Conferences, Institutes and Symposia, Oh My!

Marianne Kunkel attended the North American Review Bicentennial Creative Writing and Literature Conference in Cedar Falls, Iowa June 11-13. She presented on four panels, two of which also featured Mary Stone: "Writing the Hard Thing: A Reading by Three Women Authors (Poetry and Creative Nonfiction)" and "Writing the Hard Thing: Advice for Creative Writers with Ambitious Subjects." 

Joining Marianne on two  other panels were Mochila and Canvas undergraduate staff members Crystal Crawford, Lindsey Lucas, and Chris Pankiewicz. These panels were titled:  "The Beat of the Drum: Drumming up Campus-wide Interest in a University Literary Journal" and "How a Literary Journal can Catch up and Stay Ahead in a Digital World."

Mike Cadden presented “The Real, the Exaggerated, and the Impossible Character” at the Children’s Literature Association Conference, Richmond, VA in June.  

Michael Charlton attended the Freeman Institute hosted by Japan Studies Association at the University of Hawaii May 25th--June 13th.  

Kaye Adkins was selected to participate in the iFixit Technical Writing Symposium that met at iFixit's international headquarters at San Luis Obispo, California, May 21-23. The symposium, offered by iFixit's education department, supports technical writing instructors who want to include real-world documentation in their classes. Dr. Adkins will be using the materials in her Introduction to Technical Communication and Technical Documentation classes, as students create repair manuals that will be published on iFixit's web site. 

Susan Martens gave a presentation titled "Adapting Ecocritical Approaches to Mapping Techniques in the Writing Marathon" at the Biennial Conference of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment at the University of Idaho on June 24th.

Applied Expertise

Elizabeth Canon served as abstract reviewer for the national conference of the Linguistic Society of America.

Marianne Kunkel served as guest judge of The Northridge Review's annual Rachel Sherwood Poetry Award, selecting from the literary journal's 2015 issues a winning poem and runner-up. The Northridge Review is based out of California State University-Northridge.

Susan Martens served as Adjunct Retreat Leader at the New Orleans Writing Marathon Retreat, hosted by the Southeastern Louisiana Writing Project and Southeastern Louisiana University on July 13-17.

Accolades 

Congratulations to Dawn Terrick, who received the annual Chairpersons Award for the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences. 

Cynthia Jenéy published "Horses and Equitation" for the Handbook of Medieval Culture, edited by Albrecht Classen and published in Berlin with de Gruyter Publishers.

The Prairie Lands Writing Project's work in the National Writing Project’s College Ready Writers Program has entered its third year.  Funded through an i3 (Investing in Innovation) grant, the program this year involves several Teacher Consultants working in new partnerships with administrators and teachers in the Osborn, Trenton, and Winston school districts as well as in sustainability partnerships with districts in Braymer, Breckenridge, and Hamilton.  This work is being coordinated by Program Manager Jane Frick, Lead Facilitators Tom Pankiewicz and Kathy Miller, and professional development leaders Amy Miller, Janet Jelavich, Terry McAvoy, Maridella Carter, and Valorie Stokes.  

The Spoken Word

The First Thursday Open Mic at Café Acoustic kicked off on September 3rd with a potluck that This monthly event is organized by Mary Dockery.

The Writers Place Reading Series at UMKC featured Marianne Kunkel and Mary Dockery reading their poetry on September 18^th.

Community Outreach

The Prairie Lands Writing Project hosted the Summer Writing Project for the Saint Joseph School District May 19- June 11.  Approximately 130 students in grades 3-8 attended daily sessions at MWSU and gave readings to family and friends on the final day of the program, coordinated by PLWP Co-Director Mya Ezzell and Graduate Assistant Josie Clark.