graduating seniors who submitted portfolios of their writing to be judged, will travel to New York City for a special program and reception on May 15. There, in a private club in midtown Manhattan, they will read selections from their portfolios and then hold their breath as internationally renowned novelist Colum McCann opens an envelope and announces the winner. The entire program will be livestreamed through the Washington College Web site (www.washcoll.edu) beginning at 6:30 p.m.

The actual check, in the amount of $58,274.11, will be awarded during Washington College’s 229th commencement on Sunday morning, May 20.

A total of 35 seniors applied for the Prize, and they represented a mix of disciplines—not only the expected English majors and Creative Writing minors, but also 15 other majors that included Physics, Philosophy, Business Management, Art and International Relations. The finalists and the eventual winner were selected by members of the Sophie Kerr Committee — the 13 full-time members of the English faculty plus the College president. Committee chair Kathryn Moncrief, chair of the English Department, says this was a strong year for student writing. “This year’s portfolios were remarkable for the scope of their concerns and topics and the depth with which they handled them,” she elaborated. “We could easily have doubled the number of finalists we selected.”

This is only the second time in the 45-year history of the prize that the Sophie Kerr Committee has named finalists. In the past, the name of the single recipient was announced during Commencement, but the names of those who came close remained a secret the committee members vowed not to disclose.

This is also the second year that author McCann, whose novel Let the Great World Spin won the 2009 National Book Award and the 2011 International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, will offer keynote remarks and announce the winner.

In holding the announcement ceremony in New York, the College acknowledges the importance of the city as the literary capital of the world and the personal journey of Prize benefactor Sophie Kerr.  A native of Denton, Md., Kerr moved to New York as a young woman and built a successful 40-year career as national magazine editor and writer. Her townhouse on East 38^th Street became a literary salon for her friends in journalism and the arts. At her death, she bequeathed much of her estate to Washington College, with the stipulation that half its income would be awarded annually to the senior showing “the most ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor.”

The other half of the endowment brings a steady stream of notable writers, authors and editors to campus for readings and workshops, provides scholarships for students who show literary promise, pays for library books, and supports various other literary activities.