Fall 2009

Gina Franco visited Cornell University, where she read from her work as part of their Writers at Cornell reading series. Listen to a podcast of her reading.

Emily Anderson published an article entitled "I Will Unfold a Tale!: Narrative, Epistemology, and Caleb Williams" in the Fall 2009 issue of Eighteenth-Century Fiction.

“Verona in Six Weeks,” an essay by Robert Hellenga, George A. Lawrence Professor Emeritus English, has been published in English and Italian by the University of Verona, where Hellenga spent six weeks as writer-in-residence last spring. The Italian translator will give a reading of the essay in the Sala Farinati in the public library in Verona. The film rights for Hellenga’s first novel, The Sixteen Pleasures, have been optioned by director Andy Tennant. A new novel, Snakewoman of Little Egypt, will be published by Bloomsbury in 2010.

Natania Rosenfeld read her translations, as well as the original versions, of three Yiddish poems at the American Literary Translators' Association conference in Pasadena in November. She’s back from a four-week writing retreat as a guest of the Jentel Artists’ Residency Program in Wyoming. Her short story “The Tenant” recently appeared in Diagram. Her poem, “Princeling” appears in the Aquamarine issue of the Fairy Tale Review. Knox student Sam Martone has a story in the same issue.

Rave reviews are in for Vitalist Theatre’s The Night Season. Read all about it!

To find out what Professor Metz has been up to, read on: The poems "Wedding and Parting at Buck Creek," and "Clear Channel" by Robin Metz, English, appear in the current issue of the Welsh literary magazine, The Seventh Quarry Review (volume 10, summer 2009), which also features poets from Japan, Scotland, Canada, Serbia, Australia, Israel, Spain, England, and Wales, as well as other U.S. poets. In July, Metz's poem "Environmentally" won an Editor's Choice Award in the 2009 (35th annual) Allen Ginsburg International Poetry Competition (sponsored by The Poetry Center, Patterson, NJ) and will appear in issue #39 of the Patterson Review. He will attend the Awards Ceremony in November. Metz's poem "Once Upon A Time in New York" was one of four Grand Prize winners in the Eli Jenkins-Dylan Thomas International Poetry Competition sponsored by Chicago's Storefront Theatre (in conjunction with its current production of Dylan Thomas' Under Milk Wood) and the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs. His poem "The Light at Mumbles Head" was also named first runner-up in the competition. On September 9, Metz presented a performance reading of both poems at Gallery 37, The Chicago Cultural Center. They are also performed on YouTube by actor Jeremy van Meter. Metz is currently editing the anthology Chicagoland Poets, forthcoming in 2009 from Nirala Publications (New Delhi/Kathmandu). As Executive Producer of Vitalist Theatre's current production of The Night Season, Metz manages daily operations for the performances, which opened on September 8 and continue at Theatre Building Chicago (773.327.5252) through October 17. The play, which has received a Jeff Award Recommendation from the Chicago Jeff Award Committee/Chicago League of Theatres and numerous sterling reviews in Chicago media, is directed by Liz Carlin-Metz, designed by Craig Choma, and features Kelly Lynn Hogan (all Knox theatre faculty); it also features Knox alumna Eden Newmark ‘07 and contributions from 30 additional Knox alums. In conjunction with the production, Metz has designed and constructed his 3D art installation "Sligo: Portals, Surf" at Theatre Building Chicago. On September 19, he appeared on Chicago radio station WPNA 1490 AM to discuss the play's relationship to Irish poet W.B. Yeats and political activist Maud Gonne. On September 26, he appeared on Chicago radio stations WCPT ("Chicago's Progressive Talk") 820 AM and FM 92.7 (north), 92.5 (west), and 99.9 (south) to discuss the play's thematic concerns, political implications, precursors, and award-winning reception in London. On October 4, he was a guest at the Irish American Heritage Center (Chicago), where he and other Vitalist company members participated in IAHC's gala celebration of Irish culture in Chicago. In August, Metz attended the Knox Sustainability Workshop (organized by Tim Kasser) along with numerous other faculty members. On November 6-7, he will attend the ACM conference "Integrating Study Abroad into the Undergraduate Curriculum" at Beloit College. Other Knox faculty members attending are: Robin Ragan, Tim Foster, and Linda Dybas. Metz's presentation will focus on his courses "London Arts Alive" (co-taught with Liz Carlin-Metz), which originated in 1995, and "Dylan Thomas," which is offered for the first time in winter, 2010 and will include travel with students to Wales.