Parkside English and Humanities Festival

Richard Lyons is the author of three books of poetry, Fleur Carnivore (The Word Works 2006), Hours of the Cardinal (University of South Carolina Press 2000), and These Modern Nights (University of Missouri Press 1988). A former winner of the Peter I.B. Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets, Richard Lyons received a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts, an M.F.A. from the University of Arizona, and a Ph.D. from the University of Houston. He has published poems in numerous journals among them The Nation, Poetry, The New Republic, The Paris Review, and The North American Review. In 1988, Deborah Digges selected his first collection These Modern Nights as a Devins Award winner in the University of Missouri Press Breakthrough Series. In 2000, Richard Howard selected his second collection Hours of the Cardinal for the James Dickey Contemporary Poets Series at the University of South Carolina Press. His latest collection Fleur Carnivore won the 2005 Washington Prize.

From her senior undergraduate thesis on Elizabeth Barrett Browning to her dissertation on the Beat Generation to recent published scholarship on popular romance fiction and television, Jessica has always been interested in female identity. How do women navigate conflicting desires? How do we show the world who we are? Literature, popular fiction, and television provide many examples of successful and failed attempts at creating a life of one’s own. In this talk, she will share her scholarly journey through such diverse texts as Aurora Leigh, Ally McBeal, Sister Carrie, On the Road and more. Following the common threads of feminist criticism and genre distinctions, I will discuss the tangled theoretical knots of identity and sentiment, both in the texts and in my own scholarly life.

Jessica Lyn Van Slooten loves baking, Lake Michigan, and poetry. When she’s not walking along the lake or crafting cupcakes in the kitchen, she can be found teaching English Composition, American Literature, Multicultural Literature, and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc. Jessica earned her PhD at Auburn University, and has published articles on Ally McBeal, Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser, and foodie romance. She is currently researching the use of blogs in the women’s studies classroom, writing poems, and planning her upcoming wedding.

Jessica Lyn Van Slooten will be presenting a lecture entitled “Searching the Sentimental Self: A Scholar’s Journey through Literature and Popular Culture,” from 5:30-6:30 pm on Friday, May 5th, in UW-P’s RITA, room 131.

English and Humanities Festival

Wednesday, May 2nd – Friday, May 5th

The third annual English and Humanities Festival will be held Wednesday, May 2nd through Friday, May 5th in the Student Center and Rita Tallent Picken Regional Center for the Arts and Humanities at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside. The event will highlight student panels, keynote speakers, and interactive workshops and readings which are open to the general public. The event primarily focuses on student work; the conference allows students an opportunity to share their work and demonstrate how they contribute to a larger literary and artistic conversation. Panels of interest include discussions on Eco-Criticism, the Literary Apocalypse, Medieval and Contemporary Constructions of the Monster, Video Game Narratives, Teaching and Tutoring Internships, as well as a collaborative conversation on the construction of Parkside’s Outdoor Labs, just to name a few. Students and professors have worked together to construct interactive and interesting ways to present these ideas through their designated panels. The Festival schedule also includes dramatic performances from students in the theatre department and cinematic productions from the film studies program. In addition to student work, presentations by two keynote speakers decorate the Festival’s schedule: Richard Lyons and Jessica Lyn Van Slooten.

Richard Lyons is the author of three books of poetry, Fleur Carnivore (The Word Works 2006), Hours of the Cardinal (University of South Carolina Press, 2000), and These Modern Nights (University of Missouri Press, 1988). A former winner of the Peter I.B. Lavan Younger Poets Award from the Academy of American Poets, Lyons received a BA from the University of Massachusetts, an MFA from the University of Arizona, and a PhD from the University of Houston. He has published poems in numerous journals, among them The Nation, Poetry, The New Republic, The Paris Review, and The North American Review. In 1988, Deborah Digges selected his first collection, These Modern Nights, as a Devins Award winner in the University of Missouri Press Breakthrough Series. In 2000, Richard Howard selected his second collection, Hours of the Cardinal, for the James Dickey Contemporary Poets Series at the University of South Carolina Press. His latest collection, Fleur Carnivore, won the 2005 Washington Prize. Lyons will offer a public reading of his work at UW-P’s RITA, room 131, from 5:00-6:00 pm on Thursday, May 3rd.

Jessica Lyn Van Slooten earned her PhD at Auburn University, and has published articles on Ally McBeal, Edith Wharton and Theodore Dreiser, and foodie romance. Currently, Van Slooten teaches English Composition, American Literature, Multicultural Literature, and Women’s Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Manitowoc, where she is also researching the use of blogs in the women’s studies classroom, writing poems, and planning her upcoming wedding. She will be presenting a lecture entitled “Searching the Sentimental Self: A Scholar’s Journey through Literature and Popular Culture,” from 5:30-6:30 pm on Friday, May 5th, in UW-P’s RITA, room 131. From her senior undergraduate thesis on Elizabeth Barrett Browning to her dissertation on the Beat Generation to recent published scholarship on popular romance fiction and television, Van Slooten has always been interested in female identity. How do women navigate conflicting desires? How do they show the world who they are? Literature, popular fiction, and television provide many examples of successful and failed attempts at creating a life of one’s own. In this talk, Van Slooten will share her scholarly journey through such diverse texts as Aurora Leigh, Ally McBeal, Sister Carrie, On the Road, and more. Following the common threads of feminist criticism and genre distinctions, she will discuss the tangled theoretical knots of identity and sentiment, both in the texts and in her own scholarly life.

The College of Arts and Sciences, the UW-Parkside English Department, Straylight Literary Arts Magazine, and Sigma Tau Delta sponsor this event, with many members of these departments and organizations being instrumental in its organization. As a showcase of undergraduate achievement, professor and student collaboration, and community involvement, the Festival is a source of pride for the UW-Parkside English Department. For more information on the English Department of UW-Parkside, please visit our website: http://www.uwp.edu/departments/english/. Instituted in the Spring of 2007, Straylight Literary Arts magazine is Parkside’s literary journal. Straylight accepts and publishes innovative works of fiction and poetry and greatly values new and upcoming writers. The journal currently publishes the print edition twice a year, in late spring and fall. Copies of the journal will be available for purchase at the Festival, and you can visit them online at http://www.Straylightmag.com. Sigma Tau Delta is the international honor society for English majors. Since its re-institution in 2011, Tau Psi, the UW-P chapter of Sigma Tau Delta, has become a fixture in Parkside’s academic community. The chapter prides itself in conferring distinction upon students displaying academic excellence within the major. During the Festival, the chapter will be holding an induction ceremony in UW-P room RITA 131, at 6:00 pm, Wednesday, May 2nd, wherein it will honor new members as well as present various awards to students and faculty. For information on the society, visit http://www.english.org.

The conference is free and open to the public. For a complete 2012 conference schedule, visit http://www.PWCONF.com. Additional information about the conference is also available on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/ParksideEnglishAndHumanitiesFestival. For any additional information about the specific panels or activities, or general questions about the conference overall, please contact Dean Karpowicz via email: karpowic@uwp.edu.

Straylight Literary Arts magazine is Parkside’s literary journal, which began in Spring 2007. Straylight accepts innovated works of fiction and poetry, and also book reviews. Straylight prides itself for being on the edge of literary innovation, and greatly values new and upcoming writers.  The journal currently publishes the print edition twice a year, in late spring and fall. Since 2007, Straylight has been increasing in size and production quality with each issue. Straylight and the supportive staff of students and faculty have arranged for several keynote speakers to attend the conference, and have also arranged for an open-mic event, which would encourage participation from the public.

Copies of Straylight will be available for purchase at the conference, including the brand new Spring 2011 edition.

“If a novel is winter, and a short story is a snow storm, then a poem is a snowball, squeezed.”

Bruce Dethlefsen is the newly appointed Poet Laureate of Wisconsin, based on the recommendation of the Poet Laureate Commission of Wisconsin. He will serve this position for 2011 and 2012, and intends to influence young writers and poets in his community, as well as promote the writing and sharing of poetry throughout Wisconsin. He makes regular appearances and performs his poetry in public schools, coffee houses, and other venues throughout the state.

Bruce, originally from Kansas City, Missouri, went on to pursue further education here in Wisconsin. He completed his undergrad degree in Secondary Education at the University of Wisconsin–La Crosse and got his master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Wisconsin–Oshkosh.  He has been published in several anthologies and journals. He has published two poetry chapbooks, A Decent Reed (Tamafyr Mountain Press, 1999) and Something Near the Dance Floor (Marsh River Editions, 2003) for which he won the Posner Book-length Poetry Award Honorable Mention from the Council for Wisconsin Writers. Breather (Fireweed Press, 2009), his full-length poetry book, received an Outstanding Achievement Award in Poetry from the Wisconsin Library Association. He was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in 2003 and 2009.

Among his other accomplishments, Bruce has served as secretary of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets for six years, co-founded the WFOP Chapbook Prize and started Poet Camp. For eight years he directed The Poet Tree, a monthly reading by Wisconsin poets at the Montello Public Library. Bruce also sings, plays bass and percussion and has been involved in several bands and musical projects.

He will be speaking, as well as moderating a poetry workshop on Thursday, May 5^th at 6:30p.m. Outside submissions are greatly encouraged, and will be accepted from not only students, but the general public as well. Submissions must be emailed to Dana Roders by Sunday at 7pm at roder003@rangers.uwp.edu in a .doc or .docx file in order to be considered, and depending on amount of submission received, may or may not be reviewed in the designated workshop time.

Eric Huff currently serves as the Poet Laureate of Kenosha, WI. His poems have appeared or are forthcoming in 1913: A Journal of Forms, Boo: A Journal of Terrific Things, Straylight, The Villa, Weird Deer, Verse Wisconsin, The 2011 Wisconsin Poet’s Calendar, The Outhouse and Sawbuck among others. He also serves as co-editor to the online journal The New Gnus (www.thenewgnus.wordpress.com).

Daniel Khalastchi, a first-generation Iraqi Jewish American, was originally born and raised in Iowa. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, as well as a recent fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown.  His first collection of poetry, Monoleria (2011), won the Tupelo Press/Crazyhorse First Book Prize, and his poems have appeared in a variety of journals, including Kenyon Review, Denver Quarterly, jubilat, Ninth Letter, Court Green, Octopus Magazine, The New Hampshire Review, Sonora Review, and GutCult, among others.   Currently, he resides in Milwaukee, where he is an Assistant Professor of English at Marquette University and the co-editor of Rescue Press.

Friday, May 6th in The Den 6:30-8:30p.m.

The second annual Parkside Writers Conference will be held from May 3-6 in the Student Center of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.

For the conference schedule, click here.

We will be adding panels and speakers over the next few weeks. If you have any questions about the conference or panel proposals, please contact Dean Karpowicz via email: karpowic@uwp.edu.