Langdon Review Weekend Schedule (working draft, revised 7/30/2009) September 9, 2009 Wednesday 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon Specialty Workshop on Collaborative Writing, led by Mike Kearby. (Tarleton State University campus in Stephenville, Barry B. Thompson Student Center Ballroom) Mike Kearby is an author and ex-high school reading teacher. He is “intent on making sure every kid in Texas learns to read – just for the fun of it.” The Collaborative Novel Project 2009-2010 is a project involving students from the following schools: Albany High School Breckenridge High School Hico High School L. D. Bell High School Mineral Wells High School San Angelo Lakeview High School Stephenville High School Strawn High School Trinity High School Sponsored by Tarleton State University Department of English and Languages 1:00 p.m. – 2:15 p.m. Afternoon Session I; Workshop, continued. (TSU campus in Stephenville, Barry B. Thompson Student Center Ballroom) 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Afternoon Session II; Readings from the Collaborative Novel (TSU campus in Stephenville, Barry B. Thompson Student Center Ballroom) 7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. Langdon Review Weekend Launch Party and Dinner with Music by WillieNatra (Tarleton State University Barry B. Thompson Student Center Ballroom B) Dinner tickets: $12.99 WillieNatra performs a blend between country and lounge style music. Bob Francis – piano, Ira Campbell – trumpet, Steve West – guitar, vocals, and Bob Hunt – bass, with Peggy Bott Kirby – guest vocalist. 8:00 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. Evening Session; SceneShop (Tarleton State University Barry B. Thompson Student Center Ballroom A) “Tinsel and Pepperoni” (SceneShop), written by Steven Alan McGaw, performed by Nicholas Irion and Steven Cashion. “A Similar Place” (this is actually presented by SceneShop's side-project, Lost Beat Generation, directed by Nicholas Irion. LBG will focus on edgier, more provocative material and geared to a somewhat younger audience), written by Nicholas Irion and Steven Alan McGaw. “lived in...” (SceneShop), written by Steven Alan McGaw, performed by Adam Whittington. Since 1996, SceneShop has produced over 100 new works- scenes and monologues- and presented them in an intimate, minimalist style, focusing on the essential communication between the playwright, the producing ensemble and the audience. 2009 marks the debut of Lost Beat Generation (LBG), a performance alternative stemming from, but not identical to, Fort Worth's SceneShop. The aim of LBG is to be edgy, provoative and mobile. September 10, 2009 Thursday 8:15 a.m. – Registration 9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m. 2 Concurrent Sessions 1. Ethics and Medicine (Carriage House) a. Donna Walker Nixon, Lecturer, Baylor University. Creative Non-Fiction piece about the intersection of medicine and the law: “Don't Call Him Drunken Ira Hayes.” Donna is the co-founder of the Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas, the founder of Windhover, and a former editor of the New Texas series. Her stories have been published in Echoes magazine, Concho River Review, descant, Writing on the Wind, and Red Boots and Attitude. b. Richard M. Zaner, A. G. Professor Emeritus of Medical Ethics & Philosophy of Medicine, Vanderbilt University (retired 2002). “If You Listen, You Can Smile.” Dick will present a narrative focused on a clinical situation involving a severe dilemma for a young surgeon responsible for the care of an elderly gentleman. 2. Creative Writing (Rock House) a. Joe R. Christopher, Professor emeritus of English, Tarleton State University. Poems from “A Celebration of Charles Darwin's Bicentenary.” Joe has published about a dozen pieces of short fiction, over a hundred poems, two dramas, three edited collections of others’ writings, and over a hundred pieces of non-fiction, including two book-length pieces of academic prose. b. Carol Cullar, Executive Director of the Rio Bravo Nature Center Foundation, Inc. in Eagle Pass. Reading from her creative nonfiction story "Slim," soon to be published in Holt McDougal's ninth grade American Literature text with 1.25 million copies released in Canada and the U.S. Carol writes, “Slim was the hobo walking down Highway 66 on his way to California during the Dust Bowl of the ’30s who stopped to ask my grandmother for work and a dipper of water and never left.” c. Andrew Geyer, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of English, University of South Carolina Aiken. “Café le Coq.” Andrew is the author of a novel, Meeting the Dead (UNMP 2007), and a short story cycle, Whispers in Dust and Bone (TTUP 2003); his award-winning fiction has appeared in numerous literary magazines, and has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize. 10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m. 3 Concurrent Sessions 1. History (Concert Hall) a. Arch Mayfield, Professor of English, Wayland Baptist University. “What a Beecher!” He was said to be “father of more brains than any other man in America.” She was described by Abraham Lincoln as “the little woman who wrote the book that made this big war.” Her brother was of such notoriety—if not notoriousness—his funeral in New York City attracted over 50,000 people. These are all Beechers: the patriarch, Lyman Beecher; a daughter, Harriet Beecher Stowe; and a son, Henry Ward Beecher. This presentation, focusing on Harriet and Henry, highlights not only some of the better-known but also some lesser-known Beecher exploits and will include dramatic adaptations of two or three scenes read by two guest women readers. (H.B.S.’s involvement in the Lord and Lady Byron controversy and Henry Ward Beecher’s rumored sexual liaisons with numerous parishioners). b. T. Lindsay Baker, W. K. Gordon Endowed Chair in History, Tarleton State University. “On the Trail of a Past as Elusive as the Wind.” T. Lindsay will examine his career-long efforts to study and interpret the history of wind power in America. He has published several scholarly works on the subject, including A Field Guide to American Windmills (1985), Blades in the Sky: Windmilling through the Eyes of B. H. “Tex” Burdick (1991), The 702 Model Windmills: Its Assembly, Installation and Use (1999), North American Windmill Manufacturers’ Trade Literature: A Descriptive Guide (1999), A Guide to United States Patents for Windmills and Wind Engines 1793-1950 (2004), and American Windmills: An Album of Historic Photographs (2007). c. Frances Neidhardt. “The Texas Banker Who Hid the Quedlinburg Treasures” from the in-process Quedlinburg Saga, a creative treatment of oral histories on the WWII looting. Frances has published lit/crit internationally and poetry nationally, the poetry book Things Seen and Seen Again, and a series of German/Texas oral histories. She is a councilor for the Texas Institute of Letters. 2. Poetry (Rock House) a. Salvatore Attardo. “Haiku Summaries and Other, Longer, Poems.” Salvatore has been published in Harpur Palate, Whiskey Island, Tampa Review, CadillacCicatrix, Quiddity, Bateau, Main Channel Voices, Poetry Harbor, RIEN, Pegasus, and MO: Writings from the River. b. Danny Parker, President of the Board of the Old Post Office Museum and Art Center in Graham, Texas. Poetry: “Whispers.” Danny is a poet, sculptor, photographer, and is trying his hand at water colors. He feels that he is a “cistern that catches what falls from another place, a higher source, and that the most important factor is to be open to what comes our way.” c. Tony Zurlo. Poetry from “The Mind Dancing.” Tony writes: “Life in the Peace Corps, Army, and a year teaching in China so warped my self esteem that I have since concealed from editors age, gender, size, race, religion, politics, and other private predispositions, and survive folded up in a back room in Arlington, Texas, working on Alice in Cyberland, my long-awaited solution to the unified field theory.” 3. Short Fiction (Carriage House) a. Rodney Stephens, Assistant Professor of English, Howard Paine University. Short Story, “Half Thumbs.” Rodney says, “I’m a scuba diver living in the middle of bone-dry West Texas.” He has written articles on has written articles on Richard Harding Davis, Salmon Rushdie, and Bao Ninh. b. Mark Busby, Professor of English, Jerome H. and Catherine E. Supple Professor of Southwestern Studies, and Director, Center for the Study of the Southwest, Texas State University—San Marcos. Reading from novel- in-progress Cedar Crossing. Mark is a former president of the Texas Institute of Letters. c. L. D. Clark, Novelist and Essayist. “Intimations of Immortality.” Fifty years a writer—and now a retired college professor—with fourteen books behind him, L. D. is jotting and recording notes for another one. 11:45 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Lunch on your own 1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Plenary Afternoon Session #1 Poetry (Concert Hall) a. Charles Inge. Selections from his recently expanded Brazos View collection. Charles, a poet and native Texan, lives with his wife Dominique on a bluff overlooking Lake Granbury. b. Sally Lombardo, Poet. A Midwife's Journey. Sally is a mother of five who has lived in Houston, Austin, and most recently Southeast Texas. She taught English for six years at Lamar University in Beaumont. Her writing has appeared in Review of Texas Books, The Baylor Line, and English in Texas. She has spent many years as a childbirth educator and coach, and published her thesis through Lamar University, on the topic of Childbirth in Literature. Currently, her poetry reflects the topics of women finding strength and a unique voice after pivotal life change. c. Jerry Craven, Ink Brush Press and Baylor University, “‘Becoming Others’ and other poetic monologues.” A refugee from retirement, Jerry now teaches full-time at Baylor University and is director of Ink Brush Press. d. Sherry Craven, Independent Writer. “Editing My Dreams.” Sherry writes: “I have lived from Alaska to Georgia, Los Angeles to Washington D.C., but have called Texas home for most of my life.” Her poetry has appeared in journals such as AmarilloBay and Muse2, New Texas, The Witness, Windhover, descant, Maverick Press, Texas Review, Concho River Review, and she is included in the anthology Quotable Texas Women.