December 2013

Sunday, 12/1

Monday, 12/2

LIVE at the Writers House

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

Siduri Beckman is the Youth Poet Laureate of Philadelphia, appointed in January of 2013. She is currently a tenth grade student at Masterman High School. She has been writing her whole life and has had the privilege of being mentored by Poet Laureate Sonia Sanchez this year. She runs cross country and track when she's not writing poetry. She aspires to be a Supreme Court Justice when she grows up.

Maggie Grabmeier (C’14) is a singer/songwriter. She often plays at open mic nights and coffeehouses, and was a biweekly performer in Massachusetts at the Woods Hole bar, Captain Kidd. During the school year, Maggie performs in an a cappella group and maintains a blog, Birds of a Feather Folk Together, at www.folktogether.blogspot.com. Her original music has been featured on both the University radio station and in many student-produced films. Find more information at her website: www.mggie.com.

Marissa Johnson-Valenzuela's writing has been recognized by The Leeway Foundation, Hedgebrook and others. Her work has been published in Make/shift, The Rust Belt Rising, Asterix Journaland is forthcoming in All About Skin: An Anthology of Short Fiction by Award-Winning Women Writers of Color, and Apiary. Additionally, a story of hers was selected to be part of a series of short stories called Breadbox that The Head and the Hand Press will soon be selling individually in vending machines in Philadelphia. She is a founder of Thread Makes Blanket press, www.threadmakesblanket.com, which is about to publish Dismantle, an anthology of work from VONA, an annual workshop for writers of color. As part of her teaching at Community College of Philadelphia, Marissa teaches in Philadelphia jails, develops Latino courses, and tries real hard to get her students to love reading and writing. She is working on her first novel.

Erin Peraza is a senior English major at the University of Pennsylvania. She works at the Kelly Writers House and is an active member of Penn's only student-run film production group, Bent Button Productions. Her short screenplay, "Damsel at the Pier", won the Ivy Film Festival Seven-Day Screenplay Competition in 2012 and her short film "Be Back Soon" was a 2013 finalist in the Penn Student Film Festival.

Hilary Plum is the author of the novel They Dragged Them Through the Streets (FC2, 2013). She's worked for a number of years as an editor of international literature and is a consulting and book-review editor with the Kenyon Review. With Zach Savich she edits Rescue Press's Open Prose series. She lives in Philadelphia.

Hannah White is a senior at the University of Pennsylvania. She works at the Kelly Writers House and has interned at Penn Press and at WriterHouse, a non-profit writing space in central Virginia. Her work has appeared or is forthcoming in Cleaver Magazine, Gadfly Online, Apiary Online, and Word Riot, among others. She blogs at hannahleewhite.wordpress.com.

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 225 with David Wallace
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried

Tuesday, 12/3

The Holocaust Experience in the Poetry of Paul Celan

A conversation with Pierre Joris, moderated by Al Filreis

Wexler Family Program

6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

hosted by: Al Filreis
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event

Born in Strasbourg, France, Pierre Joris is a poet, translator and essayist.

Pierre Joris is the author of over 40 books. As one of the foremost translators of avant-garde poetry into both French and English, he frequently explores the lesser-known works of both major and obscure experimental poets. His translations include Exile is My Trade: A Habib Tengour Reader (Black Widow Press, 2012); Paul Celan: Selections (University of California Press, 2005); 4X1: Works by Tristan Tzara, Rainer Maria Rilke, Jean-Pierre Duprey, and Habib Tengour (Inconundrum Press, 2003); and Pppppp: Kurt Schwitters Poems, Performance, Pieces, Proses, Plays, Poetics (Temple University Press, 1994). Of his translations of Paul Celan, poet Michael Palmer said: "Joris has dwelled during the better part of his life in Celan's words and silences…he has journeyed through the work's intricacies like very few others."

Joris's own poetry, published extensively in chapbooks abroad, has been collected in two volumes, Poasis: Selected Poems 1986-1999 (Wesleyan University Press, 2001), and Breccia: Selected Poems 1972-1986 (Station Hill PR, 1987). He is also a celebrated essayist and editor. In the essay collection A Nomadic Poetics (Wesleyan, 2003), he explores the successes and failings of the avant-garde movement, a subject he surveyed in a two-volume anthology of 20th century avant-garde writings, Poems for the Millennium (University of California Press, 1998), co-edited with Jerome Rothenberg.

He collaborates frequently through dance, multimedia, and music with his wife, the performance artist Nicole Peyrafitte. Twice the recipient of PEN Awards for Translation, he was also the 2003 Berlin Prize fellow at the American Academy in Berlin.

Joris currently lives in New York, where he teaches poetry and poetics at the State University of New York, Albany.

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 112 with Max Apple
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 010 with Laynie Brown

Wednesday, 12/4

Lunch with E.B. Lewis

12:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

Hosted by: Donna Jo Napoli
rsvp: wh@writing.upenn.edu
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event

The Body Electric

Reading and performance

7:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event

The Body Electric, a University of Pennsylvania poetry group, invites you to its end-of-the-year show, at which its members will share their most polished pieces from a semester of collective writing, workshopping, and revision. The Body Electric embraces all poetic forms, and so the event will showcase a diverse collection spoken word, prose, and original song lyrics.

The Body Electric is a poetry collective of undergraduate students seeking to foster a love of poetry and writing across campus. Every other Thursday they meet for workshops, in which they peer edit, collaborate, and participate in prompted writing sessions. One Sunday per month they meet for a poetry appreciation gathering, in which members share their own work or other poems they love and/or want to discuss. The Body Electric also runs a blog of our poets’ work, attends events within the Philadelphia poetry community, and performs a show of our members’ work once per semester. The group's name comes from Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, whose break from tradition and linking of all life to poetry and beauty inspires them. The Body Electric accepts all poetic forms, from innovative to traditional, spoken word to graphic poetry, and strives to cultivate an all-embracing spirit. To find out more, contact Alex Ortega (ortegaa@sas.upenn.edu) or Lauren Shapiro (lashap@sas.upenn.edu).

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 121 with Donna Jo Napoli

Thursday, 12/5

RealArts@Penn Info Session

11:30 AM in the Arts Cafe

Hosted by: Anthony DeCurtis
supported by: Creative Ventures
rsvp: wh@writing.upenn.edu
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event

RealArts@Penn Internships offer students real-world experiences working side-by-side with professional writers, editors, and business people at a variety of cultural institutions, including Rolling Stone, Philadelphia Magazine, and Viacom Creative Services. Interested in learning more about the RealArts project, the application process, or the adventures of our interns? Join us for an informal conversation about all of this and more with RealArts Interns Frida Garza, Samantha Apfel, Samantha Sharon, Nihaar Sinha, Jake Lasker, Danny Eisenberg, JY Lee, and Amanda Wolkin, led by Creative Writing faculty member Anthony DeCurtis.

Writing about Art: Glenn Ligon

6:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV (Recording begins midway through first talk)
listen: to an audio recording of this event

Our second annual "Writing About Art" program gathers six speakers — curators, artists, art lovers, writers — each exploring a (different) piece of art by Glenn Ligon. The work of New York-based conceptual artist Glenn Ligon touches on a number of important themes including race, sexuality, identity, and the power of language. Frequently referencing his own life, American history, and other works of visual art and literature, Ligon's pieces are rich in intertextuality. Solo shows of Ligon's work have been featured at the Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden in Washington, D.C., Brooklyn Museum of Art, Dia Center for the Arts in New York, and elsewhere.

Hosted by Isaac Kaplan (C’15) and sponsored by Creative Ventures, the program will feature Anthony Elms, Chloe Kaufman, Kenneth Lum, Damon Reaves, and Gwendolyn DuBois Shaw.

Friday, 12/6

Saturday, 12/7

Sunday, 12/8

Monday, 12/9

Getting Medieval: Performing Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

2:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event

Join us for an opportunity to hear members of the KWH English 225 class (led by David Wallace) read selections from Chaucer, and also to participate in some first steps in the oral art of Chaucer.

Creating Characters in Nonfiction Writing

A reading by the students in Jamie-Lee Josselyn's nonfiction workshop

5:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event

Join us as we feature the fantastic, energetic and attractive students of JAMIE-LEE JOSSELYN’S NONFICTION WORKSHOP reading original work produced this semester: from essays detailing tales from elementary and middle school to investigations of places familiar and foreign to character studies that examine the intersection of the ordinary and extraordinary. Students in this seminar have been educated and inspired by the likes of Joan Didion, Phillip Lopate, David Sedaris, Ian Frazier, Buzz Bissinger, and, of course, one another.

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 225 with David Wallace
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried

Tuesday, 12/10

Entrepreneurial Journalism Pitch Night

6:30 PM in the Arts Cafe

supported by: Creative Ventures
watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV(This recording starts mid-talk due to technical difficulties)
listen: to an audio recording of this event

Penn's Entrepreneurial Journalism students have spent the semester dreaming up new journalism platforms. Tonight they'll present their ideas to a panel of distinguished journalists, venture capitalists, and Internet pioneers. With $7,500 in seed money on the line, it's going to be an exciting evening for anyone interested in the future of journalism.

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 112 with Max Apple
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 010 with Laynie Brown

Wednesday, 12/11

Greg Djanikian's class reading

4:00 PM in the Arts Cafe

watch: a video recording of this event via KWH-TV
listen: to an audio recording of this event

Students in Greg Djanikian’s poetry writing course studied the rhythm and expressiveness of their language, while also exploring the things of this world, sometimes in new relationships and, perhaps, with broader vision. Come listen to reading from their final portfolios.

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 121 with Donna Jo Napoli

Thursday, 12/12

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 117 with Anthony DeCurtis
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 112 with Max Apple

Friday, 12/13

Saturday, 12/14

Sunday, 12/15

Monday, 12/16

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 225 with David Wallace
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried

Tuesday, 12/17

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 112 with Max Apple
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 010 with Laynie Brown

Wednesday, 12/18

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 121 with Donna Jo Napoli

Thursday, 12/19

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 117 with Anthony DeCurtis
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 112 with Max Apple

Friday, 12/20

Saturday, 12/21

Sunday, 12/22

Monday, 12/23

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 225 with David Wallace
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried

Tuesday, 12/24

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 112 with Max Apple
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 010 with Laynie Brown

Wednesday, 12/25

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 156 with Paul Hendrickson
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 121 with Donna Jo Napoli

Thursday, 12/26

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 202: ENG 117 with Anthony DeCurtis
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 112 with Max Apple

Friday, 12/27

Saturday, 12/28

Sunday, 12/29

Monday, 12/30

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

  • 11:00 AM - 12:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 002 with Courtney Rydel
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 225 with David Wallace
  • 2:00 PM - 5:00 PM in Room 209: ENG 145 with Stephen Fried

Tuesday, 12/31

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

  • 9:00 AM - 10:30 AM in Room 202: WRIT 039 with Michelle Taransky
  • 10:30 AM - 12:00 PM in Room 202: WRIT 125 with Valerie Ross
  • 12:00 PM - 1:30 PM in Room 202: WRIT 027 with Emily Weissbourd
  • 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM in Room 202: ENG 112 with Max Apple
  • 1:30 PM - 4:30 PM in Room 209: ENG 010 with Laynie Brown