May 2014
Thursday, 5/1
End of Year Hub party
5:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
watch: a video recording of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this event
Each spring, towards the end of the semester, the Hub comes together at the Writers House to celebrate another year gone by. We honor the winners of Creative Writing awards, and celebrate theses and other substantial writing projects. And perhaps most importantly, we roast and toast (in equal measure) some of the friends who are leaving us and send them off in grand style.
Friday, 5/2
Lorene Cary Class Reading
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
Saturday, 5/3
Sunday, 5/4
Monday, 5/5
Tuesday, 5/6
Wednesday, 5/7
Thursday, 5/8
Friday, 5/9
Saturday, 5/10
Sunday, 5/11
Monday, 5/12
Tuesday, 5/13
Wednesday, 5/14
Thursday, 5/15
Friday, 5/16
Saturday, 5/17
KWH Open House
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM throughout the first floor
RSVP: whalumniweekend@writing.upenn.edu or 215-746-POEM
Renew your acquaintance with or get to know this lively and innovative home for writers of all ages and genres by joining members of the Writers House community for informal conversation, coffee, and light refreshments. We'll be delighted to welcome you home!
A Poetry Reading by Greg Djanikian and Matt Chylak
4:00 PM in the Arts Cafe
RSVP: whalumniweekend@writing.upenn.edu or 215-746-POEM.
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event
Join us for a poetry reading by poet Gregory Djanikian (C'70, Director of Creative Writing at Penn, where he has taught for more than twenty five years) and his former student Matthew Chylak (C'13). Reception to follow. RSVP is not required, but seating is limited. RSVP to whalumniweekend@writing.upenn.edu.
Born in Alexandria, Egypt of Armenian parentage, Gregory Djanikian came to the United States when he was 8 years old and spent his boyhood in Williamsport, PA. He is a graduate of the Syracuse University writing program and is Director of Creative Writing at the University of Pennsylvania where he was an undergraduate. He is the author of six collections of poetry, The Man in the Middle, Falling Deeply into America, About Distance, Years Later, So I Will Till the Ground, and, most recently, Dear Gravity. He has been awarded a National Endowment of the Arts Fellowship, two prizes from Poetry magazine (the Eunice Tietjens Prize, and Friends of Literature Prize), the Anahid Literary Award from the Armenian Center at Columbia University, and multiple residencies at Yaddo. His poems have appeared in The American Poetry Review, The American Scholar, Boulevard, The Georgia Review, The Iowa Review, Poetry, Poetry Northwest, Shenandoah, TriQuarterly, and numerous other periodicals and anthologies including Best American Poetry, Good Poems, American Places (Viking), Killer Verse: Poems of Murder and Mayhem (Knopf), Seriously Funny (Georgia), Becoming Americas: Four Centuries of Immigrant Writing (Library of America), Poem in Your Pocket (The Academy of American Poets), Language for a New Century: Contemporary Poetry from the Middle East, Asia & Beyond (Norton), 180 More: Extraordinary Poems for Every Day (Random House), among others.
Matthew Chylak is a graduate from the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned honors in Creative Writing for his poetry collection Selections from 11:37, a series of poems that explore the nature. He currently resides in Center City, working on new poetry projects and writing for his music blog Context Blues
Sunday, 5/18
Senior Capstone Celebration
10:00 AM in the Arts Cafe
watch: a video recording of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3 of this event
Each year, we celebrate graduating seniors who have been closely affiliated with the Writers House community. The names of the celebrated seniors below are links to downloadable MP3 recordings of the seniors' comments, reading or performance, preceded by an introduction given by the Faculty Director, Director, or another key member of the Writers House staff. Attending our "capstone" program are the families and friends of the seniors—a joyous occasion for the community, truly.
- Janelle McDermoth introduced by Jessica Lowenthal
- Naomi Shavin introduced by Julia Bloch
- Zoe Kirsch introduced by Al Filreis
- Shoshana Akabas introduced by Jay Kirk
- Erin Peraza introduced by Alli Katz
- Jenny Chen introduced by Jessica Lowenthal
- Ari Cohen introduced by Al Filreis
- Amanda Wolkin introduced by Jamie-Lee Josselyn
- Nina Wolpow introduced by Al Filreis
- Allison Wattenbarger introduced by Jessica Lowenthal
- Hannah White introduced by Alli Katz
- Arielle Pardes introduced by Jessica Lowenthal
- Ross Karlan introduced by Al Filreis
- Kate Herzlin introduced by Jessica Lowenthal
- Josie Elias introduced by Jamie-Lee Josselyn
- Jess Bergman introduced by Alli Katz
- Gwen Lewis introduced by Al Filreis