Larissa Szporluk Reading

What: Larissa Szporluk Poetry Reading and Discussion

Date: Thursday, 10 April 2014

Time: 6:00pm – 7:15pm

Location: Case Western Reserve University Room: Clark Hall, Room 206 (map)

Join us for an evening of poetry with Larissa Szporluk, which will be the final event of the semester for the Poets of Ohio reading series.

Szporluk will read from her most recent collection Traffic with MacBeth (Tupelo Press, 2011), as well as other work. Her performance will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

The event is free and open to the public. This and previous readings have been made possible by the support of the Helen B. Sharnoff Committee, the Baker-Nord Center for the Humanities, as well as the English and SAGES Departments.

It would be very much appreciated if you could spread this announcement and/or word of the event over the course of the next few days.

Larissa Szporluk was raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan and earned degrees at the University of Michigan, the University of California-Berkeley, and the University of Virginia, where she was a Henry Hoyns fellow. Her books of poetry include Dark Sky Question (1998), which won the Barnard Poetry Prize; Isolato (2000), winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize; The Wind, Master Cherry, the Wind (2003); Embryos and Idiots (2007); and Traffic with Macbeth (2011). She has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, and currently teaches at Bowling Green State University.

UPDATE: 04 APRIL 2014

For next class session, please read Larissa Szporluk's Traffic with MacBeth (Tupelo Press, 2011) and be prepared to discuss the collection.

Additionally, you will need to turn in a hard-copy of a typed, two-page, double-space response to the book. Your response essay should engage Szporluk's book using one of the critical articles, essays, or chapters we've read so far this semester. To do so, please look at how writers such as Stephen Burt, Richard Hugo, Philip Larkin, James Longenbach, Richard Archambeau, or Elisa Gabbert critically engage with a poem. Think of their writing as a model for how you can approach Szporluk's book. Ultimately, you'll want to provide a close reading of one of two poems in the collection that are emblematic of Traffic with MacBeth's broader concerns or aesthetic traits.

In addition to being two-pages, double-spaced and typed, your responses should be in 12-point Times New Roman font with standard one inch margins. Your name should appear in the top, right-hand corner and the essay should be formatted according to MLA-stlye guidelines. To this end, you should be properly quoting both Szporluk's book and at least one of the articles.

By Wednesday 26 March at 12pm, everyone should email three questions that they would like to ask Szporluk after her reading. These questions should engage her poems and the critical readings directly; moreover, they should be formed in such a manner that they will prompt extended discussion, not just "Yes" or "No" answers. I will read over your questions and provide feedback for how they can be improved. You will be expected to ask all the poets questions after their readings.

On Tuesday 18 March, instead of having a regular class session, Larissa Szporluk will be reading. I will provide more information regarding the reading over spring break via email.

UPDATE: 28 MAR 2014

Instead of meeting as a class next week, I will conference with each one of you individually for 30 minutes regarding your final research topics and essays. These conferences are not optional.

Conferences will be held on Tuesdays and Thursdays. It would be most expedient to schedule an appointment with me through the Writing Resource Center's website during my tutoring hours, which I hold from 10am - 12:30pm. If you are not available during these time-slots, I can also meet with you on Tuesday from 3pm-5:30pm, or Thursday from 2pm-5:30pm.

If the only time you can meet you can meet is during our class period, please let me know and we can make arrangements.

If you schedule an appointment through the WRC's website, please send me an email informing me of this fact; otherwise, send me an email with three possible time-slots in the next 24 hours.

During the conference, please bring your Research Proposal that I commented on and additional research or sources you've found. Please, come prepared to talk about your topic at length. I will expect you to lead these discussions, as well as have a series of questions, comments, and concerns that you would like to address.

Below is the revised schedule with due dates:

REVISED SCHEDULE FOR USSYE 289: POETS OF OHIO

Tuesday, 01 April:	Individual Conferences
Thursday, 03 April:	Individual Conferences
Tuesday, 08 April:	Szporluk Discussion and Response Essay
Thursday, 10 April:	Szporluk Reading
Tuesday, 15 April:	Annotated Bibliography (with Proposal) due
Tuesday, 22 April:	Course Wrap-up and Evaluations
Thursday, 08 May:	Final Research Essay due @ 8am

TYRONE WILLIAMS POETRY READING

What: Tyrone Williams Poetry Reading and Discussion

Date: Thursday, 27 March 2014

Time: 6:00pm – 7:15pm

Location: Case Western Reserve University Room: Guilford Hall Parlor(map)

Join us for an evening of poetry with Tyrone Williams. He will read from his most recent collection Adventures of Pi (Dos Madres Press, 2011), as well as other work. His performance will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

This event is free and open to the public.

It would be very much appreciated if you could spread this announcement and/or word of the event over the course of the next few days.

Tyrone Williams teaches literature and theory at Xavier University in Cincinnati, Ohio. He is the author of five books of poetry, c.c. (Krupskaya Books, 2002), On Spec (Omnidawn Publishing, 2008), The Hero Project of the Century (The Backwaters Press, 2009), Adventures of Pi (Dos Madres Press, 2011) and Howell (Atelos Books, 2011). He is also the author of several chapbooks, including a prose eulogy, Pink Tie (Hooke Press, 2011). His website is at http://home.earthlink.net/~suspend/

UPDATE 21 MAR 2014

For next class session, please read Tyrone Williams' Adventures in Pi (Dos Madres Press, 2011) and be prepared to discuss the collection.

Additionally, you will need to turn in a hard-copy of a typed, two-page, double-space response to the book. Your response essay should engage Williams' book using one of the critical articles, essays, or chapters we've read so far this semester. To do so, please look at how writers such as Stephen Burt, Richard Hugo, Philip Larkin, James Longenbach, Richard Archambeau, or Elisa Gabbert critically engage with a poem. Think of their writing as a model for how you can approach Williams' book. Ultimately, you'll want to provide a close reading of one of two poems in the collection that are emblematic of Adventures in Pi's broader concerns or aesthetic traits.

In addition to being two-pages, double-spaced and typed, your responses should be in 12-point Times New Roman font with standard one inch margins. Your name should appear in the top, right-hand corner and the essay should be formatted according to MLA-stlye guidelines. To this end, you should be properly quoting both Williams' book and at least one of the articles.

By Wednesday 26 March at 12pm, everyone should email three questions that they would like to ask Williams after her reading. These questions should engage his poems and the critical readings directly; moreover, they should be formed in such a manner that they will prompt extended discussion, not just "Yes" or "No" answers. I will read over your questions and provide feedback for how they can be improved. You will be expected to ask all the poets questions after their readings.

On Tuesday 18 March, instead of having a regular class session, Tyrone Williams will be reading. I will provide more information regarding the reading over spring break via email.

Dave Lucas Poetry Reading

What: Dave Lucas Poetry Reading and Discussion

Date: Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Time: 6:00pm – 7:15pm

Location: Case Western Reserve University Room: Guilford Hall Parlor(map)

Join us for an evening of poetry with Dave Lucas. He will read from his most recent collection Weather (University of Georgia Press, 2011), as well as other work. His performance will be followed by a question-and-answer session.

This event is free and open to the public.

It would be very much appreciated if you could spread this announcement and/or word of the event over the course of the next few days.

Dave Lucas is the author of Weather (Georgia, 2011), which received the 2012 Ohioana Book Award for Poetry, and is a co-founder and co-curator of the Brews + Prose literary series at Market Garden Brewery. Recently Rita Dove selected him to be featured on BillMoyers.com as a “young poet to watch.” A PhD candidate in English at the University of Michigan, he lives in Cleveland, where he was born and raised.

UPDATE: 28 FEB 2014

For next class session, please read Dave Lucas' Weather (University of Georgia Press, 2011) and be prepared to discuss the collection.

Additionally, you will need to turn in a hard-copy of a typed, two-page, double-space response to the book. Your response essay should engage Lucas' book using one of the critical articles, essays, or chapters we've read so far this semester. To do so, please look at how writers such as Stephen Burt, Richard Hugo, Philip Larkin, James Longenbach, Richard Archambeau, or Elisa Gabbert critically engage with a poem. Think of their writing as a model for how you can approach Lucas' book. Ultimately, you'll want to provide a close reading of one of two poems in the collection that are emblematic of Weather's broader concerns or aesthetic traits.

In addition to being two-pages, double-spaced and typed, your responses should be in 12-point Times New Roman font with standard one inch margins. You name should appear in the top, right-hand corner and the essay should be formatted according to MLA-stlye guidelines. To this end, you should be properly quoting both Lucas' book and at least one of the articles.

By Monday 17 March at 12pm, everyone should email three questions that they would like to ask Lucas after her reading. These questions should engage his poems and the critical readings directly; moreover, they should be formed in such a manner that they will prompt extended discussion, not just "Yes" or "No" answers. I will read over your questions and provide feedback for how they can be improved. You will be expected to ask all the poets questions after their readings.

On Tuesday 18 March, instead of having a regular class session, Dave Lucas will be reading. I will provide more information regarding the reading over spring break via email.