Distinguished Visiting Writers Series
Four writers of national or international reputation are invited to read from their works each academic year, usually in October, November, March, and April. The following writers were invited for this academic year:
Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, Poet Laureate of Kansas from 2009-2011, will read on Thursday, September 17. Her reading, the first Distinguished Visiting Writers Series event of the year, will be held in Grubbs Hall 109 at 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public. Goldberg’s books include four collections of poetry, a memoir, a writing guide, and several anthologies she edited. Her most recent books are Landed, a collection of poetry, and The Sky Begins At Your Feet, a memoir on cancer, community and coming home to the body. Former Kansas Poet Laureate Denise Low says Mirriam-Goldberg "has the ability to connect with audiences both in her writings and in person. She is warm, smart, and funny."
On becoming the 2009-2011 Kansas Poet Laureate, Mirriam-Goldberg said, "Over many years teaching and leading writing workshops in communities throughout Kansas and the U.S. and Mexico, I've continually witnessed how powerful our stories and writing can be when we speak in our own words and tell our own truths. My Poet Laureate project – ‘Poetry Across Kansas: Reading and Writing Our Way Home’ -- offers communities opportunities for not just readings and writing workshops, but support for ongoing writing circles facilitated by local writers, teachers, artists and community members."
Mirriam-Goldberg founded Transformative Language Arts, a master's degree in social and personal transformation through writing, storytelling and performance, which is part of Goddard College's Individualized MA program. Mirriam-Goldberg has taught at Goddard since 1996, and she received her Ph.D. and MA in English from the University of Kansas. Her monthly radio show, “Write From Your Life,” is part of High Plains Public Radio's “High Plains in Words” series, and she offers writing prompts and links to podcasts of the radio show at her blog. Her website is www.CarynMirriamGoldberg.com.
Mirriam-Goldberg’s reading is sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series and the Student Fee Council. A reception will be held after the reading.
Victor J. Emmett, Jr., Memorial Lecture
Michael Martin, Lecturer in English and Co-Director of the Nancy Geshke Writing Center at Marygrove College, Detroit, Michigan, will deliver the Sixteenth Annual Victor J. Emmett, Jr., Memorial Lecture on Thursday, October 8, at 8:00 p.m., in the Balkans Room of the Overman Student Center on the Pittsburg State University campus. Mr. Martin’s lecture topic will be “The Mystical Body of Romanticism.” The lecture is free and open to the public. A brief award ceremony and reception in the Heritage Room will follow the lecture.
The honor of delivering the Emmett Memorial Lecture goes to the author of the best essay on a literary topic published each year in The Midwest Quarterly. Mr. Martin’s winning essay was “Taking on Being: Betting Beyond Postmodern Criticism," which will appear in the Autumn 2009 issue.
The Emmett Memorial Award and Lecture are sponsored by the Emmett family, The Midwest Quarterly, and the English Department of Pittsburg State. The award is given in memory of the late Dr. Victor J. Emmett, Jr., who, before his death in 1990, was for twenty-three years a Professor of English at Pittsburg State, where he served at various times as Chairperson of the English Department, Acting Dean of Graduate Studies, and Editor-in-Chief of The Midwest Quarterly.
Mr. Martin received his B. A. in English from Marygrove College in 1997 and his M. A. in Liberal Studies from the University of Detroit in 2000. He is currently studying for his doctorate in English at Wayne State University. Besides his article in The Midwest Quarterly, Mr. Martin has published an article on The Merchant of Venice in a casebook published this year, and articles on literature and religion in a number of journals. His article, “Meditations on Blade Runner,” published in Journal of Interdisciplinary Studies in 2005, may be of interest to students. Besides his scholarly work, Mr. Martin has also published three pieces of creative non-fiction and more than a dozen poems in various journals and anthologies. He taught at the Detroit Waldorf School for eleven years, where he also served as headmaster from 2004-2006, before joining the faculty at Marygrove College. He currently lives on a small farm near Ann Arbor, Michigan, with his wife and eight children.
