amaranth News and Stories from the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature at Hiram College
FALL EVENT REVIEW Authors Donovan Hohn & Pamela Schoenewaldt FACULTY PROFILE with Assistant Professor of English Jeff Swenson
four fish &
science reads a Northeast Ohio Community Reading Program
Spring 2013 www.hiram.edu/lindsaycrane
Lindsay-Crane
CENTER
Wr i t i n g & Literature for
am a ranth noun
1. a Vachel Lindsay poem published in The Congo and Other Poems in 1914 2. an imaginary flower that never fades 3. a highly nutritious golden seed 4. any of various annuals of the genus Amaranthus having dense green or reddish clusters of tiny flowers
Volume 2, Issue 1, Spring 2013
amaranth is a bi-annual publication of The Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature
staff
Editor-in-Chief Graphic Design
Kirsten Parkinson Sarah Bianchi
contributing writers Roxanna Coldiron
contributing photographers Samuel J. Adams: 1, 5 Christine Semety: 2, 3, 6, 9
mailing address Hiram College P.O. Box 67 Hiram, OH 44234
The Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature would like to thank the Hiram College Office of Institutional Advancement and the Office of Special Events for their ongoing support. Š The Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature, Hiram College
Lindsay-Crane
CENTER
for W r i t i n g & Literature
On the cover: the Brainerd Stranahan bench in the gardens behind Bonney Castle
amaranth News and Stories from the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature
spring 2013 4
LOST IN WRITING
6
ON THE BACKS OF DUCKS
7
FOUR FISH & SCIENCE READS
8
FOUR FISH EVENT GUIDE
10
A MEANS OF TRANSPORT
Lindsay-Crane intern Roxanna Coldiron explores the messiness of writing with author and alumna Pamela Schoenewaldt ’74 during her fall visit to Hiram
Donovan Hohn’s Moby-Duck is the topic of conversation during his visit to Hiram College The Lindsay-Crane Center and Center for Deciphering Life’s Languages bring you a community reading program this February See what’s happening this February on Hiram’s campus and throughout Northeast Ohio
An interview with Assistant Professor of English Jeff Swenson
From the Director Community is a keyword at the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature.
At the heart of our mission is a belief that writing and literature create communities. Reading and writing allow us to enter other worlds, connecting us to people in other cultures, other nations, and even other time periods. For the last four years, the LindsayCrane Center’s community reading programs have aimed to create such bonds between books and readers. Working with amazing partners at libraries and schools throughout Portage County, the Lindsay-Crane Center has sponsored more than 100 literature and writing events in the area. In support of these reading programs, the Lindsay-Crane Center in December received a $75,000 challenge grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This highly competitive grant along with the matching funds we will raise from now until 2017 will provide permanent funding for community reading programs as well as a scholarin-residence. Such events provide valuable community-building opportunities for the College and its neighbors as well as enrich a Hiram education for students who lead book discussions in high-school classes, supplementing their classroom instruction with civic engagement. As one student wrote about her experience with our second reading program:
Kirsten Parkinson 2 amaranth spring 2013
“Through the Big Read, I was also introduced to the various ways we conceptualize war through art, film, photography, games, and music as well as literature. Through these mediums we are able to understand and cope with some of the aspects of war that are oftentimes difficult to talk about. . . . The Big Read was one of my most challenging but enlightening experiences at Hiram.” We are absolutely thrilled about the many opportunities this grant will offer us to extend our community outreach and opportunities for Hiram College students. If you would like to support the community reading program through the NEH challenge grant, please visit http://www.hiram.edu/giving/make-a-gift and designate LC Center NEH Challenge Grant in the comment box. And our third community reading program is just around the corner. In February, Hiram College will get fishy as we explore the environmental, genetic, and dietary issues around seafood with a reading program focused on Paul Greenberg’s engaging and informative Four Fish. Science Reads is our first community read with a scientific bent and is co-sponsored by the Center for Deciphering Life’s Languages. You can read about the speakers, dinners, and book discussions we have planned in this issue of amaranth. I hope you’ll consider joining us for these fun and informative events.
Year: Sophomore in Traditional College Major: Religious Studies
Get to know
our Lindsay-Crane intern
Minor: Writing Favorite Hiram classes: Wisdom Literature with Linda Day, Writing About Your life with Joyce Dyer Memorable Hiram experience: Working as a Resident Assistant on Third Miller Favorite books: Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury and The Road by Cormac McCarthy What I hope to learn from the Lindsay-Crane internship: I’ve always been interested in editing in the professional sphere and I hope to refine that skill. This internship is giving me a chance to stretch out in the world of writing and see what I’m good at. If you’re a Hiram student looking for more information about internship opportunities with the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature, contact Kirsten Parkinson at parkinsonkl@hiram.edu
Alys Dutton
hiram college’s 6th annual
Emerging Writers Workshop in Creative Nonfiction
june 20-22 2013
Open to high-school students who will be juniors and seniors in the fall of 2013 Deadline to register is May 31, 2013 Find out more at www.hiram.edu/summerathiram/academic
mightier than the sword?
definitely. www.hiram.edu/lindsaycrane 3
LOST in writing Our Lindsay-Crane intern explores the messiness of writing with author & alumna Pamela Schoenewaldt ’74 during her fall visit to Hiram College
By Roxanna Coldiron ’13
P
amela Schoenewaldt ’74 is no stranger to Hiram College. The English graduate, who returned to campus as a LindsayCrane Center visiting author in September, reminisced during her presentation: “I remember what a pleasure it was to be a student here.” She spoke about hours spent writing and editing at various places across campus. 4 amaranth spring 2013
a look back: fall 2012 Her geometric dress complemented the reddish blond of her shoulder-length hair. I could imagine her as a spunky and petite young woman getting lost among the book stacks with a pen in one hand and a notebook in the other. Although Hiram College is familiar to her, Schoenewalt speaks powerfully of the experience of being a stranger, of being lost—an experience common to us all. Her first novel, When We Were Strangers, follows Italian immigrant Irma, who is neither beautiful nor wealthy, as she navigates the harshness of a new life in 1880s America. She is lost in a culture that coldly rejects her, even as it expects her to conform to society. Vulnerable and alone, Irma pushes through the worst of it and survives. Schoenewaldt told the story of her book and its creation during her visit, co-sponsored by the Office of Alumni Relations. She developed the character of Irma while living in a small town outside of Naples, Italy. Like her character, Schoenewaldt said she felt like a stranger within the close-knit community. “Their culture believed that it was best to die among friends and family,” she said. “You didn’t want to die with strangers.” This idea became the basis for Irma’s journey. Schoenewaldt’s second novel, Swimming in the Moon, due out this coming September, will return her to more familiar territory. Her protagonist will briefly be a student at Hiram College in the early 1900s. Schoenewaldt did research, including some work at the Hiram College Archives, to make her representation of the College in the early 20th century believable, even using names of actual faculty members. During her presentation, Schoenewaldt also spoke about her writing process, stressing the importance of writing, editing, and rewriting. She cautioned against getting too distracted by research: “Research is intoxicating.” Then she laughed and added, “Wikipedia is like candy. Yes, research is important, but you want to write.” These themes—constant writing and thorough editing—carried into the other interactions students had with Schoenewaldt during her visit. When she visited my Survey of Journalism class, Schoenewaldt told us about her part-time job with an advertising agency and as a contributing writer for Eastern, the Eastern Kentucky University alumni magazine. She advised us to “look at deadlines and word counts as gifts” because those things force us to become better writers. Word counts, she told us, help us to turn our thoughts into strong sentences. As a writer, I struggle with my first draft. I expect immediate perfection from myself and have to let that go if I want to actually finish writing something. Schoenewaldt stressed the importance of getting your thoughts written down. The editing step is crucial in organizing the mess into something readable and turning a draft into quality work. At the convocation, Schoenewaldt had told us of her love of editing and repeated it for my class. “Drafts should be messy. You don’t get order out of order,” she said. “You get order out of mess.” Writers write: Top: Pamela Schoenewaldt speaks at the fall convocation. Bottom: The cover of her book When We Were Strangers. the simplest and most profound lesson she taught us during her visit. With her story of Irma and her tips about writing, Schoenewaldt demonstrated the unexpected pleasures that can come of being a stranger, of getting lost. While I still have to face my messy drafts, I know that I will eventually find my way as a writer. Getting lost, Schoenewaldt suggests, is one of the best methods for reaching a final and perhaps unexpected destination. ` www.hiram.edu/lindsaycrane 5
on the backs of
DUCKS
P
eople say never to judge a book by its cover, but I’m in love with the smiling plucky faces of the bright yellow plastic duckies riding the turbulent ocean waves on the cover of Donovan Hohn’s MobyDuck: The True Story of 28,000 Bath Toys Lost at Sea. Like the book’s cover, Hohn’s nonfiction narrative blends whimsical musing with environmental science and marine biology. We learn the story of the wayward plastic toys, but—more importantly—we accompany Hohn on his journey as both new father and epic adventurer. Along the way, we see the imprint we humans leave on the earth and come faceto-face with our own wastefulness. Hohn visited Hiram College in October, sharing his insights about writing, researching, and following dreams with students, faculty members, and the community. His appearance was co-sponsored by the Lindsay-Crane Center and the Environmental Studies Department with funding from Hiram Community Trust. Because Hohn’s book crosses several genres, combining memoir, investigative journalism, and environmental science, he visited classes in three different disciplines during his visit: creative writing, environmental studies, and first-year col-
a look back: fall 2012 6 amaranth spring 2013
A journey through the creation of Moby-Duck with visiting author Donovan Hohn By Roxanna Coldiron ’13
loquium. In each, he shared his writing experiences and offered advice to budding student researchers and writers. At dinner with Professor Mary Quade’s Craft and Technique: Creative Nonfiction class, for instance, he spoke about his own struggles to meet publishing deadlines and commented on students’ topics for their upcoming essay assignment, in which they had to immerse themselves in a new environment, much as Hohn himself had in researching Moby-Duck. Hohn is eternally youthful, a condition that he termed “chronic juvenilia” during his public convocation. He brought slides, humor, and, of course, bath toys to supplement his talk. The toys—replicas of the ones lost at sea then found among debris along beaches— lined the podium: a yellow duck, a blue turtle, a green frog, and a red beaver. “I’ve been giving these away,” Hohn said. “So now I don’t have many of them left.” These particular bath toys are no longer being produced at the Chinese factory where he discovered their birth. Hohn emphasized that most books are born of questions. Questions led him on his journey to discover the fate of the bath toys. He said, “I decided that wherever the ducks went, I would go. I wanted to know where the duckies came from.” Hohn quit his job to chase down the sea-
faring toys and referred to himself as a “professional ducky hunter.” He accompanied his talk with slides from his adventures. We learned about how currents affect the earth’s climate, how the bath toys revealed the secrets of the ocean, and how beachcombers found the toys among the muck of discarded civilization. Hohn’s story reveals the undeniable truth that even our most innocuous purchases and possessions—cheerful plastic bath toys—can have a profound effect on our environment. At the same time, Hohn credited Moby-Dick for inspiring Moby-Duck. The title, he admitted, came before a single word had been put on the page. The connection he developed from reading Herman Melville’s classic novel of the obsessive hunt for a mysterious white whale shaped his own duck mania and the fun but powerful book that is the product of his journey. “I don’t think I would’ve written it otherwise,” he said. `
a Northeast Ohio Community Reading Program | February 2013
FOUR FISH S a book by Paul Greenberg
cience Reads, a community reading program focused on Paul Greenberg’s nonfiction book Four Fish, is coming this February to Hiram College and Northeast Ohio. Greenberg’s book considers salmon, cod, tuna, and sea bass and the ways in which genetic, environmental, and dietary changes have impacted their role in the ecosystem and food chain. Related Science Reads events cover issues such as fish farming, ethical eating, global warming, and climate change. The kickoff for Science Reads takes place on February 5 with a public presentation by Paul Greenberg at 7 p.m. on the Hiram College campus. Other speakers in the Science Reads program include John Peck, associate professor
of geology and environmental science at University of Akron, and Eugene Braig, program director for Aquatic Ecosystems Extension at The Ohio State University. To engage the wider community of Northeast Ohio, Science Reads will host events at local libraries as well as on campus, including dinners, speakers, and book discussions. Hiram College is partnering with Portage County District Library, Kent Free Library, and Reed Memorial Library in presenting the events. The Science Reads program was conceived last year by Hiram College’s Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature and the Center for Deciphering Life’s Languages. According to Kirsten
By Roxanna Coldiron ’13
Parkinson, director of the Lindsay-Crane Center, the program is similar to previous community reading programs with one main difference: a focus on science. “The Science Reads program is one way to bring the public back into discussions at a time when that is absolutely critical. [Science asks questions like:] What are we going to do with respect to climate change? How are we going to feed a world of 9 billion humans?” said Brad Goodner, director of the Center for Deciphering Life’s Languages. “These questions and many others impact all of us.” For more information about the Science Reads program, please visit www.hiram.edu/science-reads. `
kickoff event with paul greenberg Science and Food Writer, Author of Four Fish
Tuesday, February 5, 2013, 7pm Kennedy Center Ballroom, Hiram College
*a complete listing of events and locations is on page 12 www.hiram.edu/lindsaycrane 7
FOUR FISH a book by Paul Greenberg Science Reads—a Northeast Ohio Community Reading Program presented by Hiram College’s Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature and the Center for Deciphering Life’s Languages
4 Reading Four Fish: ] Free copies of Paul Greenberg’s Four Fish will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis at all the events for the Science Reads program. ] If you have a reading group or a class that would like to read Four Fish, contact one of the partner libraries for information on checking out a book box with multiple copies.
4 Readings and Presentations: FEB 05
Four Fish and Science Reads Kickoff Event with author and science writer Paul Greenberg Tuesday, February 5, 2013, 7 pm Kennedy Center Ballroom, Hiram College
FEB 14
“Dam Science: Impact of Dam Removal on Fish Habitat in NE Ohio Rivers” with John Peck, Department of Geology & Environmental Science, University of Akron Thursday, February 14, 2013, 12 pm Alumni Heritage Room, Teachout Price, Hiram College
FEB 19
“A Brief History of Fly Tying” with Willard Greenwood, Department of English, Hiram College Tuesday, February 19, 2013, 12 pm Bonney Castle Seminar Room, Hiram College
FEB 21
“Impact on Invasive Fish Species on our Native Ohio Fisheries” with Eugene C. Braig IV, The Ohio State University’s Stone Laboratory Thursday, February 21, 2013, 7 pm Alumni Heritage Room, Teachout Price, Hiram College
8 amaranth spring 2013
4 Hiram College Four Fish Dinners: The Ecology and Biology of Eating Fish The Hiram Dining Hall will be open to the public for a discounted $5.00 fish dinner on Wednesday, February 13, and Friday, February 22, 2013. Join us for dinner at the Hiram Dining Hall and stay for a discussion of everything from the health effects of eating fish to the environmental impact of harvesting fish.
FEB 13
Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 6:30-7:30 pm Tom Koehnle, Department of Biology, Hiram College Sarah Mabey, Department of Environmental Science, Hiram College
FEB 22
Friday, February 22, 2013, 6:30-7:30 pm Dennis J. Taylor, Department of Biology, Hiram College Jody Modarelli, Department of Chemistry, Hiram College
4 Book Discussions:
4Location Details
Kent Free Library (Contact: Kristen Pool) ] Monday, February 11, 2013, 7-8:30 pm
Kent Free Library 312 W. Main Street, Kent, OH 44240 330-673-4414
Four Fish book discussion with Hiram College faculty; fish-related book display and children’s book selections
Garrettsville Library—Portage County District Library (Contact: Kathleen Kozup) ] Tuesday, February 12, 2013, 6-7:30 pm
Discussion of Woodsong by Gary Paulson, led by Kathleen Kozup and Hiram College faculty; fish-related book display and children’s book selections
Reed Memorial Library (Contact: Darlene McKenzie) ] Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 6:30-8 pm
Four Fish book discussion, led by Hiram College faculty; fish-related book display and children’s book selections
Pierce Streetsboro Library—Portage County District Library (Contact: Grace Sims) ] Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 3-4:30 pm Four Fish book discussion, led by Hiram College faculty; fish-related book display and children’s book selections
Garrettsville Library 10482 South Street, Garrettsville, OH 44241 330-527-4378 Reed Memorial Library 167 E. Main Street, Ravenna, OH 44266 330-296-2827 Pierce Streetsboro Library 8990 Kirby Lane, Streetsboro, OH 44241 330-626-4458 Hiram College Intersection of Routes 82 and 700 Hiram, OH 44234 330-569-5330
For more information, visit: www.hiram.edu/science-reads For a campus map, please visit: www.hiram.edu/images/pdfs/about/campus-map.pdf www.hiram.edu/lindsaycrane 9
a MEANS of
TRANSPORT An interview with Professor Jeff Swenson, Assistant Professor of English and Director of Writing Across the Curriculum
10 amaranth spring 2013
By Roxanna Coldiron ’13
A giant picture of a canoe hangs above Assistant Professor of English Jeffrey Swenson’s desk, and it’s this picture that captured my attention first. “Tell me about the canoe,” I said, gesturing toward the framed artwork. In a previous conversation, Swenson had told me about his love of canoeing. I expected him to regale me with the exhilaration of fighting against the current in a fragile canoe with nothing but a broken oar or to tell me about the many times he’s paddled lazily on a gentle river and contemplated literature. That’s not what I got. “I’m heavily influenced by American studies and the culture at large, not just literature,” Swenson said. “For my doctoral dissertation, I wanted to study how changing modes of transportation influenced literature.” One of his inspirations includes Henry David Thoreau’s “Walking,” which is a philosophical analysis of walking. “Every time technology changes, the way the canoe is produced changes. Culture changes based on technology,” he added. “The canoe represents Native American culture in our collective memory. It’s an allusion to Native American history.” Swenson teaches a variety of literature and writing courses, but his favorite classes focus on Native American literature and American noir fiction. In his course on Native American novels, Swenson covers American interpretations of Native American culture, including representations in film and other media, as well as the Native American story from the Native American perspective. This panoramic, from-all-sides view of literature, where fiction and reality meet and diverge, is how Swenson teaches his students to “see beyond the obvious” and “understand the ambiguity” within literature. For American noir fiction, Swenson reaches for novels written by his two favorite noir novelists: Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler. “The core of [noir] novels in the 1920s and ‘30s is this dim view of society and government,” Swenson pointed out. “[The protagonist] is
someone who’s working outside of the system because the government is corrupt.” Noir fiction provides a cynical commentary on society, one which asks the reader to question everything and to see what they take for granted in a new light. “I want my students to see the world in a nuanced way,” he said. This philosophy is perfectly in line with his role as director of the Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) program at Hiram College. WAC seeks to instill good written and oral communication skills and creative expression among students in every discipline. The basic tenet of WAC is that writing is not contained to the English Department. “Faculty encourage writing in all of their courses,” Swenson said. “In the firstyear program, students learn writing in their biology and physics courses, just as much as in their English or writing courses. Writing Across the Curriculum features topic-centered writing classes. Students delve into ideas about a certain topic.” Swenson also teaches an annual course to train students to teach writing. Teaching and Supervising Writing prepares students to mentor new writers in the Writing Center and in First-Year Seminar courses as well as to see writing from both an artistic and mechanical perspective. Chelsea Beabout ’13, an English major and writing assistant, described the class as enlightening. “I really got a much better and deeper understanding of grammar and punctuation through his class,” she said. “I think of Swenson as someone who is inspiring for those who would like to teach or write. He has a very charismatic, no-nonsense kind of personality. Writer’s block? Doesn’t exist. He will guide you through the less defined questions.” Anthony Franklin ’14, also a writing assistant and English major, added that Swenson believes in hands-on learning. “He doesn’t lecture at us. We’re part of the conversation and many times even lead the discussions,” he said. Swenson’s inclusive style includes inviting the senior writing assistants to
his home in Garrettsville. Students eat dinner with Swenson and his wife, J.T. Dutton, young adult novelist and adjunct faculty member at the College, and their two children. When Swenson isn’t on campus, he spends time with his family. He talks about life and literature with his wife, plays with their children, and works on their Victorian home. As our conversation winds down, I look again around Swenson’s office and discover more than the canoe, new details that reflect his life. His desk with piles of paper reveals his work as teacher and administrator of a writing program. Colorful crayon masterpieces decorate the door to his office, and several small family photos stand on his desk. Three ceiling-high bookcases filled with noir and Native American literature hold up one corner of his office. An inviting armchair beckons all who want to talk about writing and literature. After my conversation with Jeff Swenson, I begin to see the nuances, the kinds of nuances he seeks to pass from professor to student. Like the canoe, these nuanced details are modes of transporting knowledge, perspective, and technique from which future generations of writers and students will explore. ` Above: Professor Jeff Swenson. www.hiram.edu/lindsaycrane 11
A Final Note
SPRING EVENTS
A Convocation with Author Paul Freedman
An Evening of Hiram Writers
Thursday, March 28, 2013 Pritchard Room, Library, 12 p.m.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013 Pritchard Room, Library, 7 p.m.
The Chester D. Tripp Professor of History at Yale University, Paul Freedman teaches and publishes on medieval history. Much of his work has focused on Spain in the Middle Ages as well as on peasants and the church, but he also has a longstanding interest in the history of food and cuisine. He edited Food: The History of Taste, an illustrated collection of essays about food from prehistoric to contemporary times that won a cookbook award from the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Out of the East: Spices and the Medieval Imagination, his book on the demand for spices in medieval Europe, was published in 2008 by Yale University Press. His 1999 book Images of the Medieval Peasant won the Haskins Medal of the Medieval Academy of America and the Gründler Prize of the International Medieval Congress.
Please join us as some of Hiram College’s strongest student writers read their fiction, creative nonfiction, and poetry. A reception will follow the reading. Winners of the following contests will be sharing excerpts from their work: • Barbara Thompson Award for Short Fiction • Ralph and Marion G. Kroehle Contest in Creative Nonfiction • Vachel Lindsay Poetry Contest • Geoffrey H. Stamm Poetry Contest Above: Francesca Luppino ’12 reads from her essay at the Kroehle Creative Nonfiction Reception in spring of 2012.
About the Lindsay-Crane The Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature is named for two poets who had close ties to Northeast Ohio. Nicholas Vachel Lindsay attended Hiram College from 1897 to 1900, and Harold Hart Crane was born in nearby Garrettsville. The Lindsay-Crane Center offers special opportunities for Hiram College writers and readers in every discipline. The Center implements the College’s Writing Across the Curriculum program (one of the oldest in the nation), brings professional writers to campus for intimate interactions with students and the public, mounts on-campus and regional writing contests, and vigorously supports the importance of a liberal-arts education in the 21st century. In addition, it offers students, community members, and other friends of the College rich experiences outside the classroom that contribute to intellectual and artistic pleasure and growth and maintains a deep commitment to interdisciplinary ventures with other departments and Centers.
To contact or support the Center: Kirsten Parkinson, Director of the Center, parkinsonkl@hiram.edu 330.569.5323 Jenifer Warren, Assistant Director of Major Gifts, warrenja@hiram.edu 330.569.5280
Lindsay-Crane
CENTER
Wr i t i n g & Literature for