REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN

Registration is now available for the "Revolution and Rebirth in English Studies" conference this spring: http://www.utb.edu/vpaa/cla/eng/Pages/ConferenceRegistration.aspx

February 14, 2013 -March 1, 2013
(late registration will be available after March 1)

2013 Conference "Revolution and Rebirth in English Studies" News: Proposal Submission Deadline Extended to January 1, 2013. 

All proposals must be sent as an email attachment to ruth.garza37@utb.edu and egadsconference@gmail.com. 

Visit our website for more information on proposal submissions to the 2013 conference "Revolution and Rebirth in English Studies."

EGADS! 2013 Conference

CFP: EGADS! 2013 Conference

The English Graduate Advancement & Development Society is now welcoming paper and panel proposals for its third academic conference fitting the theme:

"Revolution and Rebirth in English Studies" 

March 9, 2013 

The UTB campus is located at 80 Fort Brown in Brownsville, Texas, a short 30 minute drive from South Padre Island beach. The area offers many attractions that conference participants and out of town visitors can enjoy during their Spring Break vacations.

Proposal Submission Deadline: Saturday, December 15, 2012

Click here for our general conference CFP.

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Indianapolis Opens Museum to Honor Its Literary Native Son

In Kurt Vonnegut’s novel “Cat’s Cradle,” the narrator meets a woman on a plane who is delighted to discover that he is from Indiana. Holding his arm tightly, she tells him, “We Hoosiers got to stick together.”


Read more about the Vonnegut museum at the New York Times.

When You Forget What You Read

By Steven J. Dubner, co-author of "Freakonomics"

Very interesting essay by James Collins (this one, not that one) in the New York Times Book Review about forgetting what you read.

I have just realized something terrible about myself: I don’t remember the books I read. I chose Perjury as an example at random, and its neighbors on my bookshelf, Michael Chabon’s Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay (on the right) and Anka Muhlstein’s Taste for Freedom: The Life of Astolphe de Custine (on the left), could have served just as well. These are books I loved, but as with Perjury, all I associate with them is an atmosphere and a stray image or two, like memories of trips I took as a child.

This is of interest to me because I read a lot and seem to forget nearly as much. From what I can tell, I tend to remember non-fiction better than fiction; for non-fiction, I tend to remember journalism better than books (at least when it comes to factual details).

Read more at the New York Times.

This article refers to a previous article, "The Plot Escapes Me," by James Collins and also at the New York Times.

Lawsuits That Kill Books

Litigious billionaires and foreign courts are as much a threat as book-banning fundamentalists
By Laura Miller

Last week was Banned Books Week, a worthy institution calling attention to efforts to remove books from public libraries and school curricula. This annual event has become so successful that, although the American Library Association reported "460 recorded attempts to remove materials from libraries in 2009," a close examination suggests that many of these amounted to mere "challenges" -- written objections submitted to librarians or teachers by isolated crackpots or control freak parents with minimal chances of seeing their censorious desires fulfilled.

Read more at Salon.com.

Chicano poet alurista at UT Pan American Monday, Oct. 11

alurista will be at UTPA on October 11 as the 2010 speaker in UTPA Library’s Innovative Voices Series. He will also be part of the “alurista Tunaluna Texas Book Tour” organized by his book publisher.

He will be guest of honor at a Merienda/Plática at the Library Faculty Lounge from 4:00-5:30 p.m. Then he will give a formal address that evening at 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Student Union Theater. Students, faculty, staff as well as the general public will have a chance to meet alurista and purchase his latest book, Tunaluna. The UTPA Bookstore will be selling the books as soon as they arrive and at these events.

alurista (real name Alberto Urista) is one of the seminal and most influential voices in the history of Chicano Literature. A pioneering poet of the Chicano Movement in the late 60s and 70s, he broke down barriers in the publishing world with his use of bilingual and multilingual writings in Spanish, English, Nahuatl and Maya. A scholar, activist, editor, organizer and philosopher, he holds a Ph.D in Spanish and Latin American Literature from the University of California in San Diego and is the author of ten books including Floricanto en Aztlán (1971), Timespace Huracán (1976), Spik in Glyph? (1981) and Z Eros (1995). His book, Et Tú Raza?, won the Before Columbus Foundation National Book Award in Poetry in 1996. Author of “El Plan Espiritual de Aztlán,” he is a key figure in the reclaiming of the MeXicano cultural identity, history and heritage through his integration of American Indian language, symbols and spirituality in his writings. (Source: Juan Tejeda, publisher/editor of Aztlan Libre Press, publisher of Tunaluna, alurista’s tenth book of poetry and first publication in ten years).

In the introduction to the book Tunaluna Tejeda writes: “alurista is a Xicano poet for the ages and a chronicler of la Nueva Raza Cózmica. With Tunalunahe trumpets the return of Quetzalcoatl, the feathered-serpent of Aztec and Mayan prophecy, and helps to lead us out of war and into the dawn of a new consciousness and sun, el Sexto Sol, nahuicoatl, cuatro serpiente, sun of justice.”

For more information on the “alurista Tunaluna Texas Book Tour,” go towww.aztlanlibrepress.com or call 210-531-9505.

For more information about alurista’s visit to UTPA, contact Virginia Haynie Gause, Media and Marketing Librarian at vgause@utpa.edu or call 956-665-2303.

Ven a oir alurista!

Celebrate Banned Book Week

This is Banned Book Week, September 25-October 2; sponsored by the American Library Association in conjunction with several other organization, Banned Book Week is meant to call attention to our freedom to read what we want and the First Amendment of the US Constitution. Celebrate Banned Book Week by reading a book or part of a book that's been banned, either recently or one of the classics that's been frequently banned.

For a list of the top 100 banned and/or challenged books of the 20th century, go here: ALA top 100 banned books of 20th century

For more about Banned Book Week and the ALA's efforts to combat censorship, go here: ALA Banned Book Week

Explore the ALA site for more information about libraries, books, and advocacy/issues sponsored by the ALA.

Origin of the Word, Penny

The Penny's British Heritage

Like so much else American, the name penny comes from England. The first modern English coin was the silver penny of Offa, the 8th century king of Mercia. By the 18th century — when the first U.S. coins went into circulation — Brits still used the word penny as the singular for pence, just as they do today. The coin's name derives from the Old English pennige, pronounced, roughly, penny-yuh.

Read more at Time magazine.

Review of Howl Film

Rob Epstein and Jeffrey Friedman's movie "Howl," which features one of James Franco's best performances to date, as legendary Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, is a very mixed bag. It's an oddly dry fusion of documentary and narrative film that arguably doesn't quite click on either level. But I honestly feel bad about pissing on a movie that has so much beauty and purity of spirit in it, so let's accentuate the positive. Fans of either Franco's acting or Ginsberg's poetry absolutely have to see this, of course, and it features a memorable, if controversial, animation by Eric Drooker that illustrates both the themes and the literal story of Ginsberg's eponymous poem.

Read more at Salon.com.

Kafka's Kafkaesque Legacy

During his lifetime, Franz Kafka burned an estimated 90 percent of his work. After his death at age 41, in 1924, a letter was discovered in his desk in Prague, addressed to his friend Max Brod. “Dearest Max,” it began. “My last request: Everything I leave behind me . . . in the way of diaries, manuscripts, letters (my own and others’), sketches and so on, to be burned unread.” Less than two months later, Brod, disregarding Kafka’s request, signed an agreement to prepare a posthumous edition of Kafka’s unpublished novels. “The Trial” came out in 1925, followed by “The Castle” (1926) and “Amerika” (1927). In 1939, carrying a suitcase stuffed with Kafka’s papers, Brod set out for Palestine on the last train to leave Prague, five minutes before the Nazis closed the Czech border. Thanks largely to Brod’s efforts, Kafka’s slim, enigmatic corpus was gradually recognized as one of the great monuments of 20th-century literature. ...

Read more at the New York Times.

Conference at South Texas College Feb 24-26, 2010

Call for Submissions

“De Diosa a Hembra to Chicana: Celebrating the Last
40 Years of Chicana Activism.”
2011 NACCS-Tejas Regional Conference
South Texas College, McAllen, Tejas
24-26 February 2011

The Mexican American Studies Program at South Texas College is accepting
submissions for papers, exhibits, performances, or cultural productions for the
2011 NACCS Tejas Regional Conference at South Texas College. The year
1971 can be considered a turning point in Chicana activism as a group of
Chicana leaders from across the United States came together to voice their
concerns as women. These concerns stemmed from discrimination in the home,
work place, school, and within the Chicano Movement itself. Other issues
addressed at the conference included concerns over healthcare and the
relationship to other feminist movements and sexuality. These women,
numbering in the hundreds, united and disunited in Houston, and sought various
resolutions to their concerns as they strived for social, cultural, racial, gender,
and sexual equality. This is the historical spirit that will be celebrated and
examined during the 2011 NACCS Tejas Regional Conference that will be held
on the 24th through the 26th of February at South Texas College. The NACCS
Tejas Regional conference will provide a forum through which we can
collectively explore the past, present, and future of Chicana activism.
While the primary theme for the conference centers on analyzing and reflecting
on Chicana activism, other topics related to the Chicana/o, Latina/o, or Mexican
American experience are also welcomed. A 100-250 word abstract should be
submitted for the paper, panel, exhibit, performance, or other.

Deadline for Submissions: December 7, 2010

Send questions and proposals electronically to Victor Gomez at
vgomez@southtexascollege.edu

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The Adventure of English

We saw a great series in Dr. Newman's History of the English Language class called "The Adventure of English."

Here's the first episode on YouTube.

$62 on Amazon.com!!! 

Book Fair This Week in McAllen

McAllen Memorial High School Library's Book Fair taking place this week, May 2—8, 2010, at Barnes & Noble (Northcross) at 4005 N. 10^th & Nolana Ave. in McAllen.

The full schedule is below. Patrons must mention the book fair at the checkout if you don't have a voucherin order for a percentage of proceeds from most purchases to go toward helping the library fund its book club.

Readers include Brenda Nettles Riojas, Emmy Perez, Kamala Platt, Ernesto Duenas, Shirley Rickett, and Vanessa Brown as well as . . .

Jay Alvarez, a Cuban exile and Brownsville resident, will read very traditional, romantic, and eloquent poetry in Spanish along with Efraín González, and Arnulfo Vigíl—of Monterrey—at 7 p.m. on Friday night, followed by “The Poet Mariachi,” Daniel García Ordaz, author of You Know What I’m Sayin’? who will read on Friday, May 7 @ 8 p.m. Details about readings by several local writers scheduled to appear:

Monday, May 3
7 p.m.: Brenda Nettles Riojas, author of La Primera Voz Que Oí
8 p.m.: Emmy Pérez, author of Solstice; Assistant Professor at UT-Pan American

Tuesday, May 4, at 7:30 p.m.
Kamala Platt, author of On The Line

Wednesday May 5
7 p.m.: Ernesto Dueñas
8 p.m.: Shirley Rickett, author of Dinner In Oslo

Thursday, May 6

7 p.m.: Vanessa Brown, author of Twiffler; creative director of the R.G.V. Int’l. Poetry Festival

Friday, May 7 at 7 p.m.

Jay Alvarez, a Cuban exile and Brownsville resident; author of Fantasias

Efraín González, author of Cuando Vuelves La Vista/When You Turn Around

Arnulfo Vigíl, national award-winning poet from Monterrey; author of Lourdes y Jorge.

Friday, May 7 at 8 p.m.

Daniel García Ordaz, author of You Know What I’m Sayin’? (Second Edition); García was selected to participate in the Texas Latino Voices project by the Texas Center For The Book and was a featured author at the Dallas International Book Fair. www.elzarapepress.com/books.html

Saturday, May 8

7 p.m.: Katie Hoerth, award-winning author of Among The Butterflies

8 p.m.: Lina Suárez, author of Hija Del Valle

~Daniel García Ordaz
poetmariachi@hotmail.com

Please visit El Zarape Press
www.elzarapepress.com/books.html
Valley International Poetry Festival April 22-25, 2010
www.vipf.org

www.facebook.com/PoetMariachi
www.twitter.com/poetmariachi
www.myspace.com/poetmariachi

VIPF Schedule of Events

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS

(Please check www.vipf.org for updates on schedule or call (956) 358-7211.

Poets listed are scheduled to appear, but may not be available as listed.)

Free Admission * Open To The Public

Donations Welcome * Books & Shirts For Sale

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Boundless 2010: Anthology Release Reception (McAllen)

7:00 – 9:00 p.m.

McAllen Chamber of Commerce Conference Room

Note: Copies of Boundless 2010, the anthology of VIPF, available for $10. 124 pages; perfect-bound; anthology includes poems by 49 poets from across the U.S., India, and England. Wine and cheese reception and readings to follow; Registered poets check-in.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Poets in the Schools (private)

Juarez-Lincoln High School:—9 a.m. to 12 p.m. (tentative)

McAllen Memorial High School: Oscar C. Peña and Michael Guinn—9 to 4 p.m.

Edinburg North: Amalia Ortiz and Lady Mariposa—12 to 4 p.m. (tentative)

Youth Poetry Slam Contest (Mission)

6:00 – 6:45 p.m.

Jitterz Coffee Bar

Note: Recitation contest open to high school students; 6:00 register to compete.

Slam Rules: www.vipf.org/yslam.html

UT-Pan American Student and Faculty Readings (Mission)

6:45 – 7:45 p.m.

Jitterz Coffee Bar

Note: While we respect freedom of speech, this is a family establishment; appropriate language is expected; inappropriate language will not be tolerated.

Open Mic (Mission)

7:45 – 8:30 p.m.

Jitterz Coffee Bar

Note: While we respect freedom of speech, this is a family establishment; appropriate language is expected; inappropriate language will not be tolerated. Sign up with M.C.

Featured Poet Reading: Jesse G. Herrera (Mission)

8:30 – 8:45 p.m.

Jitterz Coffee Bar

Featured Poet Reading: Michael Guinn (Mission)

8:45 – 9:05 p.m.

Jitterz Coffee Bar

Adult Poetry Slam (Mission)

9:05 – 9:55 p.m.

Jitterz Coffee Bar

Note: Recitation contest open to registered poets only.

Master of Ceremonies: Michael Guinn, Featured Poet

Slam Rules: www.vipf.org/slam.html

Note: While we respect freedom of speech, this is a family establishment; appropriate language is expected; inappropriate language will not be tolerated.

Saturday April 25, 2009

Potluck Desayuno/Breakfast (McAllen)

9:30 – 10:00 a.m.

McAllen Chamber of Commerce Board Room

Note: Please bring something to eat and drink, preferably to share.

Readings: Galeria 409 (Brownsville)

10:00 – 12:30 p.m.

Hosts: Mark & Betty Clark

Featuring: Diana Domínguez, Yolanda Barrera, Brenda Nettles Riojas, Jay Alvarez, Oscar C. Peña, Juan M. Pérez, Frank Piña, Arturo Saldaña, Julieta Corpus, Alan Oak, Lady Mariposa, Virginia Torres, Lauren Espinoza, Diana T. Cordova, Lina Suárez

Book Presentation: Chamber of Commerce (McAllen)

10:00 – 10:55 a.m.

Board Room

Hosts: Josie Mixon and P.C. McKinnon

Award-winning poet Josie Mixon discusses her third book, Off The Beaten Path; Mixon is a survivor of sexual and domestic violence and abuse. McKinnon is her biographer.

Workshop: Chamber of Commerce (McAllen)

11:00 – 11:55 p.m.

Board Room

Host: Shirley Rickett, author of Dinner In Oslo

Description: Finding the nugget in your poem.

Note: Please bring ten copies of your poem to share with other participants.

Readings: Narciso Martínez Cultural Arts Center (San Benito)

12:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Host: NMCAC

Featuring: Adriana Babiak-Vázquez, Oscar C. Peña, Robin Cate, Juan M. Pérez, Julieta Corpus, Luis Vázquez, Diana Domínguez, Tim Smith, Amalia Ortiz,

Rudy H. García, Jay Alvarez

Workshop: Chamber of Commerce (McAllen)

12:00 – 12:55 p.m.

Board Room

Host: Dr. Steven P. Schneider, professor of English at UT-Pan American

Description: I will illustrate how photographs and works of art can be used as a catalyst to inspire students’ writing. Each participant will write a poem in response to a photograph or work of art.

Readings: Jitterz Coffee Bar (Mission)

12:00 – 1:50 p.m.

Host: Gabriel de la Garza

Featuring:  Daniel García Ordaz, Jesse G. Herrera, Ken Jones, Laura Reagan-Porras, Meliton Hinojosa, Linda Romero, Jesús Beltrán II, Cory Raymond, Josie Mixon, P.C. McKinnon, Ernesto Dueñas

Readings: Museo Casamata (Matamoros, Tamaulipas)

12:30 – 2:00 p.m.

Host: Museo Casamata

Featuring: Kenneth Treviño, Arturo Saldaña, Yolanda Barrera, Brenda Nettles Riojas

Note: Passport is required; carpooling likely.

Book Presentation: Chamber of Commerce (McAllen)

1:00 – 2:00 p.m.

Conference Room

Host: Dr. Steven P. Schneider and Reefka Schneider

Description: Borderlines: Drawing Border Lives (Wings Press, 2010) is a bilingual collection of poems written by Dr. Schneider in response to a series of 25 drawings by his wife, Reefka.

Note: Books available for sale.

Spotlight on Mexican Poets: Chamber of Commerce (McAllen)

2:00 – 3:30 p.m.

Conference Room

Host: Efraín González

Featuring: featuring Arnulfo Vigíl, Vicky Rodríguez, Lucía González, Efraín González, Armando Alanis, Gabo de Montemayor, Yolanda Barrera

Note: Books available for sale.

Readings: Paragraphs On Padre (South Padre Island)

2:30 – 4:30 p.m.

Host: Joni Montover

Featuring: Kenneth Treviño, Juan M. Pérez, Diana Domínguez, Rudy H. García, Amalia Ortiz, Tim Smith, Alan Oak, Lady Mariposa, Virginia Torres, Lauren Espinoza,

Diana T. Cordova, Lina Suárez

Readings: Savory Perks (Weslaco)

2:30 – 4:45 p.m.

Host: Savory Perks

Featuring: Jesse G. Herrera, Oscar C. Peña, Laura  Reagan-Porras, Meliton Hinojosa,

Shirley A. Rickett, Jay Alvarez, Cory Raymond, Josie Mixon, P.C. McKinnon

Readings: South Texas College: Mid-Valley Campus (Weslaco)

3:45 – 4:45 p.m.

Host: Arnold Becho, Librarian

Featuring: Mona D. Sizer, Oscar C. Peña, Adriana Babiak-Vázquez, Luis Vázquez, Rolando Villafuerte

Readings: Public Library (Pharr)

3:45 – 5:30 p.m.

Host: Adolfo García, Director

Featuring: Daniel García Ordaz, Juan M. Pérez, Frank Piña, Laura  Reagan-Porras, Linda Romero, Jesús Beltrán II, Lady Mariposa, Diana T. Cordova, Lina Suárez, Virginia Torres, Lauren Espinoza, Cory Raymond, Ken Jones, Ernesto Dueñas

*Poetry Pachanga Dinner (*private)

McAllen Chamber of Commerce Main Hall

6:00 – 6:50 p.m.

Note: Dinner for Registered Poets and their Guests Only ($10 per guest)

 4th Annual Poetry Pachanga: Musical Performance

by Karen Eubanks (McAllen)

Chamber of Commerce Conference Room

7:00 – 7:45 p.m. (Doors Open at 6:45 p.m.)

Karen Eubanks is a young singer/songwriter with country/soulful/pop vocals and an emotional, natural delivery. Catch the rising star of the Rio Grande Valley music scene.

4^th Annual Poetry Pachanga: Readings (McAllen)

Chamber of Commerce Conference Room

7:45 – 10:30 p.m.

Featuring All Registered Poets: Armando Alanis, Jay Alvarez, Adriana Babiak-Vázquez, Yolanda Barrera, Jesus Beltran II, Vanessa Brown, Robin Cate, Diana T. Cordova, Julieta Corpus, Diana Dominguez, Ernesto Dueñas, Lauren Espinoza, Daniel García Ordaz, Rudy H. García, Efraín González, Lucía González, Michael Guinn, Jesse G. Herrera, Meliton Hinojosa, Katherine Hoerth, Kenneth Jones, P.C. McKinnon, Josephine Mixon, Gabo de Montemayor, Brenda Nettles Riojas, Alan Oak, Amalia Ortiz, Oscar C. Peña, Juan M. Pérez, Francisco Piña, Jr., Cory Raymond, Laura Reagan-Porras, Shirley A. Rickett, Virginia Rodriguez Garza, Linda F. Romero, Arturo Saldaña, Veronica Sandoval, Steven P. Schneider, Mona Sizer, Lina Suárez, Tim Smith, Virginia Torres, Kenneth Treviño, Luis Vázquez, Arnulfo Vigíl, and Rolando Villafuerte.

Sunday April 25, 2010

Dr. Gloria E. Anzaldúa Burial Site Visit (Hargill)

10:00 a.m.

Meet at UTPA Bookstore, 1201 W. University Dr., Edinburg (corner of 107 and 4^th St.)

Note: We will depart the parking lot at 10:10 a.m. after sorting out carpool. Spiritual readings at the Valle de Paz cemetery.

Note: Call Daniel at 956-358-7211 to RSVP

Please RSVP?

A couple paragraphs from Grammar Girl's April 19 e-newsletter:

Last week's newsletter was a disaster! Not only was there a typo (yes, we have a proofreader and review the copy more than once), but also in the section about my New York City book signing on May 1, I wrote "Please RSVP." Oh, the horror! I've known that "please RSVP" is redundant since junior high.

"RSVP" is an initialism of the French phrase "répondez s'il vous plaît," which means "reply if you please." Since "RSVP" already has "please" in it, "please RSVP" is redundant.

Why did I write "please RSVP"? All I can say is that we all have bad days.

Spring Salon 2010

Photos in our Web album.