Upcoming January Literary Events

Last week we shared with you a list of dates and deadlines for submitting your abstracts, writings, and resumes. Today we have another list of dates to mark in your calendars, but this time of great literary events taking place in the coming weeks. Some are on campus and some are out in the city, but all promise to be well worth your time!

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Sunday, January 29th – Sunday Salon Chicago, a monthly literary reading series featuring local and national authors, will be taking place at Black Rock (3614 N Damen Ave) at 7 p.m. Admission is free.

This month, Sunday Salon Chicago welcomes the literary journal Polyphony H.S. and some writers who support them, including Billy Lombardo, Marco Buscaglia, and DePaul’s own Christine Sneed. Polyphony contributors Haiyun Cho and Rachel Stone will also be featured. Polyphony H.S. is a literary magazine whose mission is, “to create a high-quality literary magazine written, edited, and published by high school students. We strive to build respectful, mutually beneficial, writer-editor relationships that form a community devoted to improving students’ literary skills in the areas of poetry, fiction, and creative non-fiction.”

For more information, visit http://www.sundaysalon.com/chicago-salon or check out Sunday Salon Chicago on Facebook.

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From the Guild Literary Complex:

January 6th-13th – Facebook Yearbook, A Virtual Open Mic: Post your best stanza, paragraph, or one-liner of any work of poetry or prose with a picture on the Guild Literary Complex Facebook group & the Guild will add it to their upcoming, downloadable website’s online yearbook to honor all the thrilling writing of our supporters to kickoff inspiration for the new year. Click the poster for more details.

January 18th – Palabra Pura Special Event Guest Curators Spotlight at 7:30 pm. The Guild Complex is kicking off their 7th season of this bilingual poetry series with the guest curators for 2012. Hear some of their own work, as well as info on the exciting evenings they’ve planned for the year. It will take place at La Bruquena, 2726 W Division Street. Free admission.

January 27th – Applied Words: To Your Health at 7:00 pm. An evening exploring how writers are using their creative work as a tool in mental or physical health and fitness. Reading/performance plus a Q&A between featured artists and audience. It will take place at 2950 W Chicago Ave. Free admission.

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And from the DePaul Humanities Center:

January 19th – Literature and Music Series: Cultural Musicologist Susan McClary presents Salome in the Court of Queen Christina: Stradella, Wilde & Strauss. 5:30 p.m. Reception – 6:00 p.m. Lecture. Cortelyou Commons, 2324 N. Fremont St.

January 31st – From The World Through The Eyes of Angels To Saddam City: Interview and Discussion with award-winning Iraqi author and Humanities Center Visiting Fellow Mahmoud Saeed. 5:30 p.m. Reception – 6:00 p.m. Interview and Discussion. DePaul Student Center, rm. 314, 2250 N. Sheffield Ave.

Hope to see you there!

Pre-Register for the AWP Conference

By now, most Ex Libris readers have probably already heard about– and started getting excited for– the 2012 Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP) Annual Conference & Bookfair in Chicago. The conference will host more than 400 presentations, a keynote address by Margaret Atwood, and attract more than 550 publishers to the bookfair.

If you are interested in registering and have not already done so, take advantage of the pre-registration rates to save and to avoid long-lines at on-site registration. Prior to January 23rd, the student rate is just $40; after that it goes to $60. For more information, please visit the online registration site at http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2012reg.php

If you still have questions about the AWP Conference, here are a few useful tips and links:

Hotel and Travel Information

• For the most up-to-date information about reserving a room at one of the conference hotels, please visit http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2012hoteltravel.php

Featured Presenters, Schedule of Events, & Off-Site Events

• A list of the featured presenters appearing at the 2012 AWP Conference & Bookfair can be found at http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2012headliners.php
• For a complete listing of the over 400 conference readings and panels, or to generate your own personal schedule, please visit http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2012sched.php
• For a complete list of the over 550 publishers, presses, magazines, and organizations attending the bookfair please visit http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2012exhibitorslist.php

• If the 550 exhibits of the bookfair, and 400-plus events at the AWP Conference are not enough for you, please consider one of the many off-site events organized by attendees, sponsors, and local institutions http://www.awpwriter.org/conference/2012offsite.php

More Conference Sessions for Chicago

The 2012 AWP Conference & Bookfair in Chicago will feature events at both the Chicago Hilton and the Palmer House Hilton hotels. This arrangement will allow the AWP to offer more events and support the participation of more writers. Increasing the number of offered events enables more writers and teachers to serve as presenters, and by extension to secure travel funding from their institutions. Beginning with the 2013 gathering in Boston, all AWP conferences will be centralized around a convention center.

DePaul’s Masters in Writing and Publishing program will have a table at the book fair, so make sure to stop in and say hello!

 

And a few more things going on in the English department and on Ex Libris:

Current students should check their email accounts for information about applying for Partial Tuition Scholarships. The deadline for applying for PTS awards for the 2012 Winter Quarter is Friday, January 27, and the application forms can be found on D2L.

Also sent out via email was the application for the Sigma Tau Delta English Honors Society. Please contact Prof. James Murphy at Jmurphy5@depaul.edu with any questions about Sigma Tau Delta and how to apply.

Reminder: deadlines for application for Degree Conferral are coming up soon if you are planning on graduating in the Winter or Spring quarter. Visit the LA&S website for more information.

And finally, don’t forget to check the Spring 2012 class schedule on Ex Libris, as we are updating it almost daily as new class information comes in. Of course, all the information posted on this page is tentative and subject to change, but it’s a great way to get an idea of what to look forward to in the next quarter!

Student & Alumni News and Werner Herzog at DePaul

What have our students and alumni been up to over break? Publishing lots of great stuff!

Congratulations to current student Zhanna Vaynberg (M.A.W.P.) who recently had a poem published in Burning Word Literary Magazine. Zhanna wrote her poem, “Bad Timing,” for Christine Sneed’s Eng 484 class last quarter. You can download “Bad Timing,” and the rest of Burning Word Issue 61 for free at burningword.com.

Congratulations also to alum Marianne McDonough-Chrisos (M.A.W.P. ’11) just had a Flash Fiction piece accepted to online literary magazine Literary Juice. Her short piece, “Thai Tea” can be read here.

And one last piece of exciting alumni news from Greg Schumaker (M.A.W.P. ’11). Greg is currently a regular contributor to the new blog In Our Words, which was founded by current DePaul student Nico Lang and DePaul alum Patrick Gill. Of course, we want to congratulate Greg, but Greg would also like to encourage other DePaul students and alumni– especially of the English programs– to consider submitting their work to In Our Words. For more information on submitting your writing to In Our Words, visit their contact page.

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We’ve just gotten word of a very special event hosted by the DePaul School of Cinema and Interactive Media and open to DePaul students and alumni ONLY. Although it’s not directly related to the English programs, we know that many of you are great film lovers, and so we wanted to share this once-in-a-lifetime event.

The CIM Visiting Artists Series is proud to present an evening with

WERNER HERZOG

If you know Herzog and his work, you will probably want to be there in a heartbeat.

If not, this a rare opportunity to meet one of the living legends of cinema.

Herzog’s work is visionary, uncompromising, and iconoclastic.  He has consistently pushed the limits of cinema, both fiction and documentary, in ways that no other filmmaker has.

After four decades on the international film scene, he remains one of the most prolific and consistently challenging filmmakers working today.

A rare appearance.  Not to be missed.

MONDAY, JANUARY 9, 2012

6:30 PM – CDM THEATRE

THE DALEY BUILDING

14 EAST JACKSON / 247 S. STATE – LOWER LEVEL FREE + PRICELESS – DEPAUL ID REQUIRED

OPEN ONLY TO MEMBERS OF THE DEPAUL COMMUNITY

Scholarships, Conferences, Contests and More

It’s January 4th, and only the second day of the quarter, so chances are your brand new calendars are still looking pretty blank. Not for much longer! Today on Ex Libris we have a good long list of deadlines to write down, whether you’re looking for contests, scholarships, publications, or conferences. So get out your calendars, because there’s something for everyone.

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For current seniors or recent graduates of DePaul considering graduate school: the Office of Multicultural Student Success is currently accepting applications for the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation Graduate Arts Award which recognizes and rewards promising up-and-coming artists from lower income backgrounds.

The Foundation will award up to 15 scholarships to outstanding students in the visual arts, performing arts, and creative writing who plan to begin graduate studies in fall 2012. Each award will cover a portion of educational expenses, including tuition, living expenses, and other required fees for the length of the approved graduate degree program, up to three years. Scholarships vary depending on the cost of attendance and other scholarships or grants received. The maximum award available per student is $50,000 per year. Scholars may use the award to attend any accredited graduate school in the US or abroad. Awards are for students who have not yet pursued a graduate or professional degree.

Minimum eligibility includes: senior or recent graduate status, a cumulative GPA of 3.2 or better, plan to pursue a graduate degree in the performing arts, visual arts, or creative writing AND begin the program in fall 2012, and have demonstrated financial need. Students MUST be nominated by the DePaul Faculty representative designated by the Jack Kent Cooke Foundation. Interested students must request a Jack Kent Cooke Graduate Arts Scholarship Information Packet from Nikiah Barnes at nbarnes@depaul.edu. This packet details the requirements for participation in the application process.

Completed applications must be turned into the Office of Multicultural Student Success, Suite 304 in the Lincoln Park Student Center, no later than 5:00pm on Thursday, January 26, 2012. Please contact Nikiah Barnes at 773-325-7325 or at nbarnes@depaul.edu with any questions.

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The Clinton Institute of the University College Dublin has announced a call for papers for their Media and the Arab Spring Conference taking place 14-15 April 2012, which will explore the widespread perception that media – old and especially new – have significantly influenced the events of the “Arab Spring”. The conference will bring together media practitioners, writers, commentators and scholars to investigate the role of different forms of media in shaping these events and perceptions of them.

Speakers include: Kamel Riahi (writer, Tunisia), Joseph Massad (Columbia University, US), Rami Abdurrahman (Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, UK), Caroline Rooney (University of Kent, UK), Ayman el-Desouky (SOAS, UK), Sahar el-Mougy (writer, Egypt), Scott Lucas (EA Worldview, UK), Michael Graae (photojournalist, UK)

Paper proposals (max. 250 words) are invited on all aspects of the “Arab Spring”. Possible topics include (but are not restricted to):

• the evolutions and contributions of “citizen journalism” in the region
• the role of the Internet and new social media in fueling and shaping the Arab Spring
• hip-hop and street art – the early shades and sounds of change in the region
• the roles of the Arab press and media and the effects of (self)censorship before, during, and after the uprisings
• Arab literature and the revolutions
• the role of international media in framing the Arab Spring
• the role of media in the development of civil society and post-conflict nation-building
• the role of diaspora media in relation to the ongoing events and the futures of the post-conflict states

Please send your paper abstracts (in e-mail attachments) to Rita Sakr: rita.sakr@ucd.ie before 1 February 2012. For further details, see www.ucdclinton.ie

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So to Speak: a feminist journal of language and art is now accepting submissions for its Fall 2012 issue. This issue will feature the fiction contest winner, as well as poetry, nonfiction, and art. Submissions will be accepted from January 1- March 15 through the online submissions manager.

The contest judge for the Fall 2012 Fiction Contest will be Ru Freeman. The winner will receive prize money and publication, and contests finalists will be published in the issue. The contest entry fee of $15 will include a free copy of the Fall 2012 issue for all entrants.

 So to Speak, founded in 1993 by an editorial collective of women MFA candidates at George Mason University, has served as a space for feminist writing and art for nearly 18 years. So to Speak publishes poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and visual art that live up to a high standard of language, form, and meaning. They look for work that addresses issues of significance to women’s lives and movements for women’s equality and are especially interested in pieces that explore issues of race, class, and sexuality in relation to gender.

Please visit sotospeakjournal.org  for full submission guidelines.

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2012 Creative Writing Competition

Description:  The Union League Civic & Arts Foundation supports the creative writing efforts of young people by granting a total of up to $13,800 in awards. College Division, Ages 18 – 24 as of June 1, 2012: SHORT STORY, CREATIVE NONFICTION, OR NOVEL EXCERPT: First Place – $1,200, Second Place – $800, Third Place – $600 POETRY: First Place – $1,200, Second Place – $800, Third Place – $600 Young Adult Division, Ages 25-30 as of June 1, 2012: SHORT STORY, CREATIVE NONFICTION, OR NOVEL EXCERPT: First Place – $1,500, Second Place – $1,000, Third Place – $800 POETRY: First Place, $1,500, Second Place, $1,000, Third Place, $800 1. The submission must be an original work of creative writing– a poem, a short story, novel excerpt, or work of creative nonfiction. Novel excerpts should stand alone as self-contained fictional movements. 2. Each entrant is limited to and may not submit more than one piece. 3. Entrants must be living and or studying within a one hundred-miles radius of the Chicago Loop or students registered in an Illinois school within a one hundred-mile radius of the Chicago Loop. 4. The submission should be typed in Word format, in English in Times New Roman 12- point font, have reasonable margins and be double-spaced. Poems must be no less than 5 and no more than 100 lines, not counting title and spaces between stanzas. Poetry entries may be in any verse form, without restrictions on theme or style. Stories, novel excerpts and works of creative non-fiction should not exceed 6,000 words.  Submissions that exceed the line, word or page limit will be disqualified. 5. The submission should be labeled as a poem, short story, novel excerpt, or work of creative non-fiction. Please include this on the submission itself. 6. Pages should be numbered consecutively in the upper right-hand corner. The title should appear on the top of each page. The author’s name and birth date should not appear anywhere on the submission. 7. We encourage applicants to submit their work online at www.civicandarts.org. 8. If necessary, applicants may mail their application and submission. Mailed submissions should include the following materials: five hard copies of the submission, a CD or flash drive with the submission in Word format, and an entry form. • Submissions will not be returned. • The author of any winning entry grants the Union League Civic & Arts Foundation a royalty-free right of electronic and printed publication on our website and any future anthologies. The author will retain full copyright to the work. Should we publish this material, we will provide each awardee with a copy of the publication either in print or electronically. Additional copies will be available for purchase. • The work of the winners may be published at our discretion. The Union League Civic & Arts Foundation reserves the right to edit entries that will be published. Entries that are extensively edited will be submitted to the author who may elect not to print the work in edited form. • Deadline (drop off, postmark, or electronic submission) for an entry is June 1, 2012.  Materials can be sent or delivered to Anne Shea, Union League Civic & Arts Foundation, 65 West Jackson Boulevard, Chicago, IL 60604-3598. • Competition results will be released (via email or letter) by October 2012.

To Apply: http://www.civicandarts.org/index.php/arts_competitions/

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And because we know how long winter break has been, a few quick reminders of deadlines we posted before the break:

January 13th – Deadline for submitting an abstract for Concordia University’s Enunciating the End conference.

January 16th – Extended deadline for submissions to ROPES Literary Journal.

January 31st – Deadline for submitting work to the Dzanc Books/CNC DISQUIET International Literary Award.

January 31st – Submission deadline for Merton Institute Poetry of the Sacred Contest.

Welcome Back Winter 2012

Welcome back and Happy New Year to all our graduate students starting their Winter 2012 classes this week! And a special welcome to all new students starting their English Graduate classes at DePaul for the first time this quarter.

Like many of you current students, Ex Libris has accumulated quite a few announcements in our inbox over winter break, so be sure to check in frequently this week so you don’t miss anything, and please be patient if you are waiting for a response from us.

As always, if you’re an alum or current student with good news about a publication or job or an announcement about an event, conference, contest, or journal that you’d like to share with the DePaul English Graduate community, send us an email.

We are also always looking for students or alumni interested in writing guest posts for Ex Libris. Do you have something interesting to say about an event you attended, an internship experience, an organization or cause you’re involved in, something you researched for class, or even a great book you read? If you think other DePaul English grad students would enjoy what you have to say, send your ideas to mhlohows@depaul.edu.

And now, a few upcoming deadlines:

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Creative Coworking in Evanston, is seeking a student intern with design skills and an aptitude for marketing and communications.

Duties:
– design brochures
– update/redesign company websites
– help manage social media platforms
– develop business portfolios
– photography and video work
– public relations and brand awareness
– business blogging

Opportunities:
– gain experience working with multiple entrepreneurs
– develop, execute, and evaluate marketing campaigns
– get connected to the Evanston business community
– work in an office space in the heart of Downtown Evanston

This is a paid internship ($15/hr undergrad, $20/hr grad student), 2-3 days per week for a minimum of two months, with an option to extend. Candidate could start in January 2012.

Applications for this position should be sent to angela@creativecoworking.com. Please include a cover letter explaining why you would be a good match for this internship.

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The Institute of Reading Development is seeking candidates for summer 2012 teaching positions.

Summer teaching positions with the Institute offer the opportunity to:

• Earn more than $6,000 during the summer. Teachers typically earn between $500 and $700 per week while teaching.
• Gain over 300 hours of teacher-training and teaching experience with a variety of age groups.
• Help students of all ages develop their reading skills and ability to become imaginatively absorbed in books.

The Institute is an educational service provider that teaches developmental reading programs in partnership with the continuing education departments of more than 100 colleges and universities across the United States. Classes for students of all ages improve their reading skills and teach them to experience absorption in literature.

Qualified applicants:

• Have strong reading skills and read for pleasure
• Have a Bachelor’s Degree in any discipline
• Are responsible and hard working
• Have good communication and organizational skills
• Will be patient and supportive with students
• Have regular access to a reliable car

Submit an online application and learn more about teaching for the Institute at http://instituteofreadingdevelopmentteachingjobs.com/

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Escape Into Life is excited to announce its First Annual Fiction Contest, judged by Pulitzer Prize-winning author Robert Olen Butler.

In addition to cash prizes, five finalists will receive art from Escape Into Life artists as well as have their stories nominated for at least one nationally recognized award in 2012 (Best American, Pushcart, O’Henry, Story South, or Sundress).

Submission deadline is January 7, 2012. Visit escapeintolife.com/fiction/eil-announces-first-annual-fiction-contest/ for more details and submission instructions.

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Kweli Journal, an online literary journal that celebrates the shared cultural experience of people of color, is currently seeking literature of occupation for its January 2012 social justice issue.  Kweli Journal invites submissions of short stories, poetry, and essays that represent the day to day realities and frustrations of the poor working class and middle class living on the edge.

Kweli accepts:

• Fiction: short stories or self-contained novel excerpts.  Prose should be double-spaced.  Submit one prose piece at a time.
• Nonfiction: personal essays or self-contained memoir excerpts.  Prose should be double-spaced.  Submit one prose piece at a time.
• Poetry: submit three poems at a time.  Submissions should be single spaced and set as you want it to appear on the printed page.

Submission deadline is January 7, 2012.  Submit your work at http://kwelijournal.submishmash.com/. Payment is upon publication.

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The Early Modern Colloquium, a graduate interdisciplinary group at the University of Michigan, is seeking submissions for a conference on the construction of nations and empires in 16th- and 17th-century Europe. This conference will engage with the idea of emerging and changing national identities in this period. More specifically, it will investigate the particular social dynamics that characterize negotiations between categories such as the foreign and the domestic or the individual and the state. How is the status of the nation and its inhabitants defined? How does the cultural production of nation engage with shifting political realities? Do changes in geographical borders or ideologies produce new discourses of difference in terms of race, religion, gender, sexuality, class, and/or disability?

The colloquium is seeking papers that examine how early modern writers, collectives, and cultures grappled with these questions within a series of interrelated realms—e.g., academic, artistic, economic, epistemological, geographical, legal, medical, occult, philosophical, private, public, religious, scientific, and theatrical. Potential topics might include radical religious dissent, the rise of Protestantism and/or the Counter-Reformation, colonialism and expansion in the Americas, the beginnings of the slave trade, the shift from monarchy to commonwealth in seventeenth-century England, relations between the East and West, or European interactions with the Ottoman Empire.

Please send a 250-word abstract to Cordelia Zukerman (czukerma@umich.edu) and Leila Watkins (lrwatkin@umich.edu) by January 15, 2012.