October 2012

Monday, 10/1

A Lunch Talk with Jonathan Coleman

"The Art and Responsibility of Creative Nonfiction Writing"

presented by the Sylvia Kauders lunch series

12:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

rsvp: email wh@writing.upenn.edu

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of this event

Jonathan Coleman is the author of four critically acclaimed works of nonfiction (three of which were New York Times bestsellers): At Mother's Request: A True Story of Money, Murder and Betrayal (which won an Edgar Allan Poe Award and was hailed as "a masterwork of reporting"—Washington Post Book World); Exit the Rainmaker ("A fascinating, symbolic statement of the American psyche"—L.A. Times Book Review); Long Way to Go: Black and White in America ("A stunner.... Coleman's narrative technique is superb... A brilliant book"—Library Journal); and in 2011, his collaboration with basketball icon and NBA logo Jerry West on West by West: My Charmed, Tormented Life ("Exceptional"—Gay Talese and "Deeply thoughtful"—The New Yorker), which will be available in paperback at the time of his visit.

Born in Allentown, Pennsylvania, he is a graduate of the University of Virginia, where he taught literary nonfiction writing for many years. Before that, he worked in book publishing, at Knopf and Simon and Schuster (where he was a member of the editorial board), and was profiled in Time as one of the best editors in the field, and then as a journalist for CBS News. He has written for the New York Times, Newsweek, The New Yorker, New York Magazine, Time, Sports Illustrated, the Washington Post, the Chicago Tribune, the Texas Observer, among other publications. His work-in-progress is the story of his mentor—the eminent book editor Angus Cameron who was blacklisted during the McCarthy period and was a true Renaissance man—and of their relationship: What He Stood For: The Many Worlds of Angus Cameron.

Sally Bedell Smith

Povich Journalism Program

6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

introduced by: Dick Polman

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of this event

Sally Bedell Smith is the best-selling author of six biographies: Elizabeth the Queen: The Life of a Modern Monarch (Random House 2012), For Love of Politics: Inside the Clinton White House (Random House, 2007), Grace and Power: The Private World of the Kennedy White House (Random House, 2004), Diana in Search of Herself: Portrait of a Troubled Princess (Times Books/Random House, 1999), Reflected Glory: The Life of Pamela Churchill Harriman (Simon & Schuster, 1996), and In All His Glory: The Life & Times of William S. Paley and the Birth of Modern Broadcasting (Simon & Schuster, 1990). Ms. Smith began her career at Time Magazine where she was a reporter-researcher from 1973 to 1977. She then joined TV Guide as a staff writer where she wrote feature articles and a weekly column. In 1982, Ms. Smith became a cultural news reporter for The New York Times, a position she held until 1985. She joined Vanity Fair as a contributing editor in 1996. Ms. Smith was awarded the Sigma Delta Chi Distinguished Service Award for magazine reporting in 1982 and was a fellow at the Freedom Forum Media Studies Center at Columbia University from 1986 to 1987. In November 2008 she was inducted into the Radnor High School Hall of Fame. She received her B.A. from Wheaton College and her M.S. from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. She served for ten years on the Board of Trustees at Deerfield Academy, and has been a juror for the Alfred I. DuPont-Columbia University Awards, a trustee at The Buckley School in New York City, and a member of the Editorial Advisory Board for the Columbia Journalism Review. She is currently a member of the Advisory Board for 826DC, a nonprofit tutoring center focused on teaching writing to inner-city students.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 157 with Sam Apple
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 209: ENG 123 with Elizabeth Van Doren

Tuesday, 10/2

Exploring Queer Shame

featuring Rafe Posey, Genne Murphy, Darnell L. Moore, and Heather Love

7:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

hosted by: Kyle Bella

Despite an increase in visibility for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer people, discussions about "queer shame" are just beginning, and will prove to be valuable both inside and outside queer communities. An open and ongoing discussion of shame is especially important for helping to combat bullying and violence against LGBTQ-identified individuals. To help explore the intersection of queer-identity and shame, we asked four speakers to prepare remarks in relation to a few pointed questions: Is there a definite moment I first recognized a sense of shame from being LGBTQ? How has, or does, shame influence my day-to-day actions in notable ways? What have I done to overcome shame? How does queer writing offer a possible space for transforming shame? How do pleasure and shame conflict in forming our sense of identity as LGBTQ? Can we ever forget shame, and, if so, how does this forgetting leave us disconnected from past experiences?

watch: a video recording of Kyle Bella via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of Kyle Bella

watch: a video recording of Rafe Posey via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of Rafe Posey

watch: a video recording of Darnell L. Moore via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of Darnell L. Moore

watch: a video recording of Heather Love via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of Heather Love

After transitioning from female to male as a new teacher in NYC's public schools, Rafe Posey is now a writer and writing professor based in Baltimore. He holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing & Publishing Arts and an M.S.T. in Secondary English Education. His work has most recently been published in Urbanite, Gender Outlaw: The Next Generation, The Light Ekphrastic, and Poydras Review. The Book of Broken Hymns, his debut collection of short stories, was a 2012 Lambda Literary Award finalist in Transgender Fiction.

Genne Murphy is a Philadelphia native and playwright. Hope Street and Other Lonely Places, her first full-length play, was a 2011 Eugene O'Neill national conference finalist. Hope Street was first developed by Azuka Theatre in its 2009 Spotlight Series. Genne's short plays and monologues have been featured by Azuka Theatre, Flashpoint Theatre Company, MERGE at the Annenberg, Madhouse Cabaret, the Philly Fringe Festival, and LIVE at Kelly Writers House (WXPN). Genne is co-producer of Queer Memoir, a New York City-based storytelling series, which partnered locally with First Person Arts in 2010 and the Free Library of Philadelphia in 2011. She is also a recipient of a 2011 Leeway Foundation Art and Change grant. Genne earned her BFA from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts before returning to Philadelphia where she joined the staff of Philadelphia Young Playwrights for several years; the organization also produced her first student play in 1999. Genne currently resides in San Francisco.

Darnell L. Moore is a writer who lives in Brooklyn, NY. His writing focuses on the interconnections of race, sexual, gender, and class identities and have appeared in popular and academic press.

Heather Love is the R. Jean Brownlee Term Associate Professor at Penn, where she teaches courses in gender studies and queer theory, the literature and culture of modernity, affect studies, film and visual culture, psychoanalysis, sociology and literature, disability studies, and critical theory. She is the author of Feeling Backward: Loss and the Politics of Queer History (Harvard, 2007), the editor of a special issue of GLQ on the scholarship and legacy of Gayle Rubin ("Rethinking Sex"), and the co-editor of a special issue of New Literary History ("Is There Life after Identity Politics?"). She has written essays recently on description as method in literary studies and the social sciences, transgender fiction, spinster aesthetics, and comparative social stigma. She is working on a book on the source materials for Erving Goffman's 1963 book, Stigma: On the Management of Spoiled Identity ("The Stigma Archive").

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 122 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Wednesday, 10/3

A Lunch Talk with David Corn

"Campaign 2012: Are the Lies Winning?"

Povich Journalism Program

12:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

rsvp: email wh@writing.upenn.edu

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of this event

David Corn is the Washington bureau chief for Mother Jones magazine. Prior to that, he was the Washington editor of The Nation for twenty years. He is an analyst for MSNBC and NBC News. The author of the New York Times bestsellers Showdown: The Inside Story of How Obama Fought Back Against Boehner, Cantor, and the Tea Party, Hubris (with Michael Isikoff), and The Lies of George W. Bush, Corn has written for the New York Times, Washington Post, Atlantic, Harper's, The New Republic, Slate, and many other publications. Corn has long been a prominent commentator on television and radio, appearing on Hardball, The Rachel Maddow Show, PBS NewsHour, and other programs. For years, he was a Fox News contributor. He also regularly provides commentary on National Public Radio.

A Performance by Caroline Rothstein

Caroline Rothstein Oral Poetry program

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

Caroline Rothstein is a New York City-based writer, performer, and eating disorder recovery advocate, who specializes in spoken word poetry, theater, creative nonfiction, journalism, and performance art. She has performed and facilitated workshops at poetry venues, theaters, colleges, universities, schools, and organizations around the United States for more than a decade. A longtime activist for eating disorder recovery, she hosts the widely viewed YouTube video-blog "Body Empowerment," sharing her own recovery story as a means to promote positive body image worldwide. Since 2000, she has served as a Resource Person for the National Association for Anorexia Nervosa and Associated Disorders (ANAD), and currently sits on the Board of Directors for the NORMAL nonprofit organization. Her award-winning one-woman play "faith" about her experience with and recovery from an eating disorder debuted as part of Culture Project's Women Center Stage 2012 Festival, and received Outstanding Overall Production of a Solo Show in the 2012 Planet Connections Theatre Festivity.

Caroline was a member of the 2010 Nuyorican Poets Cafe slam team, which placed second at Poetry Slam Incorporated's National Poetry Slam 2010. A former member of and director for The Excelano Project, a nationally-acclaimed spoken word poetry organization at the University of Pennsylvania, she was the 2004 and 2006 UPenn Grand Slam Champion, a five-time College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational finalist, and helped coach the UPenn slam team to CUPSI championships in 2007 and 2009. Upon graduating in 2006, Caroline was honored for her work with an event in her name at the Kelly Writers House called "The Caroline Rothstein Annual Oral Poetry Event." As a poet and journalist, Caroline has been published in various literary journals, anthologies, and publications, and self-published three books of poetry: After Leo Tolstoy 2011), This Book Wrote Itself (2009), and What I Learned in College (2006). She has a B.A. in classical studies from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.S. from Columbia University's Graduate School of Journalism.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM to 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
2 PM to 5 Pm in Room 209: ENG 010 with Jamie-Lee Josselyn

Thursday, 10/4

PLAYWRIGHT JOSHUA CONKEL

presented by Feminism/s

6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

hosted by: Josh Herren (C'13)

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of this event

Joshua Conkel is a playwright, activist, blogger and Navy brat from rural Washington State. He is the author of MilkMilkLemonade (Best Off Off Broadway Show of 2009-NY Press, published by Playscripts), The Chalk Boy (published by Original Works Publishing), Lonesome Winter (co-written with Megan Hill), The Sluts of Sutton Drive (Ensemble Studio Theatre and London's Finborough Theatre this June, published by Oberon Books), I Wanna Destroy You and Sprawl as well as countless short plays. Conkel’s work has been seen all over the country as well as internationally. His play MilkMilkLemonade has been produced nearly 30 times since its premiere in 2009 and is currently being taught in many universities’ theater and gender studies departments. He was recently featured in Next Magazine's "Who's Next" and just won Studio 42's Unproducible Smackdown, making him, officially, the most "unproducible" playwright in New York. In addition to writing and producing plays, Conkel is an outspoken opponent of income disparity and an advocate for working class and minority playwrights. His open letter to theater producers, entitled “Look Harder,” was covered in The Guardian and TimeOut New York. Conkel's work has been developed by The Management, Soho Rep, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Old Vic/New Voices, TOSOS, Studio 42, San Francisco Playhouse, The Finborough Theatre, Dixon Place, The Flea and more. He is a member of The Management, where he served as Artistic Director for six years, as well as a member of Ensemble Studio Theatre, TOSOS, Sons of Tennessee (a top secret salon for gay playwrights), and The Dramatists Guild. He is currently finishing a graphic novel adaptation of The Chalk Boy for First Second Books, an imprint of Macmillan, and editing his first short film, Power Lunch. Alumnist of Youngblood, the Soho Rep Writer/Director Lab and the TS Eliot Old Vic US/UK Exchange. BFA in theater, Cornish College of the Arts. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 117 with Anthony DeCurtis
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 135 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Friday, 10/5

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Saturday, 10/6

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Sunday, 10/7

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Monday, 10/8

Charlie Morrow

Sound artist, composer, conceptualist

6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

co-sponsored by: Creative Ventures

watch: a video recording of this event via PennSound

listen: to an audio recording of this event on PennSound

Sound poet and composer, Charlie Morrow creates works that span vast epochs of time, multiple cities, interplanetary space and the inner worlds of dreams and breath. His public events feature sometimes very large herds of sound sources from the same family: 40 cellos, 60 clarinets, fleets of boats. Morrow's earliest works are for voice, breath, and transparent systems - such as Very Slow Gabrieli for antiphonal brass ensemble. His recent works combine transparent software driven systems and experiential content - True3D sound environments for workplaces and hospitals, spatial story telling in museums and expanding to 3D old recordings to permit re-entry into the recorded sound space. As Charles Bernstein writes in the introduction to Morrow's Catalogue of Works, "Charlie Morrow's works extend well beyond the conventionally defined parameters of a composer." Morrow has collaborated since the 60s with poet Jerome Rothenberg, co-founding the New Wilderness Foundation, which published EAR Magazine of New Music , New Wilderness Letter - a poetics journal, New Wilderness Audiographics - the mother of audio cassette publications, and produced networked world broadcasts on Summer Solstice. Located on former Dick Higgins, Something Else Press land, the New Wilderness Archive in Barton, Vermont is now actively preparing an on line catalog, searchable scans of it print publications and touring shows of its collections. .

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 157 with Sam Apple
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 209: ENG 123 with Elizabeth Van Doren

Tuesday, 10/9

Writing about Art: Marcel Duchamp

a Creative Ventures program

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

Modeled after our ever-popular "7-up" series and last year's Dylan-fest, our first ever "Writing About Art" program features eight speakers, each having selected a (different) piece of art by Marcel Duchamp to describe, discuss, deconstruct, contextualize, riff off, etc. Organized by Isaac Kaplan (C'15).

featuring:

Rachel Pastan: Bicycle Wheel (1913)
Thomas Devaney: The Trap (1917)
Lily Applebaum: Why Not Sneeze, Rose Selavy (1921)
Grace Ambrose: his twine at First Papers of Surrealism (1942)
Henry Steinberg: torn paper self portrait (1958)
Francie Shaw: Étant donnés (1946-68)
Jean-Michel Rabaté: Étant donnés (1946-68)

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 122 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Wednesday, 10/10

Speakeasy open mic night

Poetry, Prose, and Anything Goes!

7:30 PM in the Arts Cafe

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.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM to 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
2 PM to 5 Pm in Room 209: ENG 010 with Jamie-Lee Josselyn

Thursday, 10/11

"Mending Wall," a lunchtime discussion moderated by Al Filreis

with Bob Perelman, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Taije Silverman and John Timpane

11:45 AM in the Arts Cafe

co-sponsored by: The Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures and The Comparative Literate program

rsvp: wh@writing.upenn.edu

Four poets discuss and perhaps even argue about the meaning and value of Robert Frost's famous poem "Mending Wall." The discussion will be hosted and moderated by Al Filreis. The panelists are: Bob Perelman, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Taije Silverman and John Timpane.

Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That sends the frozen-ground-swell under it,
And spills the upper boulders in the sun,
And makes gaps even two can pass abreast.
[read more]

A reading by Matvei Yankelevich and Eugene Ostashevsky

presented by Writers Without Borders

6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

watch: a video recording of this event via PennSound

listen: to an audio recording of this event on PennSound

Matvei Yankelevich is the author of Alpha Donut (United Artists Books) and Boris by the Sea (Octopus Books), as well as several chapbooks. He is the translator and editor of Today I Wrote Nothing: The Selected Writings of Daniil Kharms (Overlook, 2007). His translations of Russian poetry have appeared in many periodicals including Harpers, New American Writing, Poetry, and The New Yorker, and in several anthologies including OBERIU: An Anthology of Russian Absurdism (Northwestern) and Night Wraps the Sky: Writings by and about Mayakovsky (FSG). He is one of the founding editors of Ugly Duckling Presse, where he edits the Eastern European Poets Series; and a member of the writing faculty of the Milton Avery Graduate School of the Arts at Bard College.

Eugene Ostashevsky, born in 1968 in Leningrad, is currently an American poet from New York City. His most recent full-length book of poems, The Life and Opinions of DJ Spinoza, employs characters such as MC Squared, Peepeesaurus, the Begriffon and, of course, DJ Spinoza, to explore the shortcomings of axiomatic systems with the insouciance and energy of Saturday-morning cartoons. Spinoza, as well as his earlier collection, Iterature, came out from Ugly Duckling Presse. As translator, Ostashevsky has edited the first English-language anthology of OBERIU, a Russian avant-garde group from the 1920s and 30s, led by Alexander Vvedensky and Daniil Kharms. His awards include the NEA and a number of other letters. He teaches literature at New York University.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 117 with Anthony DeCurtis
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 135 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Friday, 10/12

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Saturday, 10/13

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Sunday, 10/14

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Monday, 10/15

A Lunch Talk with Tom Fitzgerald

A Foray into the (Imaginary) Life of Ben Franklin

12:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

hosted by: Mike Zuckerman

rsvp: email wh@writing.upenn.edu

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of this event

What if Ben Franklin came back? What if everything depended on it? That's the starting point for Tom Fitzgerald's fantastic Poor Richard's Lament, a book that puts Ben Franklin on trial in a celestial court and then grants him his wish to come back to life in present day America. The stakes are high for our culture, and for this book alike.

Tom Fitzgerald is the author of three works of fiction: Chocolate Charlie (Warner Books), A Matter of Scents (Pyramid Books) and Chocolate Charlie Comes Home (Warner Books), as well as several works of nonfiction.

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.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 157 with Sam Apple
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 209: ENG 123 with Elizabeth Van Doren

Tuesday, 10/16

A reading by Ben Marcus

Bob Lucid Memorial Program in Fiction

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

Ben Marcus is the author of several books, including The Age of Wire and String, a collection of stories, and The Flame Alphabet, a novel. His stories have appeared in Harper's, The Paris Review, Conjunctions, Electric Literature, and The New Yorker. He is the recipient of a Whiting Writers Award, an NEA in Fiction, and an award from the the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives in New York, where he is on the faculty at Columbia University.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 122 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Wednesday, 10/17

I'll Drown My Book: Conceptual Writing by Women

supported by the Fund for Feminist Projects

6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

hosted by: Laynie Browne

watch: a video recording of this event via PennSound

listen: to an audio recording of this event on PennSound

Conceptual writing is emerging as a vital 21st century literary movement and I'll Drown My Book represents the contributions of women in this defining moment. Edited by Caroline Bergvall, Laynie Browne, Teresa Carmody and Vanessa Place, I'll Drown My Book takes its name from a poem by Bernadette Mayer, appropriating Shakespeare. The book includes work by 64 women from 10 countries, with contributors' responses to the question – What is conceptual writing? – appearing alongside their work. I'll Drown My Book offers feminist perspectives within this literary phenomenon. Our program will feature eight poets: Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Lee Ann Brown, Monica de la Torre, Kristin Prevallet, Tracie Morris, Jena Osman, Julie Patton, and Cecilia Vicuna.

On Wednesday October 17th, the Arts Cafe was filled with members of the KWH community for what turned out to be a night of poetry — and laughter — as Laynie Browne hosted a reading from the recently released anthology of women’s conceptual writing, I’ll Drown My Book. Editor Browne took the podium to give a brief introduction to the anthology. She explained that the editors put this collection together with the intent of “opening, not binding, the term conceptual writing.” Browne then gave a brief introduction to each of the five readers for the night, mentioning some of their accomplishments and credentials. Each of the featured poets read from their own contribution to I’ll Drown My Book, as well as a selection from the anthology by another poet. Lee Ann Brown read three poems from her project “Philtre,” which she wrote while experiencing artwork created by others. She then read a piece in the anthology from Redell Olsen’s Punk Faun. Brown chose this selection as a companion to hers as it “takes poetry into the realm of art and performance in a very real way.” Rachel Blau DuPlessis read her piece “Draft 98: Canzone,” which she said came from a “realm of cultural pillaging.” Her other selected reading from the anthology was from Norma Cole’s “Collective Memory.” Jena Osman read from “Financial District,” which was first in her book Deborah Richards. Kristen Prevallet opted not to read from her piece in the anthology, given its essayistic form. In order to “convey the heart of it,” she called up a volunteer to whom she explained the essay. The volunteer then summarized this for the audience, calling the work “a take on space.” Prevallet also read from “Public Sphere and Private Space” by Rachel Levitsky. Cecilia Vicuna closed out the program. She gave no introduction to her energetic reading other than silently smoothing her clothes and hair while the room waited for her bilingual presentation. After performing two pieces, Vicuna took the time to note that all of the pieces of the night were connected by the idea of time travel, and to address her colleagues saying, “It was so incredibly beautiful to hear you all.” Vicuna then opened the anthology to show her contribution: abstract drawings, which she proceeded to “read” to the audience. -- Nicki Resnikoff

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM to 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
2 PM to 5 Pm in Room 209: ENG 010 with Jamie-Lee Josselyn

Thursday, 10/18

Bookmaking for Writers and Dabblers

Whenever We Feel Like It

3:30 PM in the Dining Room

In this afternoon workshop we will explore the limitless possibilities of the creative process of bookmaking and its relationship to the writing process; the subsequent discoveries will be generative to both your own writing and the complementary creative outlet of bookmaking. We’ll start with looking at samples of chapbooks and discuss the basics of book design and editing. You will be introduced to simple binding and folding techniques, and will explore the keen relationship between the written word and physical object that contains it. Please bring two printed copies of a short piece of writing (no more than 30 lines) you want to make into a very small book.

Betsy Wheeler is the author of the poetry collection Loud Dreaming in a Quiet Room, and Bat City Review, Forklift Ohio, The Journal, and elsewhere. From 2005-2007, she served as the Stadler Fellow at Bucknell University. She is editor of the limited-edition poetry chapbook publisher Pilot Books, and Managing Director of the Juniper Summer Writing Institute. www.louddreaming.com

Christopher Janke's first book, Structure of the Embryonic Rat Brain, won the Fence Modern Poets Series prize. His poems have been published in Harper's, American Poetry Review, Ploughshares, A Public Space, Field, Forklift Ohio, Conduit, and dozens of other journals. He fixes laundry machines, tends bar, and hosts a yearly lost-and-found fashion show on 3rd Street in Turners Falls, Mass. Across the river in Greenfield, he stacks wood, cooks, writes poems, and edits manuscripts for Slope Editions, where he is VP and Senior Editor. http://www.christopherjanke.com/

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 117 with Anthony DeCurtis
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 135 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Friday, 10/19

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Saturday, 10/20

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Sunday, 10/21

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Monday, 10/22

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 157 with Sam Apple
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 209: ENG 123 with Elizabeth Van Doren

Tuesday, 10/23

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 122 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Wednesday, 10/24

Andrew Whiteman and Ariel Engle

Andrew Whiteman (of Broken Social Scene) and his wife Ariel Engle, who are together AroarA, will together preview songs from their new album In the Pines (based on Alice Notley's book of the same title). Derived from Alice Notley's 14-poem poem cycle, "In the Pines" is a song cycle that investigates and honors the folksong origins of Notley's work. After performing the work, Andrew and Ariel will lead a conversation about their process for converting poetry to music. We'll convene in the dining room for a reception open to all, after the performance.

Andrew Whiteman joined Broken Social Scene (as guitarist, bassist, keyboardist and songwriter) in 1999 and continues to record and tour the world with the band. Whiteman's other band is Apostle of Hustle. Originally designed to be a platform for studying Cuban and northern Brazilian folk forms, Apostle of Hustle also ranges into jazz an pop oddities. In addition to music, Whiteman has a deep interest in poetry and poetics: he worked for many years at Coach House Press, Canada's most well known published of new and innovative writing.

Ariel Engle performs and has recorded with Egyptian-Canadian composer and oud player Sam Shalabi. She also sings with the Montreal-based Lebanese artist Radwan Moumneh of Jeruselam in my Heart.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM to 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
2 PM to 5 Pm in Room 209: ENG 010 with Jamie-Lee Josselyn

Thursday, 10/25

RealArts@Penn presents Sabrina Rubin Erdely

Povich Journalism Program

6:00 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

Sabrina Rubin Erdely is an award-winning feature writer and investigative journalist based in Philadelphia. Her work has appeared in Rolling Stone, SELF, GQ, The New Yorker, Mother Jones, Glamour, and Men's Health, among other national magazines. Her articles have been anthologized in Best American Crime Reporting and have received a number of awards, including a National Magazine Award nomination.

Erdely specializes in long-form narrative writing, especially about crime and health. She has written about con artists, murder investigations, vicious divorces, power brokers, lovable eccentrics, bioweapons, cults, sexual violence, medical ethics, forgotten artists, and teachers who have affairs with students—among other subjects.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 117 with Anthony DeCurtis
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 135 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Friday, 10/26

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Saturday, 10/27

Alumni Authors Series: Memoir Writing

Buzz Bissinger, Cynthia Kaplan, Beth Kephart, and James Martin

4:30 PM in the Arts Cafe

co-sponsored by: the Penn Gazette

moderated by: John Prendergast

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of this event

Join alumni authors at Kelly Writers House as they read from and talk about their work in memoir. Panelists include Pulitzer Prize-winner Buzz Bissinger (C'76), whose latest book is Father's Day: A Journey Into the Mind and Heart of My Extraordinary Son; essayist and performer Cynthia Kaplan (C'85), whose "true stories" are collected in Why I'm Like This and Leave the Building Quickly; Beth Kephart C'82, author of multiple memoirs and young-adult novels, and of the forthcoming Handling the Truth; and James Martin (W'82), author of In Good Company, which tells the story of his conversion from GE executive to Jesuit priest, and eight other books. Pennsylvania Gazette Editor John Prendergast (C'80) will moderate the discussion.

H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger is among the nation's most honored and distinguished writers. A native of New York City, Buzz is the winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Livingston Award, the American Bar Association Silver Gavel Award and the National Headliners Award, among others. He also was a Nieman Fellow at Harvard University. He is the author of four highly acclaimed nonfiction books: Friday Night Lights, A Prayer for the City, Three Nights in August, and his newest, Father's Day, his memoir about his twin sons. Born 13 weeks premature in 1983 and weighing less than two pounds, Bissinger's sons have lived diametrically opposed lives. After obtaining his master's in education from the University of Pennsylvania, Gerry is now a public school teacher while Zach, because of oxygen deprivation at birth, suffered trace brain damage and struggles every day with enormous learning disabilities.

Cynthia Kaplan is the author of two collections of humorous essays, "Why I'm Like This: True Stories" and "Leave the Building Quickly." Her humor pieces have appeared in many newspapers, magazines and anthologies. She is the the co-host, with CBS Sunday Morning's Nancy Giles, of the comedy anthology series The New Jack Paar Show and has appeared in comedy and rock clubs throughout the country. She has written for film and television and recently released a comedy album, Fangry. She has never appeared on Law & Order.

Beth Kephart is the award-winning author of fourteen books—five memoirs, a book of history and prose poetry, a corporate fable, and seven young adult novels. Three more books are set for release in 2013, including Handling the Truth (Gotham), a book about the making of memoir, and its consequences. Kephart teaches creative nonfiction at Penn during the spring semesters, is the strategic writing partner in a boutique communications firm, and reviews widely. Her book blog, beth-kephart.blogspot.com, has twice been named a top author blog by the BBAW. Her essays are widely anthologized. Kepharts most recent book, Small Damages, a novel set in southern Spain, was released this past summer by Philomel to starred reviews.

James Martin, SJ, is a Jesuit priest, contributing editor at America, the national Catholic magazine, and author of several books, including The New York Times bestseller The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything, and My Life with the Saints and Between Heaven and Mirth, both named by Publishers Weekly as "Best Books" of the Year. He is a frequent commentator in the media on matters of religion and spirituality, and has written for The New York Times, The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal. He has appeared in venues as diverse as NPR's "Fresh Air with Terry Gross," PBS's "Newshour with Jim Lehrer" and Comedy Central's "The Colbert Report." Before entering the Jesuits in 1988, Father Martin graduated from Penn's Wharton School of Business and worked for six years in corporate finance. During his Jesuit training he worked at a hospice for the sick and dying in Jamaica run by Mother Teresa's sisters, with street-gang members in the housing projects of Chicago, and for two years in Nairobi, Kenya, helping East African refugees start small businesses.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Sunday, 10/28

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

Monday, 10/29

LIVE AT THE WRITERS HOUSE

First Person Festival Preview

7:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

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 Alli Katz (katza@writing.upenn.edu).

First Person Arts transforms the drama of real life into memoir and documentary art to foster appreciation for our unique and shared experiences. The people of First Person Arts believe that everyone has a story to tell, and that sharing our stories connects us with each other and the world. First Person Arts was founded in 2000 as Blue Sky by Vicki Solot, in response to the burgeoning interest in memoir and documentary art forms. Solot appreciated the resonance of real stories and recognized their value as a means of bridging cultural and ethnic divides. With the involvement of a visionary board, First Person Arts set out to support the development of new memoir and documentary work and to create opportunities for it to be seen and appreciated. They have reached across cultures and communities to attract a broad and diverse audience; and have played an important role in exploring and celebrating the richness of the mixed heritage and shared history of everyday Americans.

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 157 with Sam Apple
2 PM - 5 PM in Room 209: ENG 123 with Elizabeth Van Doren

Tuesday, 10/30

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

9 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 030.312 with Dana Walker
10:30 AM - 12 PM in Room 202: Peer Tutoring with Valerie Ross
12 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027.301 with Emil Weissboard
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 122 with Max Apple
1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried
1:30 PM - 3 PM in the Arts Cafe: ENG 88 with Al Filreis

Wednesday, 10/31

Tangled Up, with lunch!

A discussion of Bob Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks

12:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

rsvp: wh@writing.upenn.edu

hosted by: Al Filreis and Patrick Bredehoft

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV

listen: to an audio recording of this event

He has been honored with 11 Grammys, a Golden Globe, an Academy Award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. And with the recent release of his 35th studio album, Bob Dylan continues his enduring presence as one of the greatest American songwriters. Join us for a lunchtime opportunity to revisit one of his seminal albums -- Blood on the Tracks -- and to reflect on a career that continues to surprise and inspire more than 50 years down the line.

Misdeeds and Little Bones

a Halloween Poetry Reading by Suppose An Eyes

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

Suppose An Eyes is an ongoing poetry workshop that meets twice a month at the Kelly Writers House. It takes its name from a portrait in Gertrude Stein's "Tender Buttons". The group was formed in 1999 at the Kelly Writers House. Our goal is to provide a workshop for poets to explore, share and improve their work as part of a supportive community of writers. The group is diverse, with members of all ages, occupations and levels of experience. Poets are encouraged to pursue their own style of writing --- anything from traditional forms to flarf or even computer-generated poetry. We also have a few poetry readings per year in the Philly area. Suppose An Eyes is currently seeking new members.

Contact: Pat Green (patricia78@aol.com)

Meetings and classes (may require registration or permission; email for more info)

11 AM to 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002.307 with Michelle Taransky
2 PM to 5 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
2 PM to 5 Pm in Room 209: ENG 010 with Jamie-Lee Josselyn