March 2013
Friday, 3/1
Saturday, 3/2
Sunday, 3/3
Monday, 3/4
Tuesday, 3/5
Wednesday, 3/6
Thursday, 3/7
Friday, 3/8
Saturday, 3/9
Sunday, 3/10
Monday, 3/11
A meeting of the Writers House Planning Committee (the "Hub")
5:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
rsvp: jalowent@writing.upenn.edu
From the time of its founding in 1995-1996, the Kelly Writers House has been run more or less collectively by members of its community. Our original team of intrepid founders—the group of students, faculty, alumni, and staff who wanted to create an independent haven for writers and supporters of contemporary writing in any genre—took for themselves the name "the hub." "Hub" was the generic term given by Penn's Provost, President, and other planners who hoped that something very innovative would be done at 3805 Locust Walk to prove the viability of the idea that students, working with others, could create an extracurricular learning community around common intellectual and creative passions. To this day, the Writers House Planning Committee refers to itself as "the hub"—the core of engaged faculty, student, staff, and alumni volunteers from whom the House's creative energy and vitality radiates.
Tuesday, 3/12
A Poetry Reading by Rachel B. Glaser, Seth Landman, and Ben Kopel
Whenever We Feel Like It
6:00 pm in the Arts Cafe
hosted by: Michelle Taransky
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
The Whenever We Feel Like It Reading Series is put on by Committee of Vigilance members Michelle Taransky and Emily Pettit. The Committee of Vigilance is a subdivision of Sleepy Lemur Quality Enterprises, which is the production division of The Meeteetzee Institute.
Rachel B. Glaser is the author of the short story collection Pee on Water (Publishing Genius, Press 2010) and the poetry book MOODS (Factory Hollow Press, 2013). Glaser's writing has appeared in McSweeney's, New York Tyrant, American Short Fiction, and others. After receiving her undergraduate degree in Painting at the Rhode Island School of Design, she studied Creative Writing at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst. Glaser lives in Northampton, MA, teaching writing at Flying Object and painting basketball players and other people of note. For more information, check out rachelbglaser.blogspot.com
Seth Landman lives in Massachusetts, and is a member of the Agnes Fox Press collective. Recent poems have appeared in Ghost Town, jubilat, Jellyfish, io, Lit, and other places. He has published a few chapbooks, most recently A Note on the Text (above/ground press, 2012), and collaborates with the poet Seth Parker on Tyoyeu (@tyoyeu & tyoyeu.blogspot.com).
Ben Kopel was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana in 1983. He holds degrees from Louisiana State University, The Iowa Writers' Workshop, and The University of Massachusetts Amherst MFA Program for Poets and Writers. Ben is the author of Victory (h_ngm_n books) and the forthcoming Shut Up and Bloom (io press), co-authored with Matthew Suss.
Wednesday, 3/13
A Reading by Eduardo Halfon
Wexler Family Jewish Life and Culture Series
6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Eduardo Halfon has been cited as among the best young Latin American writers by the Hay Festival of Bogotá and is the recipient of Spain's prestigious José María de Pereda Prize for the Short Novel. In 2011 he received a Guggenheim Fellowship to continue the story of The Polish Boxer, which is his first novel to be published in English. He travels frequently to his native Guatemala and lives in Nebraska.
The Polish Boxer covers a vast landscape of human experience while enfolding a search for origins: a grandson tries to make sense of his Polish grandfather's past and the story behind his numbered tattoo; a Serbian classical pianist longs for his forbidden heritage; a Mayan poet is torn between his studies and filial obligations; a striking young Israeli woman seeks answers in Central America; a university professor yearns for knowledge that he can't find in books and discovers something unexpected at a Mark Twain conference. Across his encounters with each of them, the narrator – a Guatemalan literature professor and writer named Eduardo Halfon – pursues his most enigmatic subject: himself.
Thursday, 3/14
RealArts presents Ada Calhoun
5:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
hosted by: Anthony DeCurtis
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Ada Calhoun is a freelance journalist. She has written for The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, Time, Redbook, The New Republic, Glamour, and The Los Angeles Times. She has been a frequent contributor to The New York Times Book Review, founding editor-in-chief of the ASME-nominated Babble.com, a theater critic for New York magazine, and a New York Post crime reporter.
She is the author of Instinctive Parenting and co-author with Project Runway star Tim Gunn of two New York Times bestsellers: Gunn's Golden Rules and Tim Gunn's Fashion Bible. She is now at work on St. Marks is Dead, a book for W.W. Norton & Company about the history and mythology of the East Village street on which she grew up.
Timebank Presentation
sponsored by Creative Ventures
8:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Penn Timebank offers an online platform that records member contributions in hours. The goal of PennTimebank is to create a network for students, staff, and professors, in which exchanges are made on an equal basis in the most basic denomination of human life: time. Using time as an alternative currency emphasizes the interdependence rather than the commodification of human relations. A member will be able to log a service for an hour of time-credit, which he or she can then exchange with another member for other services. Trust is established through a user reference and review system, laying the basis for long-term reciprocity.
Friday, 3/15
Saturday, 3/16
Sunday, 3/17
Monday, 3/18
A reading by Janet Malcolm
Kelly Writers House Fellows Program
6:30 PM in the Arts Cafe
rsvp: seating strictly limited; please rsvp to whfellow@writing.upenn.edu or call 215-573-9749
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Funded by a grant from Paul Kelly, the Kelly Writers House Fellows program enables us to realize two unusual goals. We want to make it possible for the youngest writers and writer-critics to have sustained contact with authors of great accomplishment in an informal atmosphere. We also want to resist the time-honored distinction — more honored in practice than in theory — between working with eminent writers on the one hand and studying literature on the other.
Janet Malcolm was born in Prague and emigrated to the United States with her family in 1939. She has been a contributor to The New Yorker since 1963, where she began her writing career with a column on interiors and design, "About the House," which ran in the magazine for ten years. She then went on to write a photography column, and has contributed many different pieces to the magazine in such regular features as "Profiles," "Reporter at Large," and book reviews. Malcolm has published eight books. She has also been a frequent contributor to The New York Review of Books since 1981, contributing reviews and journalistic and critical pieces.
Although Malcolm writes with strength and confidence on a variety of topics, many of her book-length works focus on portraying the less-known side of popular and often cultish figures: In the Freud Archives (1984) tells of three scholars' relationship to Freud and the study of him; The Silent Woman (1995) investigates the relationship between Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes; Reading Chekhov (2001) combines close readings of Chekhov with biographical pieces about his life and Malcolm's own travels; and Two Lives: Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas in War and Peace (2007) interprets the relationship between these two important modernist women, their work, and the society in which they lived. These books are not merely works of investigative journalism, as Malcolm also writes beautifully and features meta-reflections on the craft of writing, journalism and autobiography within these and other longer works, and also frequently in shorter pieces published in The New Yorker and New York Review of Books. In one such short piece, Malcolm illuminates her writing practice:
Another obstacle in the way of the journalist turned autobiographer is the pose of objectivity into which journalists habitually, almost mechanically, fall when they write. The "I" of journalism is a kind of ultra-reliable narrator and impossibly rational and disinterested person, whose relationship to the subject more often than not resembles the relationship of a judge pronouncing sentence on a guilty defendant. This "I" is unsuited to autobiography. Autobiography is an exercise in self-forgiveness. The observing "I" of autobiography tells the story of the observed "I" not as a journalist tells the story of his subject, but as a mother might. The older narrator looks back at his younger self with tenderness and pity, empathizing with its sorrows and allowing for its sins. I see that my journalist's habits have inhibited my self-love.
It is this complicated, unique tension and writing style that make Malcolm's work such a joy to read, at turns funny, brave, brutal, and always passionately intellectual.
Tuesday, 3/19
A brunch conversation with Janet Malcolm
Kelly Writers House Fellows Program
10:00 AM in the Arts Cafe
rsvp: seating strictly limited; please rsvp to whfellow@writing.upenn.edu or call 215-573-9749
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Funded by a grant from Paul Kelly, the Kelly Writers House Fellows program enables us to realize two unusual goals. We want to make it possible for the youngest writers and writer-critics to have sustained contact with authors of great accomplishment in an informal atmosphere. We also want to resist the time-honored distinction — more honored in practice than in theory — between working with eminent writers on the one hand and studying literature on the other.
Wednesday, 3/20
Brave Testimony: Tracy K. Smith
6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
co-sponsored by: Africana Studies
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Tracy K. Smith is the author of three books of poetry: Life on Mars, which received the 2012 Pulitzer Prize; Duende, recipient of the 2006 James Laughlin Award' and The Body's Question, which won the 2002 Cave Canem Poetry Prize. Smith is also the recipient of a 2004 Rona Jaffe Award and a 2005 Whiting Award. She was the Literature protégé in the 2009-2011 cycle of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative.
Thursday, 3/21
A Marathon Reading of In Cold Blood
12:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
watch part 1: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
watch part 2: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
watch part 3: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
watch part 4: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
watch part 5: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
watch part 6: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
watch part 7: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen part 1: to an audio recording of this event.
listen part 2: to an audio recording of this event.
For our first annual Bernheimer Symposium, Program Coordinator Erin Gautsche invented for us what has become an annual tradition. Each year, the Hub selects a book to read aloud, straight through, and we celebrate the book with extravagant decorations, food, and props all derived from the text.
Join us for our Marathon Reading of In Cold Blood, Truman Capote's groundbreaking 1966 "nonfiction novel," the true account of the murder of a Kansan family and the subsequent trial. We will take turns reading the book aloud from start to finish, while enjoying snacks pulled from the pages of the book—including Dick and Perry's last meal. All are welcome to listen, all are welcome to read, and costumes are encouraged! To sign up for a reading slot, please send a note to wh@writing.upenn.edu.
Friday, 3/22
Saturday, 3/23
Write On Celebration
1:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
The Write On project encourages elementary school writers to explore creative expression through writing exercises designed by Penn students. Every Friday, we welcome sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students from West Philadelphia's Lea Elementary School to KWH for reading and writing games and other exercises to explore creative expression. Write On focuses on teaching the mechanics of writing and reading, while emphasizing the joys of imaginative work (and play). This final showcase will demonstrate some of the project's achievements!
Sunday, 3/24
Monday, 3/25
LIVE at the Writers House presents "Tell Me a Story"
7:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
listen: to an audio recording of this event
LIVE AT THE WRITERS HOUSE is a long-standing collaboration between the Kelly Writers House and WXPN FM (88.5). Six times annually between September and April, Michaela Majoun hosts a one-hour broadcast of poetry, music, and other spoken-word art, along with one musical guest, all from our Arts Cafe onto the airwaves at WXPN. LIVE is made possible by generous support from BigRoc. For more information, contact Producer Erin Gautsche (gautsche@writing.upenn.edu).
Hillary Rea is a comedian and storyteller living in Philadelphia. She is the host of the storytelling shows, Tell Me A Story, and Fibber (Philly Improv Theater), and is a host and frequent storyteller for First Person Arts. Hillary is also a founding contributor of The World Exists, a roundtable storytelling podcast. Hillary has been featured on the stage of Animated Stories and Tales of the Cosmos (Upright Citizen's Brigade), The Soundtrack Series, RISK!, SpeakeasyDC and Comedy Dreamz, as well as shows with Michael Showalter, Dave Hill, Tom Shillue, and Adam Wade.
Hillary was a 2011 Artist-in-Residence for Elsewhere Artist Collaborative in Greensboro, NC. She has performed in comedy festivals including Philly Sketchfest, First Person Festival, F Harold Festival, North Carolina Comedy Arts Festival and the Philly Fringe. This Spring, Hillary is the Assistant Director for 1812 Productions' new work It's My Party: The Women and Comedy Project. For more information, please visit: http://hillaryrea.com
Carolyn Busa has performed on stages all over Philadelphia as well as the 2012 Bridgetown Comedy Festival and will perform at this year's Women in Comedy Festival in Boston. She is the co-creator and co-host of Laughs on Fairmount, voted Philly's 2012 Best Open Mic. Carolyn's awkwardly, disarming stage presence has viewers laughing with ease from the start. From her childhood memories of being a tweenage witch with no game to the present day mysteries of being a 20-something witch with no game - her set will 'charm' your figurative pants off. You can follow her on Twitter: @misstoiletslave and visit her website: http://carolynbusa.com
Jaime Fountaine is a writer and performer, who hosts Toiling in Obscurity, a literary reading series, and Second Stories, a monthly storytelling show, at The Dive. Her fiction has appeared in PANK, Pear Noir!, and 3:AM magazines. For more information, please visit: http://jaimefountaine.com
Dave Terruso is a stand up comedian based in Philadelphia. He works at Helium Comedy Club, where he has opened for acts including Richard Lewis and Charlie Murphy. He is the co-founder of Philly Sketchfest, a National sketch comedy festival now in its fifth year; Philly Sketchfest is part of Comedy Month, the biggest festival in Philadelphia dedicated solely to comedy. He is half of the sketch comedy duo Animosity Pierre, official selection of the 2010 San Francisco Sketchfest and the 2010 Chicago Sketchfest. His sketch comedy has been praised in Time Magazine and the Preston and Steve Morning Show. For more information, please visit: http://daveterruso.com
Andrew Whitmire is a Philadelphia-based storyteller who has performed in the Tell Me a Story series as well as the Fibber storytelling series. During the day, Andrew is the Assistant Program Director at an extraordinary non-profit called Destination Imagination, where he develops K-12 curriculum based in creativity, teamwork and problem solving. Additionally, Andrew has also performed in various improvisational comedy groups including The College of William and Mary's own Improvisational Theatre and Comedy Sportz D.C.
Emily and Micah McGraw started singing together as soon as they met in 1999. Broke and bored in Los Angeles, they mostly sat around and wrote comedy songs while drinking inexpensive wine. After moving to Philadelphia in 2005, they began performing at comedy venues around the city. The McGraws live in West Philadelphia with their cat, Regis and daughter, Nico.
Tuesday, 3/26
A poetry reading by Nada Gordon
Co-sponosored by the Creative Writing Program
6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
hosted by: Ron Silliman
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Nada Gordon is the author of many books, a proud member of the Flarf Collective, an incipient filmmaker, and she practices poetry as deep entertainment. Her blog is ululate.blogspot.com.
Wednesday, 3/27
Lunch Talk with Ryan Lizza
Kauders Lunch Series
hosted by: Dick Polman
12:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Ryan Lizza is a CNN contributor and the Washington Correspondent for The New Yorker, where he covers the White House and writes the magazine's “Letter From Washington” column. Since joining the New Yorker in 2007, he has written profiles of Hillary Clinton, Mitt Romney, John McCain, Barack Obama, Colorado Governor Bill Ritter, Joe Biden, Rahm Emanuel, Peter Orszag, Darrell Issa, Michele Bachmann, and Paul Ryan.
The Sylvia W. Kauders Lunch Series: Sylvia W. Kauders (CW'42), a regular attendee of our lunchtime programming, established this fund to support a series of intimate programs at the Writers House each semester with writers of nonfiction. For more information, please visit: writing.upenn.edu/wh/involved/series/kauders
Speakeasy open mic night
Poetry, Prose, and Anything Goes!
7:30 PM in the Arts Cafe
hosted by: Rosa Escandon and Isa Oliveres
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Our Speakeasy Open Mic Night is held once a month. We invite writers to share their work, or the work of others, in our Arts Cafe. Speakeasy welcomes all kinds of readings, performances, spectacles, and happenings. Bring your poetry, your guitar, your dance troupe, your award-winning essay, or your stand up comedy to share. You should expect outrageous (and free!) raffles for things you didn't know you needed, occasional costumes, and, of course, community members who love writing.
Thursday, 3/28
A Reading by Reza Negarestani
Theory-fiction as Philosophy's Minecraft
Writers Without Borders
6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
introduced by: Thomson Guster
This talk starts with the author reading excerpts from his forthcoming novel The Mortiloquist (A Barbaric Interpretation of the Life and Problems of Western Philosophy) followed by a discussion on theory-fiction as philosophy's simulation engine.
Reza Negarestani is an Iranian philosopher and writer. Negarestani pioneered the genre of 'theory-fiction' with his book Cyclonopedia which was published in 2008, he is also contributing to online journals like Collapse and Ctheory. The name Reza Negarstani is usually heard in connection with the term speculative realism. He also coined the term "culinary materialism."