From the Director
Dr. Kerry Sherin Wright shares a weekly email message
with the Writers House Community.
December 19, 2008
Dear Friends,
With the holidays upon us, there is much to celebrate! Please join us in congratulating members of the Franklin & Marshall community for their recent writing-related achievements.
Professor Katie Ford has won a marvelous and much-deserved writing prize, the prestigious Lannan Fellowship. Given annually to just four writers, the Lannan recognizes writers of distinctive literary merit who demonstrate potential for continued outstanding work. It comes with a $100,000 cash prize....Franklin & Marshall references librarian Scott Vine has just published a wry editorial on the holiday hunting season in The Philadelphia Inquirer. Find it here at: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/opinion/20081219_The_Big_Season_opens_with_parade_of_trophies.html....Professor Dan Frick will appear on C-SPAN in December speaking about his recent book, Reinventing Richard Nixon: A Cultural History of an American Obsession. Editorials by Frick about the Obama campaign, Frost/Nixon, and other topics have appeared recently in The Huffington Post and The Huffington Post Chicago.... Professor Sands Hall just returned from the opening of her adaptation of Little Women, which went up in late November in Nevada City, California for a six-week run.... Rachel Feldman ‘09 will publish "The Names," a poem inspired by her travels in the Czech Republic, in The Birches, a journal of Eastern European Travel Writing at Columbia University.... Adam Cogbill ‘07 - now an MFA student in fiction writing at the University of Massachusetts - has published two stories just this year, in the online journals Word Riot and Slow Trains.... In the spring of 2009, Bridget McNulty ‘06 will publish the U.S. edition of her first novel, Strange Nervous Laughter, with St. Martin’s Press. Bridget is a features writer for Real Simple magazine in South Africa.... and the Philadelphia Alumni Writers House has received a grant of $250,000 from the Lancaster County Community Foundation to create a Poetry Walk in the city of Lancaster, in which poems by eminent writers and local poets will be displayed throughout the city on permanent sculptures or stands designed specifically for the project. The project will begin officially in late spring 2009. Look for more news about how you can be involved!
Do YOU have successes and happiness to share? In the spring, we’ll introduce a new Notes section on the Writers House website so you can report in from the field. In the meantime, please email me at kerry.sherinwright@fandm.edu, and we’ll gladly post your good news. Happy Holidays!
Yours,
Kerry
On Doing NOTHING:
November 3rd, 2008
Dearest communers,
Hi there. How are you all? Did you get enough treats on Friday night? Has the punishing pace of mid-terms slowed, or, god forbid, has it slowed you down?
My guess is that you, like me, have found yourselves with less and less time
to write things that aren't required of you --
to make puns --
play with words --
doodle --
listen to new music --
to stand in front of paintings --
and intriguing buildings --
eat hot food --
to flirt --
to travel --
contemplate a bowl of fruit --
revisit your childhood --
wonder about death --
read for pleasure!
and just generally do the NOTHING that is so much a part of making and appreciating art. More...
It's not Monday, Tuesdays:
October 14th, 2008
Dear communers,
I am establishing a new tradition with this email. Each Tuesday, I will send a brief note to Commune reporting in from the Writers House FRONT.
For example: How is the weather over here?
(Strangely hot!)
How many prisoners have we taken?
(None. This is not a war front but rather a peaceful place where all are free to come and go as they please.)
Have any new election haiku come in while you slept?
(None, but if they do, I promise to send them all in one email, once a week, rather than every few hours, to be mindful of your inboxes. You can thank Stephanie Bramson, as I do, for that helpful innovation!)
Today, I thought you'd all like to know what Susan Jacoby had to say about her recent visit to Franklin & Marshall. More...
