Faculty Accomplishments

Brian Bedard's personal essay, "Christmas Letter 1997," appears in an anthology entitled Christmas on the Great Plains, published in the fall of 2004 by the University of Iowa Press.

Chris Ervin presented a paper entitled "The A/Synchronous Writing Center: Pedagogies and Possibilities" at the 5th Biennial Thomas R. Watson Conference on Rhetoric and Composition in October at the University of Louisville.

Lee Ann Roripaugh's short story, "Sugar Plum Fairy," has been accepted for publication by the literary journal, River Styx. Over the summer, she gave poetry readings and/or was part of a panel in Lincoln, Nebraska, the High Plains Book Festival in Billings, Montana, and the South Dakota
Festival of the Book in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

Ed Allen’s poetry collection 67 Mixed Messages has been accepted for publication by Ahsahta Press at Boise State University. The manuscript, a hyper-formal sonnet
sequence, was a runner-up in Ahsahta Press’s Sawtooth Poetry Prize competition. Publication is planned for late 2005. In August, Ed was a presenter at the South Dakota Festival of Books in Sioux Falls, where he read some stories from his collection Ate it Anyway.

In June 2004, Professor Susan Wolfe presented “The Poor Are Different from You and Me: Masculinity and Class in To Have and Have Not at the International Hemingway Conference in Key West, Florida. She and Roberta Rude (from USD’s Theatre Department) co-authored “Beauty and Class in Miss Congeniality: Galatea as Miss New Jersey,” which was presented at the SW/TX Popular Culture Association conference held in San Antonio, TX, April 7-10. More recently, Susan and Lee Roripaugh co-authored a paper, “A Community of Femmes: Packaging Lesbians in The L-Word,” which has been accepted for a book as yet untitled, and a version of which will be presented in St. Louis in November at the meeting of the Midwest Modern Language Association Meeting. She has also been informed that “Embodied Identities: Consciousness and Identity in Star Trek’s Trills” has been accepted for publication in the electronic journal Reconstruction.

Norma Wilson spoke about Native American Poetry and the Natural Environment at the Pierre Street Emporium, Pierre SD, on Saturday, October 9. Her presentation was followed by a book signing. Norma Wilson will present this year's Harrington lecture, "Millennium Heartbeat," on Thursday, November 4, at 7 p.m. in Farber Hall, Old Main.

Dennis Sjolie was elected vice president of Dakota TESL at the June Dakota TESL conference held in Fargo, ND, where he presented a session entitled “The ESL Class Band.” In addition, his short fiction “Edges” appeared in the summer issue of Flesh & Blood and “The Witch Atop Black Creek Ridge” appears in the fall issue of Mudrock: Stories & Tales. Forthcoming fiction includes “Harvest of Bone” in Midnight Times, “Girls like Katie Doogan” in Words of Wisdom, and “Sky like Armageddon” in Happy.

"Emily Haddad's article, "Tennyson, Arnold, and the Wealth of the East," appears in the current issue of Victorian Literature and Culture.

Alumni News

Ashley Miklos Atteberry (MA 2004) is teaching Freshman English at the Community College branch of Western Kentucky University.

Winona Laduke Speaks

Farber Hall was packed on Wednesday, October 6, for Winona LaDuke's speech on "Women, Politics and the Environment." LaDuke received a standing ovation. The video of her presentation is on reserve for English 445 at the circulation desk of the I.D. Weeks Library.



posted by Anonymous at 8:35 AM

The Vermillion Literary Project invites everyone to attend the VLP 2004 Fall Literary Festival, to be held October 28-30, 2004, on the campus of the University of South Dakota in Vermillion. USD's featured writer for the festival is National Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. Most of the events, including a reading by Kooser, are free and open to the general public. The festival is an opportunity to connect with Kooser and noteworthy local writers, to write (writing marathon and short story contest), and to share your writing with the general public (poetry slam). It's a festival of writing!

Thursday, October 28th, 2004:

7:00 p.m.       VLP Musical Performance and Poetry Slam at the Coffee Shop Gallery, 24 W. Main Street, downtown Vermillion. Join us for live music by Crystal Gordon, to be followed by a poetry slam, a fun competition for poets. Slam poets, bring at least three poems. Halloween costumes encouraged! Prizes awarded! This event is free. For more information about the VLP poetry slams, visit http://www.usd.edu/~projlit/vlpslam.cfm .


Friday, October 29th, 2004:

10:30 a.m.-2:00 p.m.    VLP Writing Marathon and Fundraiser, Hoy A in the Coyote Student Center, USD. Write, roam, and raise funds for the VLP! Find out more about the Writing Marathon and Fundraiser by visiting http://www.usd.edu/~projlit/marathon.cfm (a minimum of $15 total in sponsorships is required in order to participate).

3:00 p.m.       Question & Answer session with National Poet Laureate Ted Kooser. Coyote Student Center, USD. Free.

7:00 p.m.       USD-Sponsored Wine and Cheese Reception featuring the poetry of USD graduate students Kari Hammer and Theo Bohn. Al Neuharth Media Center, USD. Free.

8:00 p.m.       USD-Sponsored Poetry Reading featuring National Poet Laureate Ted Kooser, with opening readings by English PhD student John Nelson and USD professor Lee Ann Roripaugh. Al Neuharth Media Center, USD. Free.

9:00 p.m.       Book Signing with Ted Kooser. Al Neuharth Media Center, USD. Free.

Saturday, October 30th:

12:00-3:00 p.m. VLP 3-Hour Short Story Contest. First prize of $100 and publication in the VLP Magazine for the first- and second-place winners! McKusick 101, USD.  Register online for the Short Story Contest at http://www.usd.edu/~projlit/storycontest.cfm. ($10 registration fee general public; $2 USD students).

****************
For more information about the VLP 2004 Fall Literary Festival, visit http://www.usd.edu/~projlit/04litfestival.cfm .

Except for the VLP Musical Performance and Poetry Slam, all events are held on the USD campus. Kooser's visit is sponsored by the Office of the President, the College of Arts and Sciences, the English Department, and the College of Fine Arts at the University of South Dakota. Authors' books are available at Barnes & Noble Campus Bookstore in Vermillion and at the festival.
posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 1:38 PM

If you're interested in hanging out with other local writers and discussing writing (including sharing your own writing), the Vermillion Literary Project invites you to the first meeting of the VLP Community Writer's Group. It will be held at the Washington Street Arts Center (202 Washington Street, Vermillion) on Tuesday, October 19, at 7 p.m. Come with ideas about what we can do to get things started on the right track. This group is open to the USD community and the general public. For more information, contact Jake Mailander at jmailand@usd.edu.

posted by Michelle Rogge Gannon at 1:34 PM