[an error occurred while processing this directive]
- JS welcome
- Hub introductions
- AF welcome
- History of KWH
- prior to its existence there was no centralized writing organization on campus to assist those interested in writing-related projects; there were many small groups scattered throughout campus life
- when Judith Rodin became president, one of the first goals was to make Penn
a more appealing space for arts & humanities, with extra attention focused on undergraduates – one of the first initiatives was to make the writers house a reality
- the idea of a writers house existed in the format of a loose collective (made up of students, faculty, staff & alumni) with a small online presence, long before a physical space was intact
- the building known as KWH was given to us in 1995.
- KWH Today
- the program is quite unlike any other writing based initiatives at any university. The success of ours has made others consider creating one, like Oxford University
- many students have come to Penn specifically because of KWH
- we are not part of any specific department, program on campus
- while the house now has a staff, we still continue to function in the same manner that we did when it was entirely volunteer based
- hub meetings are a part of writers house tradition and a place where people can share their ideas/concerns/etc; al urges the hub members to please participate and keep our program as democratic as possible
- JS Agenda
- Getting involved at KWH
- there are many ways to be involved with the house without being a member of the staff
- Attending writers house events: its always great to see hub members in the audience for the readers who come here.
- Bookselling: easy way to help out during programs, sit at a table and sell the books of the writer who is reading. Talk with JS or TD if you’re interested.
- Cooking: many of our events include food. You don’t have to be good cook to help out; people will always appreciate a home-cooked meal over take-out!
- Mailings: we always need people to help out with stuffing envelopes for our many development-oriented mailings. The more people we have, the quicker our mailings go out and there’s nothing else like bonding over a mass mailing.
- Adrienne Mishkin passed around a sign-up sheet for people who are more interested in being involved at KWH.
- Groups at the WH
- Afterschool Reading Co-Op: Jill Budd
: afterschool program to get young kids (2nd graders) excited about reading. Currently Jill
is the only one involved, so she could really use more people to help out! JS will be circulating information about the project to our various listservs shortly.
- WriteOn!: Penn students work with seventh graders from the Lea and Penn Alexander schools (on Fridays and Saturdays) to enhance expository writing capabilities and explore creative writing genres. The Saturday program is looking for more people!
- Speakeasy: M: Open Mic night open to everyone that runs every other Wednesday during the school year.
- XConnect: Michael, Arielle, Mary
: Nationally recognized literary journal, created at KWH. Annual print version with quarterly online installments.
- Word.Doc: Kerry, Fatima: Brand new program this year; Penn's Program in Narrative Medicine, aims to gather undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty and anyone who is interested in writing and narrative medicine to discuss and experience the ways in which medicine, narrative, literature and art inform one another in creative and useful ways.
- Suppose An Eyes: Pat G: A poetry working group where poets can come to share and discuss their work. Open to all, monthly meetings.
- Manuck! Manuck!: Fred: Specializes in short fiction writing; meets on the last Thursday of the month; Open to all.
- Art Gallery: Tom (In place of Peter Schwarz): Exhibitions of visual art take place at Writers House during the academic year, from September through May, are typically one month long, and include a reception at some point during the month. We are especially interested in the work of emerging artists.
- Proposals Hublet
- a subgroup of the hub; meets monthly to review all proposals (generated by the hub & outside folks) sent to the writers house.
- This is another great way to get involved with the writers house, since you will be able to help decide what events/programs/series will happen here!
- Thanks to Alexis (our websmistress) and Chris (our tech guy), we have an online space for all members of the hub to review the proposals. Even if they cannot attend the meetings, members have a means to voice their opinions about submissions.
- JS will announce the website shortly, which can only be accessed by members of the KWH community.
- Upcoming Events
- Tue 9/21: Ron Silliman
- Thu 9/23: Nat Anderson
- Sat 9/25: Magazine Spotlight
- Wed 9/29: Seven-Up on Gold: a collaboration with the Esther Klein Gallery; seven people will stand up and talk about the color gold for seven minutes; JS & TD hope to see this turn into a series and that the hub takes an initiative in deciding its programming
- Closing Remarks
- Samuel is interested in getting a group of KWH folks together to see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow, which was produced by a Penn alum, Jon Avnet. Will discuss its scheduling on the hub listserv
- Arielle had a question about how to approach a writer one does not directly know, in hopes of having them possibly come to the writers house. JS suggested getting in touch with their publisher or agent.
- A large gentleman walked into the very tail end of our meeting and talked about uniting the various poetry groups in Virginia. I think.