Contemporary Writers Series 2004-2005
Ron Hansen Thursday, September 30, 2004
Montante Cultural Center 8 pm
Hansen is the author of a story collection, Nebraska; six novels, including Atticus, a National Book Award Finalist, Mariette in Ecstasy, The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, and Hitler’s Niece; and a collection of essays, A Stay Against Confusion: Essays on Faith and Fiction. Hansen has held the Wallace Stegner Creative Writing Fellowship at Stanford, has twice been nominated for a PEN/Faulkner Award, and is the recipient of an Award in Literature from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letter. Hansen is the Gerard Manley Hopkins, S.J., Professor in the Arts and Humanities at Santa Clara University, where he earned an M.A. in spirituality in 1995.
Web Resources
Literary Biography
http://www.scu.edu/SCU/Departments/English/faculty/hansen.html
The Official Santa Clara University Department of English bio includes a list of his writings.
Cornell Visiting Writer Website
http://www.writers.cornell.edu/hansen.html
Includes a complete bibliography and list of Hansen’s distinctions and awards.
Criticism and Reviews
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/hanscrit.htm
This collection provides links to excerpts of criticism to each of Hansen’s books.
Writing Selections
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/hansesel.htm
Includes selections from A Stay Against Confusion, Hitler’s Niece, and Mariette in Ecstasy.
Interviews
March 3, 2003
http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2003/109/23.0.html
Hansen discusses the distinction between a “Christian writer” and a “writer who is Christian” with Christianity Today’s Dick Staub.
Fall 1996
http://www.leaderu.com/marshill/mhr06/hansen1.html
In an interview with Scott Sawyer of the Mars Hill Review, Hansen discusses his novel, Mariette in Ecstasy, and the relationship between art, justice, and faith.
Bios
Creighton University Website
http://mockingbird.creighton.edu/NCW/hansen.htm
This website provides a brief bio and links to buy Hansen’s books.
Susan Power
Thursday, October 28, 2004
Grupp Fireside Lounge 8 pm
Power is a native of Chicago, an enrolled member of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. She’s earned undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard and an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop. Her best-selling first novel, The Grass Dancer, winner of the PEN/Hemingway prize for first fiction in 1994, was a Book of the Month Club and Quality Paperback Book Club selection. Her short fiction has appeared in Atlantic Monthly, Paris Review, and The Best American Short Stories. Her new book is Roofwalker, winner of the Milkweed National Fiction Prize, a collection of stories and histories.
Web Resources
Voices from the Gaps: Women Writers of Color Website
http://voices.cla.umn.edu/newsite/authors/POWERsusan.htm
This useful site contains a brief a bio, photos, and a review of The Grass Dancer.
Hodder Fellowship Announcement – March 10, 1997
http://www.princeton.edu/pr/pwb/97/0310/0310-power.html
Caroline Mosley interesting article about Power includes much biographical information and a review of her first novel, The Grass Dancer.
Native American Authors Project Website
http://www.ipl.org/div/natam/bin/browse.pl/A259
Site includes library references to Power’s work and criticism.
Literaturshock Website
http://www.literaturschock.de/biografien/000244
German literary website includes a brief bio and German language links.
Reviews
Roofwalker Reviews
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/stores/detail/-/books/1571310398/reviews/102-2061571-3853736#15713103987297
This site contains an assortment of brief reviews for Power’s new work.
Reading Group Choices Endorsement
http://www.readinggroupchoices.com/html/reading_group_choices_95_6.html
Internet group suggests The Grass Dancer be used in readers groups. Site includes summary and possible topics for discussion.
Eavan Boland Thursday, March 3, 2005
Montante Cultural Center 8 pm
2nd Annual Hassett Reading
Eavan Boland was born in Dublin and earned an undergraduate degree from Trinity College. She has published nine books of poetry, including In A Time of Violence, An Origin Like Water, and The Lost Land. She is also the author of a book of prose, Object Lessons: The Life of the Woman and Poet in Our Time, and co-editor with Mark Strand of The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms. Her most recent book is Against Love Poetry. She’s received a Lannan Foundation Award in Poetry and an American Ireland Fund Literary Award. She lives in Ireland and California, where she is the director of the Creative Writing Program at Stanford University.
Web Resources
Boland’s American Academy of Poets Website
http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?45442B7C000C07000D
Includes a short biography, audio recordings, and interesting links.
Boland’s Norton Poets Online Website
http://www.nortonpoets.com/bolande.htm
Includes links to reviews of each of Boland’s works, several interviews, audio recordings, and selections from her poetry.
Daughters
http://www.poets.org/exh/Exhibit.cfm?45442B7C000C0F
In this exhibit Boland curates, she collects poetry about daughters from W.B. Yeats, Sylvia Plath, and others.
Video of “The Emigrant Irish”
http://www.favoritepoem.org/poems/boland/index.html
A video captures Boland emotively reading this poem.
Fall 2004
http://www.caffeinedestiny.com/boland.html
In an interview with the literary website Caffeine Destiny, Boland discusses her poetry.
10-29-2001
http://www.newyorker.com/online/content/?011029on_onlineonly01a
Boland discusses her book, Against Love Poetry, and compares American and Irish poetry with the New Yorker’s Alice Quinn.
Fall 1999
http://www.poets.org/poems/Prose.cfm?prmID=2088
In an interview with American Poet’s Elizabeth Schmidt, Boland discusses her influences, feminism, and her writing process.
A Short Biography and Bibliography
http://www.emory.edu/ENGLISH/Bahri/Boland.html
From Emory University’s English department, this site provides a summary of Boland’s life and works.
Garrison KeillorMonday, April 4, 2005
Montante Cultural Center 8 pm
Garrison Keillor was born in Anoka, Minnesota and graduated from the University of Minnesota. Since 1974, he has been the host and writer of the Saturday-night radio program A Prairie Home Companion. He is the author of 13 books, including Lake Wobegon Days, Wobegon 1956, The Book of Guys, and Love Me, and editor of the anthology Good Poems. He now teaches occasionally at the University of Minnesota, and is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. He lives with his wife and daughter in St. Paul.
Web Resources
A Prairie Home Companion
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/
The official website of Keillor’s radio show, this site offers information about tickets for Keillor readings, audio from the past shows, and interesting links.
The Writer’s Almanac
http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
Garrison Keillor’s daily public radio program of poetry and history. Each day on the five-minute-long program Keillor reads a poem and mentions some important events on this day in history. The site includes a year’s worth of archives.
From the Desk of Garrison Keillor
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/deskofgk/
A prolific writer, Garrison Keillor is a frequent contributor to newspapers and magazines throughout the United States and abroad. This link connects to a selection of articles published since 1989 and a few unpublished pieces.
8/21/2004
http://www.truthout.org/docs_04/082304L.shtml
Keillor discusses his politics and hopes for the 2004 election with Salon.com’s David Talbot.
Audio Interviews, 1983 & 1985
http://wiredforbooks.org/garrisonkeillor/
Listen to Keillor discuss living in Minnesota, the bad habits of smugness and self-satisfaction, why the customer is often wrong, and the joy of being around people that "talk funny" and believe strange.
Articles
“In Praise of Laziness”
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/deskofgk/010910_time.shtml
Time Magazine - September 10, 2001
“The Mysteries of Prom Night”
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/deskofgk/000515_time.shtml Time Magazine - May 15, 2000
“A Graduation Speech”
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/deskofgk/000000_graduation.shtml
(Previously unpublished essay)
Homegrown Democrat
http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/features/deskofgk/2004/08/hgd_1thru4.pdf
Read the first four chapters of Keillor’s new book.
Florida State Bio
http://www.fsu.edu/~wfsu_fm/programs/phc/bio.html
A short biography of Keillor’s life.