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SALT LAKE ARTS COUNCIL ANNOUNCES READING

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

The Salt Lake Arts Council and the University of Utah English Department present visiting writers Antonya Nelson and Kathryn Cowles reading from their work on Thursday, November 19 at 7:00 pm in the Salt Lake Library (210E 400 South).

Antonya Nelson teaches at the University of Houston, where she holds the Cullen Chair in Creative Writing. Her first story collection, The Expendables, won the Flannery O'Connor Award for Short Fiction in 1990. She is the author of five other short story collections, including Nothing Right (2009), and three novels: Talking in Bed (winner of the Heartland Prize), Nobody's Girl, and Living to Tell. She has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and The Guggenheim Foundation, as well as the Rea Award for Short Fiction.

Nelson's work has appeared in The New Yorker, Esquire, Harpers, Mademoiselle, Redbook, and many literary journals, as well as in Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize, and O. Henry: Prize Stories anthologies. In addition, she is a Writer at Large for Texas Monthly magazine. She is married to writer Robert Boswell, whom she met in the MFA program at the University of Arizona 25 years ago. They have two children, and live in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Houston, Texas, and Telluride, Colorado.

Kathryn Cowles's first book of poems, Eleanor, Eleanor, not your real name, won the Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize and was published in 2008. A group of her poems and poem-photograph collages was selected by Cole Swensen to receive the Larry Levis Associated Writers and Writing Programs Poetry Prize for 2009. She has recent and forthcoming work in Interim, Versal, Colorado Review, Octopus, and Pleiades, among others. Cowles earned a PhD in English and Creative Writing from the University of Utah, where she taught in the departments of English, Writing, and Gender Studies. She served as co-editor of poetry for Quarterly West and co-chair of The Working Dog reading series. Cowles is now an Assistant Professor of Poetry and Literature at Ohio Northern University.

KING’S ENGLISH BOOKSHOP HOSTS DAVID KRANES

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On Thursday, November 19th, The King's English is pleased to present esteemed author David Kranes at Rowland Hall Lower School, 720 S. Guardsman Way, at 7:00 P.M., in Salt Lake City.

Kranes will read from his book, The National Tree, a story of the journey of a perfect 75-foot Sitka spruce as it makes it way from its northern California birthplace to its holiday home in Washington, D.C ., as well as the journey of discovery for the father and son who deliver it.

Kranes will also share exclusive clips of the new Hallmark movie version of the book (set to premiere on the Hallmark Channel on November 28th). Kranes will then discuss the two forms, and his unique perspective on theexperience. There will also be a Q&A period to follow.

Kranes sums up the experience thusly: "Like other fiction writers, I've had my share of calls from someone sounding very sincere asking whether a particular story or novel is tied up in film rights. So it was nice when a film of The National Tree actually got made. The option to do so had existed for almost four years, and then, one evening, I got a call from an out-of-state friend who had found out they were actually casting the movie."

In a phone call with the producer, I'd been told, 'the film is a distant cousin of your beautiful novel, but I hope you like it.' So finally this 'distant cousin' arrived on CD. When I finally summoned the nerve to sit down to watch it--Iliked it. It wasn't the novel--that was true--but it captured the spirit of the novel. And it was well directed and acted. I hope others like it as well. And I hope it leads them to that 'distant' novel."

For the past four decades, David Kranes has been one of the most influential and sustained forces for writing and fostering writers in Utah. Throughout his career Kranes has been a prolific writer, producing stories, plays, novels, screenplays, and lectures. He is the author of seven novels, including Margins, The Hunting Years, The National Tree, and Making the Ghost Dance.

Established in 1977, The King's English Bookshop is a locally owned Salt Lake City business that prides itself on its knowledgeable, friendly booksellers, regular author readings, and an extensive inventory of fiction, nonfiction, mysteries, and children's books. The King's English
is located on the corner of 15th South and 15th East, in a block of neighborhood shops.

USU A HUGE PRESENCE IN FOLKLORE SOCIETY OF UTAH’S ANNUAL CONFERENCE

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

On Saturday, November 14th, the Folklore Society of Utah held its annual conference on the Utah Valley University campus. This year Utah State University had six current and former students together with a faculty member presenting their work. They included Will Pooley, Jeannine Heuneman, Liza Olsen, Bernadene Ryan, Randy Williams, Lisa Duskin-Goedea, and Lisa Gabbert.

STEVE SIPORIN AWARDED LADY DAVIS FELLOWSHIP AT HEBREW UNIVERSITY

Mon, 16 Nov 2009 00:00:00 GMT

Department of English Professor Steve Siporin will soon be leaving for Hebrew University as a visiting Lady Davis Fellow. There Siporin will teach American Folklore and continue his research on Italian Jews, specifically Augusto Segre, whose memoir Siporin translated. The translation was published in 2008 by University of Nebraska Press.

"The Lady Davis Fellowship Trust was established 33 years ago to provide the opportunity for leading scientists and scholars, Post-doctoral Researchers and Doctoral Students from abroad, regardless of nationality, gender or field of scholarship to teach, study and participate in research in Israel at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem and at the Technion Institute of Technology in Haifa.

"To date, 623 Visiting Professors, 946 Postdoctoral and Doctoral students and 175 Israelis studying abroad have served as Lady Davis Fellows. The international impact and, hence, recognition has been impresssive, making it one of the most distinguished and sought after fellowship programs in the world. In addition, over these 33 years the Lady Davis Fellowship Trust has greatly enriched the Hebrew University and the Technion by constantly introducing exceptional talent into their academic environment and by linking these two institutions, through human bridges, with the world network of science and scholarship.

"The Fellowship program was named after Lady Davis, who provided the endowment for the Trust. Lady Davis was a distinguished philanthropist and benefactor of educational institutions, who died in Montreal, Canada in 1963. "http://ldft.huji.ac.il/index.html