Category Archives: Community Engagement

Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Student Activities

Literary Festival – Publishing

Millersville University is hosting a Literary Festival in the McNairy Library Room 100 on November 2nd from 9am to 5pm with a keynote speaker at 7pm. Guest writers will hold sessions on writing fiction, poetry, memoir, creative essays, and journalism throughout the day. Check out the full event schedule here. 

From 2-2:55pm in the McNairy Library, there will be a panel focused on publishing presented by Meghan Phillips and Jamie Beth Cohen. Here is some more information about the presenters:

Meghan Phillips is a writer and editor from Lancaster, PA. Her stories and poems have been nominated for the the Best of the Net, The Best Small Fictions Anthology, Best Microfiction anthology, and the Pushcart Prize. She is the fiction editor for the Lancaster-based literary magazine Third Point Press, and an associate editor for SmokeLong Quarterly, one of the oldest literary magazines dedicated to flash fiction. Her chapbook of flash fiction, Abstinence Only, is forthcoming from Barrelhouse Books. To find out more about her writing, visit meghan-phillips.com.

Jamie Beth Cohen writes about difficult things, but her friends think she’s funny. Her writing has appeared in TeenVogue.com, The Washington Post/On Parenting, Salon, and several other outlets. Her debut novel, WASTED PRETTY, will be published in April 2019. It’s a YA book about what happens when a sixteen-year-old girl who usually blends in, starts to stand out. Jamie’s favorite job was scooping ice cream when she was 16 years old. She thinks everything about 16 was wonderful and amazing, except all the stuff that was horrible. Find her tweeting @Jamie_Beth_S

Be sure to check out one or more of the panels tomorrow!

Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Special Activities

Literary Festival – Panel Discussion: “The Writing Life”

Millersville University is hosting a Literary Festival in the McNairy Library Room 100 on November 2nd from 9am to 5pm with a keynote speaker at 7pm. Guest writers will hold sessions on writing fiction, poetry, memoir, creative essays, and journalism throughout the day. Check out the full event schedule here. 

From 12:05am to 1:55, the literary fest will shift into room 112 for a panel discussion composed of recent Millersville alums about “The Writing Life.” Here is some more information about the panel members:

Phil Benoit, a retired MU professor, has narrated 23 audio-books, which are listed for sale on Audible. A former college faculty member and administrator, he is the co-author of several college textbooks on communications and broadcasting.

Mitchell Sommers is the fiction editor of Philadelphia Stories, a quarterly literary magazine. He is an attorney practicing in Lancaster and Ephrata.

Barb Strasko, who appeared earlier in the day for the poetry panel, is the author of two collections of poetry and was appointed the first Poet Laureate of Lancaster County by the Lancaster Literary Guild. She is a counselor, reading specialist, and literacy coach. and is currently the Poet in the Schools for Poetry Paths in the city of Lancaster.

Alex Brubaker is the Manager of the Midtown Scholar Bookstore and Director of the Harrisburg Book Festival. Previously, he was the Exhibit Coordinator of the Twin Cities Book Festival and the Editorial Assistant at Rain Taxi Magazine in Minneapolis.

During this section Dr. Corkery and his theatrical troupe will make an appearance.

Be sure to check out this panel and more on November 2nd!

 

Literary Events, Special Activities, Student Activities

Literary Festival – Poetry

Millersville University is hosting a Literary Festival in the McNairy Library Room 100 on November 2nd from 9am to 5pm with a keynote speaker at 7pm. Guest writers will hold sessions on writing fiction, poetry, memoir, creative essays, and journalism throughout the day. Check out the full event schedule here. 

Sessions 2 and 3 of Millersville’s Literary Festival will focus on poetry. Session 2, which starts at 10am, will feature Le Hinton and Jenny Hill. Session 3, which begins at 11am, will feature Barb Strasko and Michele Santamaria. Here is some extra information about the guest poets for these sections:

Le Hinton is the author of six poetry collections and his work has been widely published and nominated for various awards such as the 2016 Pushcart Prize, the 2016 Best of the Net, and inclusion in Best American Poetry 2014. His current collection, Sing Silence (formerly A Chorus for Cotton), was a finalist for “The Best Prize for People of Color” from Big Lucks and an honorable mention for the Dogfish Head Poetry Prize.

Jenny Hill is the author of six books of poetry, two of prose, and is a teaching artist in the Arts-in-Education program with the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. She has been teaching creative writing for the past 18 years and her work has been anthologized in high school textbooks and appeared in numerous literary journals.

Barb Strasko is the author of two collections of poetry: Graffiti in Braille and On the Edge of Delicate Day. She was appointed the first Poet Laureate of Lancaster County by the Lancaster Literary Guild. Her poem “Bricks and Mortar” is engraved in granite in Lancaster’s main square.

Michele Santamaria works as a Learning Design Librarian at MU. She was a reader for the South Carolina Review and inaugural poetry editor for the journal Cherry Tree. Her poems have most recently appeared in Bayou, Bellingham Review, and Portland Review. In her current manuscript, Michele is writing about Technicolor movies, family history, beauty, and race.

Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Special Activities, Student Activities

Literary Festival – Flash Fiction Contest

Millersville University is hosting a Literary Festival in the McNairy Library Room 100 on November 2nd from 9am to 5pm with a keynote speaker at 7pm. Guest writers will hold sessions on writing fiction, poetry, memoir, creative essays, and journalism throughout the day. Check out the full event schedule here. 

The Millersville University Literary Festival is sponsoring a Flash Fiction contest!

Submission Criteria:

  • Millersville students only
  • 1,000 word limit
  • Submit here (click on the “Submit Here” link) by October 15th at 11:59pm

The night before the festival (November 1st), the student fiction prize will be awarded at an open mic event in Saxby’s from 7-9pm. The winner will win a $100 prize and a spot in the George Street Press literary magazine.

Please submit your stories and come out to the open mic on November 1st!

Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Special Activities, Student Activities

Literary Festival – Fiction and Flash Fiction Presentation

Millersville University is hosting a Literary Festival in the McNairy Library Room 100 on November 2nd from 9am to 5pm with a keynote speaker at 7pm. Guest writers will hold sessions on writing fiction, poetry, memoir, creative essays, and journalism throughout the day. Check out the full event schedule here. 

Session 1 of the Literary Festival will focus on Fiction and Flash Fiction.  Presenters Curtis Smith and Don Helin will discuss writing fiction from 9-9:50am. Here is some more information about the presenters:

Curtis Smith has been featured in over seventy literary journals and is the author of five books of fiction. His work has been cited by The Best American Short Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, The Best American Spiritual Writing and the recently released WW Norton anthology New Micro: Exceptionally Short Fiction. His most recent book is Lovepain, a novel from Braddock Avenue Books.

 

 

 

Don Helin is the author of five thrillers that draw from his military experience serving in a number of stateside posts as well as overseas in Vietnam and Germany. His novel, Secret Assault, was selected as the best Suspense/Thriller at the 2015 Indie Book Awards. Don is a member of International Thriller Writers, Military Writers Society of America, Penwriters, a state-wide writers group in PA.

 

 

 

 

Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Student Activities

Banned Book Week

This week, September 24th – 28th, the McNairy Library is celebrating Banned Book Week, an annual celebration of the Freedom to Read. All week banned books will be on display by the first floor circulation desk and there will be rotating banned book facts and statistics on the library monitors.

Here is the week’s schedule:

Monday, Wednesday, Thursday: 10-2pm Button Making – Make your own buttons to support the freedom to read (Lobby). Photo booth – Take a selfie and enter to win a gift card.

Tuesday: 12:05-1:10pm Panel Discussion – Join us for a faculty panel discussion on banned books and censorship (Room 104).

For more information about the event at the McNairy Library, contact Dr. Stephanie Pennucci.

Check out the Banned Books Week website to get involved with the national event.

 

Conferences, Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Special Activities, Uncategorized

Pen America’s World Voices Festival Update

Karrah Keck is a Public Relations Major at Millersville University who went on the trip to Pen America’s World Voices Festival in NYC with Dr. Jakubiak’s New Dimensions to World Literature Class last semester.

On Thursday, April 19th, 2018 my English class taught by Dr. Jakubiak traveled to New York City to hear a panelist of authors from all over the world speak at a convention called Cry, the Beloved Country. The festival was for Pen America’s World Voices Festival which is centered around bringing together world literature and ideas.

The group of authors we listened to each read a piece of their writings in their own native language to authenticate and appreciate its origins. Every single piece that was read dealt with a conflict that each author’s country experienced and had to endure. For Cry. the Beloved Country there were a total of six authors:

  • Ryszard Krynicki: Poland
  • Serhiy Zhadan: Ukraine
  • Marcos Aguinis: Argentina
  • Ngugi wa Thiang’o: Kenya
  • Hwang Sok-yong: Korea
  • Negar Djavadi: Iran/France

After each had finished, the audience was able to meet the authors and have them sign any works they had written. This was a great time for me and my class. Some of us brought along our book The River Between written by Mr. Ngugi wa Thiang’o that we had read in class and got to not only have him sign our novels but to ask him questions about the book we had discussed so heavily. All of the questions we had about the book he was able to answer. To actually meet an author who had written one of my favorite books we had read all semester was such an amazing experience.

Some of us didn’t have any pieces of literature written by the authors, but that did not stop us from talking to them about their inspirations and experiences. I had four out of the six authors sign my program that I was given so I didn’t go away completely empty handed. Every author I spoke to was so insightful and had such grace to their craft that I could not help but feel inspired when they spoke to me. Discussing literature in a classroom is beneficial but hands down, nothing beats talking to the author that actually wrote it.

Taking this trip was one of my favorite things of my freshman year here at Millersville. I cannot even begin to express how fortunate I feel to have been given the opportunity to go and hear this group of authors speak. It is something I truly will never forget. It opened my knowledge of the world and had me think, truly think about the impact that conflict has on literature and the impact literature has on us as humans. It was a privilege and an honor to be a part of something greater than myself. It’s not only eye opening, it is life impacting. I will forever be grateful that I took advantage of this opportunity and went on this trip of a lifetime.

-Karrah Keck

 

Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Student Activities, Uncategorized

Poetic Freshman Orientation

This year at freshman orientation, Dr. Pfannenstiel and a group of volunteers designed a game using One Book One Campus to help students experience reading in a new way. Skyler Gibbon, a senior, reflected on what she saw and experienced as a part of orientation. 

I have a confession to make. When I started out as a freshman social work major at Millersville University in Fall 2014, I did not go to about 90% of freshman orientation. Sadly, I snobbishly dismissed it. At that time, I never would have thought that as a senior in 2019, I would actively choose to be present and choose to be engaged at freshman orientation. And let me tell you, going this year as a volunteer made me wish that I had attended my own orientation into this spirited, creative, and innovative academic community. Though I cannot describe freshman orientation as a freshman, I can describe it now as a senior volunteer. I was energized not only by the number of the freshman who are joining us at MU this year, but by their creativity, confidence, empowerment, and thoughtfulness through blackout poetry.

The novel “All American Boys” by Jason Reynolds and Bryan Kiely is our current One Book, One Campus selection. To facilitate meaningful conversations about race among students on campus, the One Book organizers and One Book volunteers used excerpts from “All American Boys.” Blackout poetry is simple, but still a profound art. Basically, students had to cross off what they didn’t want in the text, leaving what they wanted to keep to form their blackout poem.

It is common for people to build walls between themselves and the things that help us grow or challenge us. Poetry is one of those things. I think many people often believe that it is something innate. Or that is for more contemplative types. Or for monks that live on mountain tops. Or for 1800s’ transcendentalists who live near ponds. Or, as Dr Archibald has argued, for people who have had “a fairy land on their head to gift them.” Through blackout poetry, freshman students discovered that poetry can be created from what already exists rather than being completely manifested. Sure, there were a few students who still felt too discouraged to give a thoughtful attempt. However, almost everyone left appreciating the language that can emerge out of themselves through poetry. It surprised them. Many eyes lit up with the discovery of the profundity that was woven from the fabrics of their own mind and the words of “All American Boys.” They saw how poetry is freeing rather than confining. They saw how poetry can give the sense of a fierce and rebellious act through potentially using a marker to cross out lines in an old, worn library book. They have the words before them. They just had to choose which ones to use. And there is something so exciting and powerful in that.

Welcome to MU, new innovators/rebels

-Skyler Gibbon

Conferences, Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Special Activities, Student Activities

PEN World Voices Festival Trip

On April 19th, Dr. Jakubiak’s New Dimensions to World Literature class will go on a trip to New York City to see a panel of writers at PEN World Voices Festival. The panel, called Cry, The Beloved Country, consists of authors from around the world: Ryszard Krynicki from Poland, Serhiy Zhadan from Ukraine, Marcos Aguinis from Argentina, Ngugi wa Thiong’o from Kenya, Hwang Sok Yong from Korea, and Negar Djavadi from Iran/France. The panel’s web-page writes, ” No matter their origin, writers across the globe encapsulate the spirit of resistance by giving a voice to the oppressed. In an evening of solidarity and community, writers from seven countries share their stories of pain, rage, and suffering while living under oppressive regimes. Hear the voices of the unheard; join us in celebrating these moments of resistance.”

Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong'o
Kenyan author Ngugi wa Thiong’o Photo credit

The class has already studied some of the work of the renowned Kenyan writer Ngugi wa Thiong’o, a novelist and theorist of post-colonial literature. Ngugi will discuss the role of literature in autocratic regimes with his fellow panel members. This experience will give the students, all BSE majors, an opportunity to broaden their knowledge of world literatures and interact with the authors of books they have studied and may choose to teach in the future.

In addition to attending PEN World Voices festival, the group will take a guided tour of the new Tenement Museum of Immigration on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which will give the students a hands-on lesson on the history of American Immigration. The tenements housed over 15,000 working class immigrants from over 20 nations while the tenements served as residences, according to the Tenement Museum’s website. The museum wishes to preserve the history of immigration and enhance appreciation for the role immigration has played and continues to play in shaping America’s evolving national identity.

Title Image Credit

Conferences, Environmental Advocacy, Literary Events, Newsletter Articles, Special Activities, Student Activities

Made in Millersville English Events

There will be a strong representation of the English department at this year’s Made in Millersville. Read these quick summaries before you go check them out on April 17th in the McNairy Library! Visit this site for the full program list. 

Use and Perception of Google Translate in the Classroom: 8-9:15am Maria Glotfelter will present on the potential use of computer translators as instructional tools for learning languages. Past studies indicate that students frequently use computer translators and sometimes have inaccurate perceptions about them. Google Translate was chosen as a tool to gauge students perception and use of computer translators. Maria will analyze survey and interview data with the goal of making pedagogical recommendations for both teachers and students.

A Different Space: 8-9:15am Kaylee Herndon will present a feature-style profile piece on Elizabethtown College’s Writers House and its director, Jesse Waters. The story focuses on what the house is, how it connects with the local community and other Writers Houses, and some struggles it faces. She will go over the story’s content, the interviewing and writing process, and the design layout process in terms of layout for publication.

Writing Workshop Digital Portfolio Session: 10:50am-12:05pm Students in Dr. Farkas’ Writing Workshop class are going to be discussing the benefits of creating a professional portfolio and the different digital platforms available and which they recommend.  Students will also share their own processes of creating their portfolios, some of their writing samples that they are including in their portfolios, and examples of their digital portfolios.  Students in the course will be working in small groups of about three students each and will present these various aspects of the digital portfolio.

The Issue of the Lack of Feminine Products Available to Homeless Women: 10:50am-12:05pm Mary-Kate Helm, Jessie Garrison, and Eilish McCaul will present on why lack of access to feminine products in the city of Lancaster is such an issue through their collected research and interviews with women on their experiences. The students will also focus on what they did to make a difference in the community and their sustainable plan of action.

The Line: 10:50am-12:05pm Rashna Yousaf will present her short film The Line that revolves around the theme of racial discrimination and gender inequality.

The Final Phase: Millersville Strike Oral History Project and Its Aftermath: 10:50am-12:05pm Lauren Cameron and Ashley Sherman will present on the PA State system of Higher Education Faculty Strike in October 19, 2016 by commemorating the state system’s first actualized walk-out. The presentation reflects upon the findings of the project, examining the development of the interviewing team and the strike project, as well as the aftermath such efforts created and the subsequent importance of oral history.

Non-Western Literature Poster Session: 1:10-2:25pm All students enrolled in the class ENGL 336 New Dimensions of World Literature are participating in this poster session. The goal is to draw the attention of the university community to accomplished literary works from countries that are often overlooked in mainstream discussions about literature in America. Students, working with Dr. Jakubiak, will present on major issues raised by works of fiction, nonfiction and drama written by Maryse Conde (Guadeloupe), Khaled Hosseini (Afghanistan), Wole Soyinka (Nigeria), Ngugi Wa’Thiong’o (Kenya), Mo Yan (China) and Samar Yazbek (Syria). They will also explore the rich cultural and historical contexts of these works.

Susquehanna Stories Panel: 1:10-2:25pm This panel will be a presentation of the “Susquehanna Stories” written by students from Dr. Mando’s last semester ENGL 466 Writing Studies Special Topics: Environmental Advocacy Writing. Maddie Giardina wrote a piece for the English Newsletter that explains the project in detail. The students who will be participating are Rylan Harvey, Caitlyn Tynes, Amanda Mooney, and Gabrielle Redcay.

Hip Hop and Intersectionality Panel: 1:10-2:25pm Hip Hop & Intersectionality is a panel of undergraduates exploring how rap music provides a site of cultural intersection between the marginalized perspectives that developed the genre and the mainstream perspectives that largely consume it. These students combine their knowledge of feminist theory with popular culture to bring revealing insights. Eugene Thomas, Stassy Bonhomme, Evelyn Dais, Sandra Molina-Hill, Diavian Gunner, Skyler Gibbon, and Elizabeth Wright are involved in the panel discussion.

Prisoner City: Lancaster City’s Role as a P.O.W. Prison During the American Revolution: 1:10-2:25pm Domenic DeSimone will present on Lancaster City’s role during the American Revolution. Unprepared for the sudden influx of prisoners they were being tasked to house, Congress instructed the citizens of Lancaster to let the prisoners walk among them in the town as a show of goodwill. The unique way that Lancaster dealt with their new identity as a prison town would drastically change the lives of the cities residents, forever altering the city that many of us call home today.

The Power of Creative Writing Class Presentation: 2:35-3:50pm Students enrolled in Dr. Jakubiak’s ENGL 421 Creative Writing in Fall ’17 will read their poetry, short stories, and creative non-fiction. The presenters are Brett Killian and Molly Landfried.

Spoken Word Event: 2:35-3:50pm The Spoken Word event will be students performing their work on the theme of what’s not spoken about in school.  They will give voice to what they think is important but not spoken about on campuses. These students are preparing an experience that will dramatize the theme, too. Skyler Gibbon, Sean Domencic, Krystal Lowery, Jessie Garrison, Rylan Harvey, Taylor Schaal, Kyle Copenhaver, Rachel Cubbage-Opaliski, Xiao Tian Wang, Alyssa Matchett, and Shamera Burbank Green will present.

& Joy: 2:35-3:50pm Catherine Dillon, in her dramatic performance session, will highlight the joy present even among the tragedies of life through a poetry reading/spoken word. The poet will share various poems discussing the mental health and familial relationships within the context of joy.

Student Perceptions of Student Driven Inquiry Projects: 2:35-3:50 Bryce Rinehart‘s study is meant to provide an understanding of students’ perspectives on their motivation during an IBL project in order to enhance educators’ understanding of how inquiry-based learning, especially student driven inquiry, can function within the classroom to address students’ need for autonomy, competence, and relatedness as they work.

For the Journal You’ve Never Heard Of: 2:35-3:50pm Shaakirah Tate, Alexandra Attinger, Daniel Dicker, Sara Lipski, and Mikayla Steele are interns for the Made in Millersville Journal and will unveil the new issue of the journal and display the student work submitted throughout the school year. It will also serve as the ‘Grand Opening’ for their new website and social media platforms. The presentation will integrate the journal with the conference as a whole. Visit this previous newsletter article for more information.

MUsings: The Graduate Journal: All Day Claire Porter, Jay Barnica, Rashid Noah, and Maria Rovito will present the publication of MUsings, showcasing the academic work of graduate students at Millersville University. The journal invites students to present highlight of their work in a venue that bolsters career- building experiences and celebrates their scholarly effects.