Novelist Ron Hansen to Read Nov. 1 in Tawes

 ** Due to Hurricane Sandy, this event has been moved to November 29th, same location and time. **

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Novelist Ron Hansen will give a reading Thursday, November 1 at 4 p.m. in Tawes Theatre, Daniel Z. Gibson Center for the Arts at Washington College, 300 Washington Avenue. The reading, part of the Sophie Kerr Living Writers Series, is free and open to the public.

            Hansen has published eight novels, two collections of short stories, and a book of essays. His novel The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford was a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and became a 2007 movie starring Brad Pitt and Casey Affleck. His work has also been recognized with awards from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters.

            After graduating from Creighton University in Omaha, Hansen went on to the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop, and then to Stanford University to complete his studies.  He currently serves as the Gerard Manley Hopkins Professor in the Arts and the Humanities at Santa Clara University. His next book, She Loves Me Not: New and Selected Stories, is scheduled for release next month.  

Irish Actor Barry McGovern Reads from Yeats, Joyce and Beckett September 19 at Literary House

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Irish actor Barry McGovern will bring literature to life with a reading at the Rose O’Neill Literary House at Washington College on Wednesday, September 19. Part of the Sophie Kerr Lecture Series, McGovern’s reading will feature the works of Irish literary giants W.B. Yeats, James Joyce, and Samuel Beckett. The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 4:30 p.m.

         In a career that spans decades, McGovern has performed for stage, film, television, and radio. He has acted in Hollywood blockbusters such as Braveheart, and in global theatrical productions that have focused heavily on the playwright Samuel Beckett.

          In addition to his one-man Beckett show, I’ll Go On, he has performed with the Dublin’s Gate Theatre touring company in productions of Waiting for Godot, Endgame, and Happy Days. He portrayed Vladimir in Waiting for Godot more times than any other living actor, most notably at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles in a production hailed by Variety theatre critic Bob Verini as “near-flawless” and “a stunning revival.”

         McGovern most recently appeared in Glengarry Glen Ross at Dublin’s Gate Theatre, and in a new one-man Beckett show, Watt, at the Edinburgh Festival.

         The September 19 reading is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Committee. The Rose O’Neill Literary House is located at 407 Washington Avenue, Chestertown. For more information: http://lithouse.washcoll.edu/.

Washington College, Arts Council and Book Plate Present Fifth Annual Kent County Poetry Festival

CHESTERTOWN, MD — Washington College and the Kent County Arts Council will present the fourth annual “Kent County Poetry Festival: A Day of Public Poetry in Celebration of National Poetry Month” at the Book Plate, 112 South Cross Street, on Friday, April 6, from 4 to 7 p.m.

People from throughout the county will gather to read aloud their favorite lines from the world of verse—a reminder that poetry, rather than being some rarefied specimen, is in fact a vital, living art with widespread appeal.

Sign-up sheets for festival participation have been posted at various locations throughout the county, and advance sign-up is requested; persons interested in participating also may e-mail poetry@washcoll.edu to become part of the readers' roster.

“This program is in the spirit of the ‘Favorite Poem Project’ pioneered by Robert Pinsky when he was Poet Laureate of the United States,” explains Christopher Ames, Professor of English at Washington College. “The goal is to bring together diverse peoples in our community around the poetry people know and love to share and, in doing so, debunk the idea that poetry is just something for academics to study. During National Poetry Month, we want to illustrate the role that poetry can have in enriching our everyday lives.”

Anyone is welcome to stop by just to listen during First Friday festivities in downtown Chestertown, or to register in advance and participate by reading a favorite poem.

Robert Earl Price, lecturer and writer in residence in the Drama Department at Washington College, is the organizer of the project. Price is an accomplished poet and playwright whose most recent book of poems is Wise Blood, published by Snake Nation Press.

Photo: Festival organizer Robert Earl Price is a poet and playwright who lectures in the Washington College Drama Department.

Fiction Author Marie Rutkoski to Read, Discuss Young-Adult Genre at Lit House March 9

CHESTERTOWN, MD—Marie Rutkoski, author of historical fantasy and young-adult fiction, will visit Washington College’s Rose O’Neill Literary House, 407 Washington Avenue, on Friday, March 9 at 4:30 p.m. In addition to reading a selection from her series The Kronos Chronicles, Rutkoski will share her insights into the world of children’s literature and talk about how she came to write for young-adult readers.

Rutkoski’s debut novel, The Cabinet of Wonders (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2008), was named an Indie Next Kids’ List Great Read and a Bank Street Best Children’s Book of the Year. Her subsequent books The Celestial Globe (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2010) and The Jewel of the Kalderash (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2011) round out her Chronicles series.

The author studied at the University of Iowa as an undergraduate, taking the prestigious Writers’ Workshop classes, and received her Ph.D. from Harvard. She is currently a professor at Brooklyn College, where she teaches Renaissance drama, children’s literature, and creative writing. Rutkoski has received two Derek Bok Awards for Distinction in Teaching (2003 and 2006).

For more information, http://www.washcoll.edu. and http://www.marierutkoski.com/.

Tolkien Scholar to Talk at Literary House

CHESTERTOWN, MD—The Rose O’Neill Literary House at Washington College hosts Tolkien scholar Verlyn Flieger on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 4:30 p.m. She will lecture on the topic, “Oo! Those Awful Hobbits: Tolkien Versus the Academy.”
 The event is sponsored by the College’s Sophie Kerr Committee and is free and open to the public.

Flieger has taught courses on J.R.R. Tolkien at the University of Maryland for the past 35 years and has published three books on his fiction: Splintered Light, A Question of Time, and Interrupted Music. She also edited an expanded edition of his short story Smith of Wootton Major and co-edited a collection of essays on the history of Middle-earth, as well as a critical edition of Tolkien’s essay “On Fairy-Stories.” She is co-editor with Michael Drout and Douglas Anderson of Tolkien Studies, the only journal devoted exclusively to Tolkien’s work.

Flieger also is an author of her own fiction: a fantasy novel titled Pig Tale, its sequel The Inn at Corbies’ Caww, and the Arthurian novella Avilion. To learn more about Verlyn Flieger, visit http://mythus.com/.

The Literary House is located at 407 Washington Avenue. For more information on its programs, visit http://lithouse.washcoll.edu/.

Poet Michael Waters To Read From His Works, February 12 At Washington College

Chestertown, MD, January 28, 2004 — Washington College's Sophie Kerr Lecture Series presents poet Michael Waters, professor of English at Salisbury University, reading from his works, Thursday, February 12, at 4:30 p.m. in the Sophie Kerr Room of the College's Miller Library. The event is free and the public is invited to attend. “I cannot call to mind anyone of Waters' generation who is currently writing better poetry,” said critic Floyd Collins of Waters in The Gettysburg Review. A prolific poet whose works have appeared in such distinguished journals as Poetry, Antioch Review and The Yale Review, Waters is the recipient of two Pushcart Prizes and has been awarded several fellowships in creative writing. His recent books include Parthenopi: New and Selected Poems (BOA Editions, 2001), Green Ash, Red Maple, Black Gum (BOA Editions, 1997) and Bountiful (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 1992). He also has edited several volumes, including Contemporary American Poetry (Houghton Mifflin, 2001) and Perfect in Their Art (Southern Illinois University Press, 2003). Waters' poetry has been called vivid and sensual, willing to embrace humanity's imperfections and to speak of love, loss and emotional aftermaths.

Born in Brooklyn, NY, Waters attended SUNY-Brockport (B.A., M.A.), the University of Nottingham, the University of Iowa (M.F.A.), and Ohio University (Ph.D.). He has taught in the creative writing programs at Ohio University and the University of Maryland, has served as a Visiting Professor of American Literature at the University of Athens, Greece, and was as a Banister Writer-in-Residence at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. He has taught at Salisbury University since 1978.

The reading is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Lecture Series, named in honor of the late Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, MD, whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's literary culture. When she died in 1965, she left the bulk of her estate to the College, specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor” and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.

Author Jan Pottker To Read From Her Biography Of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, February 5

Chestertown, MD, January 22, 2004 — Washington College's Sophie Kerr Lecture Series and Gender Studies Program present a reading by author Jan Pottker from her book, Janet and Jackie: The Story of a Mother and her Daughter, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Thursday, February 5 in the Sophie Kerr Room uptairs in Miller Library. A reception will be held at 4 p.m.in the Hodson Hall Study Lounge with the reading to follow at 4:30 p.m. The event is free and the public is invited to attend.

Although many biographies of Jackie Kennedy Onassis have been written, most focus on her relationships with the men in her life. Pottker takes a different approach and examines the role of her mother, Janet Lee Auchincloss, in the shaping of her identity and personal destiny. The book presents a portrait of Auchincloss and surprising facts about this mother-daughter relationship.

A writer and public speaker fascinated with the history and personalities behind America's political and financial family dynasties, Pottker has been is a guest lecturer for Celebrity Cruise Line and has appeared on NBC's Inside Edition, ABC's Working Woman, CNBC'sBusiness Today, and CNN's Sonia Live. In addition to her regular lectures, she has been interviewed on more than 200 radio shows and has spoken to more than 60 social, business and professional groups nationwide. Her published works include, Crisis in Candyland: Melting the Chocolate Shell of the Mars Family Empire, Born to Power: Heirs to America's Leading Businesses, and Dear Ann, Dear Abby: An Unauthorized Biography of Ann Landers and Abigail Van Buren, which sold more than 270,000 copies. Pottker lives in Potomac, MD, with her husband, Andrew S. Fishel.

The reading is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Lecture Series, named in honor of the late Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, MD, whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's literary culture. When she died in 1965, she left the bulk of her estate to the College specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor,” and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.

Martin Luther King Remembrance And Celebration Set For January 19

Chestertown, MD, January 12, 2004 — Washington College will host “MARTIN LUTHER KING: A DAY OF CELEBRATION,” Monday, January 19, in honor of the memory and the legacy of the late Civil Rights leader. A program of remembrance will be held at 1:30 p.m. and the film Separate But Equal will be shown at 6:30 p.m., both in the Norman James Theatre, William Smith Hall. The events are free and the public is invited to attend.

At 1:30 p.m., students, faculty and other members of the Washington College community will reflect on the “Power Of Integration” and the life of Dr. King through anecdotes and readings in a service of remembrance and celebration in the Norman James Theatre. At 6:30 p.m., the College will show the 1991 film Separate But Equal that documents the legal and moral struggle to desegregate America's public schools. The film features Sidney Portier as the future Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall—then a lawyer for the NAACP—and the case that lead to the Supreme Court's 1953 decision to abolish racial segregation in schools. Both events are sponsored by Washington College's Martin Luther King Celebration Committee, Black Student Union and Cleopatra's Daughters.

Poet Suzanne Cleary To Read At Washington College, Oct. 30

Chestertown, MD, October 23, 2003 — Washington College's Sophie Kerr and O'Neill Literary House Lecture Series present a reading by poet Suzanne Cleary, Thursday, October 30, at 4:30 p.m. in the Sophie Kerr Room of the Miller Library. All are invited to this free event.
Suzanne Cleary was born and raised in Binghamton, NY. She earned a M.A. in writing from Washington University and a Ph.D. in literature and criticism from Indiana University of Pennsylvania. She currently works as an associate professor of English at SUNY-Rockland in Suffern, NY. Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Georgia Review, The Massachusetts Review and other journals, and her book reviews have appeared in Bloomsbury Review and Chelsea Review. Writing about Cleary's recent collection Keeping Time (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2002), U.S. Poet Laureate Billy Collins observed, “I have long been anticipating this first book, and the chance to express how highly I value Suzanne Cleary's poetry. Her poems have a vigorous forward roll to them and are strung together by daring chains of association. It is refreshing to read a poet who wants to hide nothing, to turn over all the cards at once. High time she had a book, a place for her original voice to echo.”
The reading is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Committee, which carries on the legacy of Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, MD, whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's literary culture. When she died in 1965, she left the bulk of her estate to the College specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor,” and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.

Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet W.D. Snodgrass To Read At Washington College, October 16

Chestertown, MD, October 13, 2003 — Pulitzer Prize winning poet W.D. Snodgrass will read at Washington College on Thursday, October 16, at 7 p.m. in the Sophie Kerr Room of the Miller Library. All are invited to this free event.
William DeWitt Snodgrass was born in Wilkinsburg, PA, in 1926. His more than twenty books of poetry include The Fuehrer Bunker: The Complete Cycle (1995); Each in His Season (1993); Selected Poems, 1957-1987; The Führer Bunker: A Cycle of Poems in Progress (1977), which was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry; After Experience (1968); and Heart's Needle (1959), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1960. He has also produced two books of literary criticism, To Sound Like Yourself: Essays on Poetry (2003) and In Radical Pursuit (1975), and six volumes of translation. His honors include an Ingram Merrill Foundation award and a special citation from the Poetry Society of America, and fellowships from The Academy of American Poets, the Ford Foundation, the Guggenheim Foundation, and the National Endowment for the Arts. Snodgrass is often credited with being one of the founding members of the “confessional” school of poetry—a classification he vigorously eschews—having had a tremendous impact on that facet of contemporary poetry. “Like other confessional poets, Snodgrass is at pains to reveal the repressed, violent feelings that often lurk beneath the seemingly placid surface of everyday life,” observed critic David McDuff. Snodgrass' later works also show a widening vision, applying the lessons of self-examination to the problems of modern society. In style and technique, Snodgrass' poetry “successfully bridged the directness of contemporary free verse with the demands of the academy,” according to Thomas Lask of The New York Times.
The reading is sponsored by the Sophie Kerr Committee, which carries on the legacy of Sophie Kerr, a writer from Denton, MD, whose generosity has done so much to enrich Washington College's literary culture. When she died in 1965, she left the bulk of her estate to the College specifying that one half of the income from her bequest be awarded every year to the senior showing the most “ability and promise for future fulfillment in the field of literary endeavor,” and the other half be used to bring visiting writers to campus, to fund scholarships, and to help defray the costs of student publications.