"In the Vanilla Grove, Man and Horse," 1891 by Paul Gauguin
Wednesday, 28 August 2002
"In the Vanilla Grove, Man and Horse," 1891 by Paul Gauguin
A note from the editor: Welcome back!
Announcements
It is our great pleasure to announce that Miriam Gilbert is the recipient of the Philip G. Hubbard Award for Outstanding Education. This is a one-time award to honor a faculty member for extended teaching excellence at the University of Iowa. The award has been provided by Joseph A. Walder, M.D., Ph.D., a former faculty member in the Biochemistry Department and founder of Integrated DNA Technologies in Coralville. The award carries a cash prize of $18,000. Miriam will be recognized for this wonderful honor at the University Convocation on October 1, 2002, at 7:30 p.m. in Macbride Auditorium. The criteria for this award are 15 years of teaching at the UI, the rank of full professor, and participation in a rich variety of levels of university teaching (undergraduate, graduate or professional, classroom, one-on-one) and curriculum/program development. This dry list of characteristics, of course, hardly begins to describe Miriam's spectacular teaching career here at the university. As an exemplar of teaching excellence, she has garnered recommendations and letters of support for this award that are peppered with such descriptors as "devotion," "determination," "imagination," "passion," and "energy." Her innovative teaching methods are renowned, her enthusiastic supporters are legion, and her commitment to the advancement of teaching at all levels - both here on campus and throughout the world - is richly evident in her impressive service record. Perhaps even more importantly, her generosity and her deep care for each and every one of her students not only makes her the perfect choice for this award, but a standard by which all other faculty can measure their own teaching. (adapted from a letter from former UI President Mary Sue Coleman)
Our Freedman Lecture this fall will be given by Franco Moretti, who has taught English and Comparative Literature in various Italian universities and at Columbia (1990-1999) before moving to Stanford in 2000. Author of Signs Taken for Wonders (1983), The Way of the World (1987), Modern Epic (1995), and Atlas of the European Novel 1800-1900 (1998), he has given the Gauss seminars at Princeton and has been a fellow at the Wissenschaftskolleg zu Berlin. He is also the founder and director of Stanford's Center for the Study of the Novel. Pursuing his current interest in cultural geography and the history of reading, he will deliver a lecture at 7:30 pm on Thursday, Sept. 19th, in the Gerber Lounge, EPB 304, entitled "Maps." It will be followed by "Graphs," an open seminar for faculty and students, also in the Gerber lounge, the next afternoon at 3:45. Though his emphasis in the talks for us will be on patterns of literary circulation, if you wish to sample the methodological slant of his new work in advance you might take a look at "Planet Hollywood," currently on the New Left Review website at http://www.newleftreview.net/NLR24306.shtml
As you may be aware, a departmental Web site committee has been working throughout the summer to construct the architecture for a new and improved departmental internet presence. The committee consists of Cheryl Herr (chr), Jeff Porter, and Thom Swiss. Karla Tonella is our Web site engineer. Throughout our summer meetings, we have kept the focus on an attractive and simple design as well as on addressing each of the issues communicated to us when we circulated an announcement in the spring. We have asked for time at an early department meeting this fall to present our rough draft, to discuss options, to answer questions, and to take more suggestions on board. Redesign and updating of the Web site will go forward throughout the year in clearly defined stages and will include plans for keeping the site up to date. When we are ready to post new or revised faculty statements and photos online, Cheryl will contact you with procedural information. Jeff, Thom, Karla, and Cheryl are all excited by the possibilities for a Web site that provides useful information and also attracts potential students.
M. Jimmie Killingsworth, professor of English at Texas A&M University, will be at the UI on September 26 and 27. Killingsworth is the author of Whitman's Poetry of the Body: Sexuality, Politics, and the Text (1989) and The Growth of Leaves of Grass (1993), as well as co-editor of Ecospeak: Rhetoric and Environmental Politics in America (1992), co-author of Signs, Genres, and Communities in Technical Communication (1992), and author of the textbook Information in Action: A Guide to Technical Communication (1996). Professor Killingsworth will give a talk in the Gerber Lounge at 3:45 September 26 on his latest book project, an ecocritical study of Whitman. Anyone interested in having Professor Killingsworth visit a class should contact Ed Folsom.
CURRENT ISSUE OF TIR WEB ONLINE NOW Volume 4, Number 4 (July-August 2002) http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/
Next Issue: September 5, 2002.
Current Issue Featuring:
NEW MEDIA ART "Inflat-o-scape: An Exploration of Architecture, Technology, Economy, and Other Things that go Boom" Read about & view Jessica Irish's "Inflat-o-scape" http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/tirweb/feature/irish/irish.htm
EXCERPTS FROM OZ BLOG Mark Amerika is a professor of digital art at the University of Colorado. His work has been exhibited internationally at many well-known venues, including the Walker Arts Center, the Guggenheim, and the Whitney Biennial. His FILMTEXT is the third part of a major new media trilogy. OZ BLOG: http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/tirweb/feature/amerika/amerika.htm
Electronic Literature: Ravi Shankar reports! N. Katherine Hayles speaks! Read "NODE AND NETWORK IN LOS ANGELES: The Electronic Literature Organization's State of the Arts Symposium, 2002" a report from Los Angeles by Ravi Shankar. http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/tirweb/feature/hayles/hayles.htm
FROM 91 MERIDIAN + THE ANGEL OF RAIN: Selected poems of Gast—n Baquero translated by Greg Simon & Steven F. White http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/tirweb/feature/baquero/baquero.htm
FROM THE IOWA REVIEW Genre Bending with Cixous by Rebecca Clouse Read "Genre Bending" at http://www.uiowa.edu/~iareview/tirweb/feature/clouse/clouse.htm
Deadlines
Deadlines for Faculty Development Programs, Regents Award, and Ida Beam can be found at http://www.clas.uiowa.edu/deomailing/2002/05/22/deadlines.shtml
Graduate Matters
Incoming English graduate students:
Ph.D. (and literary MA) Students
Bresnan, Mark St. Olaf College, (Minnesota) May 2001 (B.A.)
Burgess, Christopher Indiana University, South Bend, (Indiana) August 1997 (B.A.) Western Michigan University, June 2000, (M.A.)
Chasar, Michael Valparasio University, (Indiana) May 1993 (B.A.) Miami University (Ohio), December 1997 (M.A.)
Clay, Maia College of Wooster (Ohio), May 2002 (B.A.)
Davis, Joanna University of Kansas, July 2002 (B.A.)
Doty, Jeffrey Tarlton State University (Texas) May 2000 (B.A.) University of North Texas (Denton) May 2002 (M.A.)
Eamon, Patricia St. Johnâs College (New Mexico) May 2001 (B.A.)
Everson, David University of Florida, August 2001 (B.A.) Genoways, Theodore (Ted) Nebraska Wesleyan (Lincoln) May 1994 (B.A.) Texas Tech, May 1996 (M.A.) University of Virginia, May, 1999 (M.F.A.)
Hammerich, Jenna Lake Forest College (Illinois) May 2002 (B.A.)
Keegan, Tom University of Virginia, May 2002 (B.A.)
Kinneberg, Jennifer Gustavus Adolphus College (Minnesota) May 2002 (B.A.)
Kwon, Young Hee (Ms.) Seoul National University, February 1996 (B.A.) Seoul National University, February 1998 (M.A.)
Mallick, Sucheta Lady Brabourne College (India), April 1995 (B.A.) Jadaupur University (India), August 1997 (M.A.)
Smith, Laura Creighton University, (Nebraska) May 2002 (B.A.)
Stuhr, Tracy University of Iowa, December 1981 (B.A.) University of Iowa, (expected) December 2002 (M.F.A.)
Suchomel, Brooke University of Iowa, December 2001 (B.A.)
M.F.A. Students
Balcita, Angela Loyola College, Maryland, May 1996 (B.A.)
Clark, Michael E. University of Iowa, May 2000 (B.A.)
Kushner, Aviya Johns Hopkins University (Maryland) May 1995 (B.A.) Boston University, (Mass.) Sept. 1998 (M.A.)
Leach, Amy Southwestern Adventist University (Texas) December 1999 (B.A.)
Li, Yi Yun (Ms.) University in China, 1996
Murray, Margaret University of Chicago, 1979 (B.A.) Yale University (Conn), 1983 (Ph.D.) in mathematics
Reed, Jebediah Duke University (N.C.) May 1996 (B.A.)
Thompson, Margaret Michigan State University, June 1992 (B.A.) University of Texas, Austin, May 1994 (M.A.) University of Iowa, May 1992 (M.F.A. Creative Writing)
Yocum, Bonnie Witman College, (Washington), May 2000 (B.A.)
Gary Levine is beginning his third year of tenure-track at Ashland University in Ashland, Ohio.
Publications
Cheryl Herr's "The Field" was published in June as part of a new series from Cork University Press. The series, Ireland into Film, is modeled on the British Film Institute's short volumes on classic films. A launch for "The Field" and two other titles in the Cork series was held at the Irish Film Centre in Dublin. Three hundred people attended the launch, including Jim Sheridan, who directed "The Field."
Ed Folsom completed the editing and proofreading for Whitman East and West, a collection of essays emerging from the Whitman 2000 conference he directed in Beijing in October of 2000. The book will be published this fall by University of Iowa Press. Folsom also attended the annual Walt Whitman Archive summer colloquium at the University of Virginia; he co-directs the Archive with Kenneth Price of the University of Nebraska. At Virginia, the co-directors and Archive staff reviewed the year's work and planned for next year's development of the online scholarly resource (http://www.whitmanarchive.org), which is supported by a three-year grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
Class Matters
Matt Falduto is the executive director of a theatre company in Iowa City called Dreamwell. Their next show will be Don Delillo's Valparaiso. For those of you interested in incoporating the show into their curriculum or offering extra credit to students who see the show, Matt can be reached by phone at 358-9092. Performance dates are September 20, 21, 27, 28, and October 4 and 5. They perform at the Unitarian Society building in downtown Iowa City.
For more information about Dreamwell, go to www.dreamwell.com. Here are links to websites about Valparaiso: http://www.dramatists.com/text/home.html http://www.theonionavclub.com/reviews/words/words_v/valparaisoaplay01.html http://perival.com/delillo/valparaiso.html
With the beginning of the fall semester upon us, David Schoonover wants to remind everyone of Special Collections holdings that may be relevant to your course offerings. In recent years, he has been making a considerable number (30 to 40 per year) of course-related presentations to classes in several departments, primarily English, History, Art and Art History, Journalism, German, Romance languages, and Center for the Book. This year, he would be glad to add sessions for faculty in other departments as well. David usually plans for classes to meet in the library's Main Conference Room on the second floor where I bring books, manuscripts, and occasional oddities, depending on the subject, for people to examine and discuss. He has found, not surprisingly, that students respond with much more interest in these sessions if there is some related assignment requiring more extended use of the materials later in Special Collections, rather than a one-time look at "neat stuff." Topics have ranged from "Issues in Medieval Society" to Contemporary Artists' Books. Materials have included our oldest "book," a Babylonian clay tablet (receipt for one goat), a vellum missal from approximately 1387, the first edition of Donne’s Poems, Keats's and Leigh Hunt's hair(s), editions and translations of Harriet Beecher Stowe's works, some of the rarest works of Edgar Allan Poe, pencilled annotations by Whitman's first German translator, autograph notebooks by Iris Murdoch and Angus Wilson, and new literary artists' books by James Joyce and Gertrude Stein. The library's Infohawk system now provides powerful searching capabilities for identifying printed books and manuscript materials for presentations on specific author(s), subjects, genres, languages, and periods or date-spans. One possible difficulty with arranging sessions is the high demand for the 2nd-floor conference room, so early planning helps. David looks forward to hearing from you. He can be reached by phone (335-5923) or e-mail (david-schoonover@uiowa.edu).
Money Matters
The Liguria Study Center for the Arts and Humanities is accepting applications to its residential Bogliasco Fellowships Program in Italy. http://www.vpr.uiowa.edu/grantTrack/grantbulletin.php?action=select&GrantID=12851&SectionID=12
The National Endowment for the Humanities will award Public Program Grants for Media Projects to bring quality humanities programming to the public. http://www.vpr.uiowa.edu/grantTrack/grantbulletin.php?action=select&GrantID=12846&SectionID=10
And a possibly helpful couple of grant websites: Additional new program announcements are available in each of the discipline sections. A complete listing of the newly added announcements is available at http://www.vpr.uiowa.edu/grantTrack/grantbulletin.php?action=new
For internal funding sources and online funding searches visit the main OVPR page at http://www.uiowa.edu/~vpr/
Other Matters
Faculty Scholar Rob Latham will be conducting research this fall in London, where he will also be delivering invited lectures at Birkbeck College (University of London) and Buckinghamshire Chilterns University College. Rob would greatly appreciate any tips you might have on top-notch restaurants, bookstores, and clubs.
IWP Matters
Writers of the 2002 International Writing Program
Sunny AYEWANU (SUN-nee AI-e-WAH-new; poet, Nigeria; b. 1967, Lagos) is the author of Flowering Bullets, which was a runner-up for the 1998 Association of Nigeria Author prize for poetry. He has contributed poems to three anthologies-Trembling Leaves (1999), Cramped Rooms & Open Spaces (1999), and 25 New Nigerian Poets (2000)-and is the featured author of Nejma 4: The Writings of Sunny Ayewanu. Mr. Ayewanu is the president of the Association of West African Young Writers, one of Nigeria's oldest literary associations. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
BOUNTHANONG Xomxayphol (bown-thah-nawn sohm-sigh-phon; fiction writer, poet, Laos; b. 1953, Champassak) has written thirteen books about, in his words, "the daily life of village people and what they are fighting for." A former magazine and newspaper editor, and a founding member of four magazines as well as the Lao Writers Association, Mr. Bounthanong is at work on a new novel about a young woman who leaves the rice fields to face life in the city. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Tomas BUTKUS (TOH-mahs BOOT-kuss; poet, Lithuania; b. 1975, Klaipeda) is the author of numerous translations and original collections of poetry. His most recent publication is Kas Bos Parasyta Kaip Siandien (How Today Will Be Written, 2001). At the publishing house Vario Burnos in Klaipeda, Mr. Butkus works as a designer, a publisher, and a bookmaker-his special interest is handmade books. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Edward CAREY (EH-dward KAH-ree; fiction writer, playwright, United Kingdom; b. 1970, E. Walsham) is a writer quickly gaining international recognition. He has had five plays produced, most recently an adaptation of Charles Dickens' The Pickwick Papers. His novel Observatory Mansions, a finalist for the Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers Prize, is appearing in ten different countries. This novel, and his forthcoming novel Alva and Irva, contain original artwork by the author. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Hugo CHAPARRO-VALDERRAMA (HOO-goh chah-PAR-roe VAHL-de-RAH-mah; poet, fiction writer, Colombia; b. 1961, Bogota) has won awards for his fiction and critical work and is a two-time recipient of the Colombian National Poetry Prize. He has translated Shakespeare, writes regular columns on film for several magazines, and is soon to publish both a novel, La Sombra del Incantropo (The Werewolf's Shadow), and a volume of poetry, Escrito en el Tiempo (Written in Time). He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Amma DARKO (AH-ma DAR-kow(u); fiction writer, Ghana; b. 1956, Koforidua) is the author of the critically acclaimed Beyond the Horizon. The Housemaid , the second of her titles to appear in English, was published in the African Writers Series in 1998, the same year that she won the Ghana Book Award. A former Fellow at the Cambridge Seminars, Ms. Darko has recently contributed "The Color of Poverty" (2001) to a collection by Amnesty International-Germany. She is participating courtesy of the National Resource Center for International Studies and the University of Iowa.
S. DIWAKAR (DEE-wa-KAR; fiction writer, India; b. 1944, Somathanahalli) is highly regarded both as a short-story writer and as a translator, having published many translations of works by Nobel Prize-winning writers, as well as collections of his own short stories and poems. Mr. Diwakar is a book reviewer for the prestigious Indian Review of Books, and an editor in the Office of Public Affairs at the American Consulate in Chennai. He is participating courtesy of the Southeast Asia Studies Program at the University of Iowa and the University of Iowa.
Ksenija DRAGUNSKAYA (KSEN-ee-yuh DRA-goon-SKAI-uh; playwright, Russia; b. 1965, Moscow) has written more than ten original plays for adults, two adaptations, and six children's plays, almost all of which have been published by the distinguished magazines Playwright and Modern Playwriting. The plays Forever and Ever (1996) and The Red-Haired Play (2000) were both short-listed for the Anti-Booker prize, the latter forming the basis for a television film. She is participating courtesy of the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
Marjorie M. EVASCO-PERNIA (MAR-joh-REE eh-VAS-koh payr-NEE-uh; poet, Philippines; b. 1953 Maribojoc, Bohol) is director of the Bienvenido N. Santos Creative Writing and Research Center at De La Salle University. She is the recipient of the Philippines 1987 and 1999 National Book Awards for Poetry; her books include Dreamweavers: Selected Poems 1976-1986 (1987); Ochre Tones: Poems in English and Cebuano (1999); and, most recently, A Life Shaped by Music (2001). She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Cristian Gonzalo GOMES-OLIVARES (KRIS-tee-en gun-ZAH-loh GOH-mez OH-lee-VAH-rez; poet, Chile; b. 1971, Santiago) is a professor at Diego Portales University, a regular contributor to well-known magazines, and a dynamic promoter of poetry. Besides his three collections of poetry, he has edited the Anthology of Chilean Poetry (1999), and surveyed his country's poetic landscape in his Panorama of Modern Chilean Poetry (2001). He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Radostina G. GRIGOROVA (RAD-oh-STEE-nuh GREEG-oh-ROH-vah; poet, playwright, fiction writer, Bulgaria; b. 1974, Sofia) is the editor of Egoist Magazine, and the author of several screenplays, including Truth or Dare (2001) which won the national contest for Best Screenplay on Channel One. More than fifty of her poems, short stories, and essays have appeared in literary magazines and other periodicals. She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Nihad HASANOVIC (NEE-hahd hah-SAHN-oh-VEECH; playwright, fiction writer, Bosnia; b. 1974, Nihac) is currently finishing his studies in philosophy and literature in Sarajevo. He has translated French novels by Rachid Mimouni and Kenize Mourad, and written a short story collection to be published later this year. He has also written plays-Podigni visoko baklju (Raise your torch!, 1996), and the prize-winning Zaista? (Really?, 2001) which was broadcast on Bosnian National Radio. His participating through the courtesy of the Trust for Mutual Understanding.
Mahmoud Abu HASHHASH (mah-MOOD ah-BOO huh-SHAH-HASH; poet, West Bank; 1971, Hebron) is the Project Coordinator of Culture and Science at the Qattan Foundation, and an editor at the Palestinian House of Poetry in Ramallah. Published in many magazines and journals, he is the author of Waj Al Zujaj (The Pain of Glass, 2001) and a contributor to Dueof An-Naar Ad-Da'Emoun, a joint publication of poetry for 13 young Palestinian poets. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
JIANG Yun (gee-ahng yuun; fiction writer, China; b. 1954, Shanxi) graduated in 1981 from the Chinese Department of Taiyuan Normal College and later studied at Beijing University. Her first published story, "Wo de liangge nuer" (My Two Daughters), marked the beginning of the Wound Literature movement in Shanxi. Since then, Ms. Jiang has published widely. Xianchang taoyi (Escape from the Scene, 1998), the third of her four story collections, was translated into French as Delit De Fuite (2001); and her five novels include Shanshuo zai nide zhitou (Shining on the Top of Your Tree, 1998) and Wo de leilu (My Interior Land, 2001). She is participating courtesy of the University of Iowa Chinese Community.
Eddin Bu-Eng KHOO (AY-din BOO-ENG KOO; poet, Malaysia; b. 1969, Selangor) has been deeply involved in preserving the heritage of Malay culture, particularly through his writing. As a journalist with "The Star," Malaysia's largest circulation English newspaper, Mr. Khoo has written many articles about the arts and traditions of Malaysia. Currently, Mr. Khoo is working to establish a publishing firm that would translate literary works into Malay in the next two years he will publish five new books of his own-works of translation, criticism, and original poetry. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Marzanna B. KIELAR (mar-ZHAHN-ah KEE-eh-LAHR; poet, Poland; b. 1963, Goldap) holds a PhD from Nicolaus Copernicus University in Torun. She is an adjunct professor at the Special Education Academy in Warsaw. Ms. Kielar's poetry has appeared in many journals in Poland, Germany, and the U.S. In Den Rillen Eisiger Shunden (2000) won Germany's Herman Lenz Preis. She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Sukrita Paul KUMAR (soo-KREE-tah PAWL KOO-mar; poet, India; b. 1949, Nairobi, Kenya) is an associate professor of English at Zakir Husain College, University of Delhi. The recipient of many grants and awards, she has published nearly ten books of literary criticism, translation, and poetry. Her most recent book of poems is Folds of Silence (1998). She is currently at work on two new books. She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
KYAW ZWA (Chit Oo Nyo) (KEE-aw ZWAH; fiction writer, Burma; b. 1946, Mandalay) through more than twenty novels has made Burmese history and Buddhist culture come alive for Burma's younger generations. His novelization of the "Ramayana"-in which the villain Dasigiri becomes the protagonist-is regarded as a classic. Chit Oo Nyo (U Kyaw Zwa's pen name) is working on a novel about an 18th century member of the Royal Court, U Po Hlain, a figure known for his radical ideas. U Kyaw Zwa is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
LI Rui (LEE Rhuee; fiction writer, China; b. 1950, Beijing) is best known for a series of stories published under the title Houtu (Thick Earth), which won the China Times Literary Prize, and gained him an international reputation. One of his country's major writers, Mr. Li has published four novels, three essay collections, and four story collections. Many of these works have been translated into Swedish, English, French, Japanese, German, Dutch, and other languages. His most recent novel is Yingcheng gushi (Tale of Silver City, 2001); an eight-volume Dongyue Wenku: Li Rui Collection will be published by Shandong Wenyi Publishing House in 2002. He is participating through the courtesy of the University of Iowa Chinese Community.
LIU Jun (Xi Chuan) (see CHWAN; poet, China; b. 1963, Xu Zhou) is a vice-professor of western literature and English language at the Central Academy of Fine Arts. Elected in 1996 to the board of directors of the Chinese Poets' Association, Xi Chuan (pen name of Mr. Liu Jun) has published four collections of poems, most recently Water Stains (2001), in addition to a play and translations. His poetry has been widely anthologized and translated into more than ten languages. Among his many prizes is the prestigious Lu Xun Prize for literature in 2001. He is participating courtesy of the Freeman Foundation.
Nestor Guillermo MARTINEZ (NAY-stohr ghe-YEHR-moh mar-TEE-nez; fiction writer, essayist, Argentina; b. 1962, Bahia Blanca), who directs the Mathematics Department at the School of the Sciences at the University of Buenos Aires, is one of Argentina's most important contemporary writers. His story collection Infierno Grande (Vast Hell, 1989) is required reading in many high school literature courses; his essays are regularly published in Agentina's most important newspapers; and he has received numerous national prizes. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Narlan MATOS-TEIXEIRA (nar-lahn MAH-tohs TEH-eek-HAI-rah; poet, Brazil; b. 1975, Bahia) is considered to be his country's most promising poet. His collection No Acampamento Das Sombras (At the Camp of Shadows) won the Xerox Award of Brazilian Literature, the most prestigious university literature award in Brazil. A translator from English and Slovenian, he is also editing the complete works of Dr. Duarte, one of the mentors of the "Tropicalia" and "New Cinema" movements. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. State Department.
Gordon McLAUCHLAN (GOHR-dun mik-LAWKH-len; fiction writer, journalist, New Zealand; b. 1931, Dunedin) is a highly accomplished journalist and fiction writer. He is the chairman of Four Star Books and host of the Radio New Zealand program "Book Club." He has also hosted two New Zealand network television magazine shows, edited Bateman's New Zealand Encyclopedia, provided the New Zealand questions for Trivial Pursuit, and was president of the New Zealand Society of Authors. He has written more than eight books, including political commentaries. He is participating courtesy of Creative New Zealand and the University of Iowa.
MENG Jing-Hui (muhng jing whooay; playwright, China; b. 1965, Ji Lin) is a graduate of the Beijing School of Dramatics, and is called one of the foremost avant-garde playwrights in China. His productions in Chinese off-Broadway theaters have included The Rhinoceros in Love, Scandals from One Street, and Beckett's Waiting for Godot, adapted for Chinese. His latest film is Chicken Poets. He is participating courtesy of the Asian Cultural Council.
Charles MULEKWA (CHARLZ moo-LAY-kwah; playwright, Uganda; b. 1966, Mbale) is very involved in Ugandan theater. A founding member and co-director of the drama group Teamline, he is a committee member of the Kampala Amateur Dramatic Society, and an executive member of the National Theater Guild. His works include A Time of Fire (1999), Between You and Me, and The Woman in Me. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Nori NAKAGAMI (NOHR-ee NAH-kah-GAH-mee; fiction writer, Japan; b.1971, Tokyo) grew up in the suburbs of Tokyo before moving to California and Hawaii for high school and university. She published her first book A Red Flower of Ayawaddy in 1999. That same year her first novel, Kanojo no Purenka, was awarded the Subaru Prize for literature. Now back in Tokyo, Ms. Nakagami writes articles for major magazines and newspapers. Her most recent novel, Paradise was published in 2001; another, Akuryo, will be published in August, 2002. She is participating courtesy of the Freeman Foundation.
Freedom NYAMUBAYA (FREE-dum nyam-oo-BAI-ah; poet, Zimbabwe; b. 1958, Murehwa) is the author of On the Road Again (1986) and Dusk of Dawn (1995), both published in English; and co-author of Ndangariro (1987). Her work expresses ideas few dare voice, given the current political situation in Zimbabwe. She was once a member of the Zimbabwe Liberation Army in Mozambique, and now is the program director for Management Outreach Training Service for Rural and Urban Development. She is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Gideon NYIRENDRA (GIH-dee-un nee-RREN-drah; poet, Zambia; 1963, Ndola) is a freelance journalist for the "Community Voice" and the "Zambian Citizen" newspapers in Lusaka. Established poet, former president of the Poetry Society of Zambia, and dedicated student of Human Rights Law, Mr. Nyirendra has been helping to advance every form of Zambian literature. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Charleson Lim ONG (CHARL-son LIM ONG, fiction writer, Philippines; b. 1960, Manila) is professor of literature at the Department of English and Comparative Literature at the University of the Philippines. He has edited both The China Post (Taipei) and The Daily Globe (Philippines), and is the author of Men of the East and Other Stories, Woman of Am-Kaw and Other Stories, Conversion and Other Fictions, and An Embarrassment of Riches. He received the Philippines 1990 National Book Award for Fiction. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Alvin PANG (AL-vin PANG; poet, Singapore; b. 1972, Singapore) is the author of Testing the Silence (1997) and the co-editor of two poetry anthologies. His poems and critical essays have appeared in a number of magazines, journals, and anthologies. Mr. Pang serves on a number of literary committees and arts councils and as the editor for several online literary websites, including The Poetry Billboard (http://poetry.s-one.net.sg), which features Singapore writers. He is participating courtesy of the Singapore National Arts Council.
Antonio JosŽ PONTE (an-TOHN-ee-oh hoh-SAY PON-tay; fiction writer, poet, Cuba; b. 1964, Matanzas) studied at the University of Havana, worked as an engineer, and then as a screenwriter. He has published prize-winning collections of poetry and essays and a book of of short fiction in English translation In the Cold of the Malecon and other Stories; a second collection of stories will appear this fall, Tales from the Cuban Empire. An interview with the author can be found at the City Lights website: http://www.citylights.com/ponte.html. Mr. Ponte is participating in the IWP courtesy of the William B. Quarton International Writing Program Scholarship.
Arif Bagus PRASETYO (ah-REEF BAG-oos PRAH-seh-TYO; poet, critic, translator, Indonesia; b. 1971, Madiun) is an art curator and the editor of the Jakarta literary journal "Prosa" (Prose). Winner of the national "Sanggar Minum Kopi Bali Award" for poetry, Mr. Prasetyo has recently published two volumes of art criticism, translations of Bharati Mukherjee and Octavio Paz, and his own selected poems, entitled Mahasukka (2000). He is participating courtesy of the Open Society Institute.
Dorit RABINYAN (DOH-rit rah-BIN-yen; fiction writer, poet, Israel; b. 1972 Kefar Saba) is the author of Persian Brides (1995), which won the Yitzhak Vinner Prize for debut literature, the Golden Book Award, and the Platinum Book Award. Her second novel Strand of a Thousand Pearls (1999) was also published to great acclaim, and is available in English. She is at work on a new book. She is participating courtesy of the US-Israel Educational Foundation.
Elie RAJAONARISON (EH-lee-eh RADZ-ah-OH-nah-REE-sun; poet, Madagascar; b. 1951 Ambatondrasaka) founded "Sandratra," an association of young Malagasy poets, and joined with others to found the Malagasy National Committee of ICOMOS (International Council on Monuments and Sites). In addition to his work as a poet-Mr. Rajaonarison has authored many poetry collections, including Voyage Sur Les Hautes Terres (Trip to the Highlands, 2002)-he makes translations, contributes to local newspapers, and often appears on radio and television programs. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Piotr SOMMER (pee-OHTR SOHM-mayr; poet, translator, Poland; b. 1948, Walbrzych) is a poet, critic, and editor of the monthly Literatura na swiecie. He has translated the works of John Ashbery, John Berryman, Seamus Heaney, and numerous other American and Anglo-Irish poets, while many of his own poems, translations, and critical works have appeared in publications such as the New Yorker, Ploughshares, and the Times Literary Supplement. A collection, Things to Translate and Other Poems (1991), is available in English. His most recent book is Piosenka pasterska (1999). He is participating courtesy of the Jurzykowski Foundation.
Heleno Godoi de SOUSA (Ay-leh-noh goh-DOY deh SOH-sah; fiction writer, poet, Brazil; b. 1946, Goias) holds two professorships, in English and American literature at the Federal University of Goias, and in literary theory and Brazilian literature at the Catholic University of Goias. Besides his work as an editor and translator, and his extensive journal and magazine publications on Brazilian, English, and Irish literature, Professor Sousa has published a novel, two short story collections, several books of poetry, and a book of essays. He is working on a new collection of stories. He is participating courtesy of the U.S. Department of State.
Michael ZELLER (mi-KHAYL TSEL-ler; fiction writer, Germany; b. 1944 Wroclaw, Poland) is the author of Follen's Heritage: A German (Hi)Story (1986), The Man Who Comes Again (1990), CafŽ Europa (1994), and Kropp: A Revenge (1996), as well as many short stories, essays, and poems. He has been writer-in-residence at New York University and artist-in-residence at the University of Erfurt/Thuringia. He is participating courtesy of the Max Kade Foundation.
Policy Change
New Policies on Sexual Harrassment and Consensual Relationships Involving Students
The new policy on sexual harrassment is online at: http://www.uiowa.edu/~oaa/revised_shpolicy.htm
The new policy on consensual relationships involving students is online at: http://www.uiowa.edu/~oaa/cr_policy.htm
MEMORANDUM TO: Deans, Directors, and Departmental Executive Officers
FROM: Mary Sue Coleman, President, & Charlotte F. Westerhaus, Assistant to the President, Director of Affirmative Action, and ADA Coordinator
RE: Revised University of Iowa Policy on Sexual Harassment & Policy on Consensual Relationships Involving Students
DATE: July 1, 2002
The University of Iowa Policy on Sexual Harassment and Consensual Relationships has been revised. The former combined policy has been separated into two distinct policies: the Policy on Sexual Harassment and the Policy on Consensual Relationships Involving Students. The revised and new policies are effective immediately. In the Policy on Sexual Harassment, the most significant changes involve the role of the "academic or administrative officer" in the handling of complaints. Any academic or administrative officer who becomes aware of sexual harassment will now have a duty to report the situation to the Office of Affirmative Action.
In addition, the definition of sexual harassment has been revised, and who may bring a complaint has been modified. In the Policy on Consensual Relationships Involving Students, the policy language has been rewritten to provide both strength and clarity.
In addition, the distinction between relationships that are prohibited and those that are discouraged has been clarified, and a procedure for managing discouraged relationships that do arise is specified. Deans, Directors, and Departmental Executive Officers are responsible for knowing and understanding the contents of the new policies and the revised processes for handling complaints.
Thus, education regarding these policies is a key element in establishing a campus community that promotes and supports the integrity of the University's educational mission. In the coming months the Office of Affirmative Action will conduct training sessions through Staff Development and upon request from departments to educate those individuals responsible for responding to complaints of sexual harassment about the changes in the policy. The judgment and response of those individuals are crucial to the University's ability to appropriately handle such situations.
For additional copies of the policies, please contact the Office of Affirmative Action at 335-0705 or go to www.uiowa.edu/~oaa/ Additionally, if you have any questions about the policy revisions, or if you wish to arrange a training session, please contact the Office of Affirmative Action by email at charlotte-westerhaus@uiowa.edu or by phone at 335-0705.
READING MATTERS will appear on the web and in your mailboxes every other Wednesday as a combination of memos from the chair, announcements, deadlines, publication announcements, notices of speakers, conferences, and visitors of interest to the department. To be included in READING MATTERS, announcements should be e-mailed to Amanda at am_17@hotmail.com by Monday afternoon.
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