Jess Walter at Writers in the Library, Oct. 7

Jess-Walter-smallJess Walter will read at UT’s Writers in the Library, Monday, October 7th at 7 p.m. in the John C. Hodges Library auditorium. The reading is free and open to the public.

A former National Book Award finalist and winner of the Edgar Allan Poe Award, Jess Walter is the author of six novels and one nonfiction book. His work has been translated into more than 20 languages, and his essays, short fiction, criticism and journalism have been widely published in Best American Short Stories, Best American Nonrequired Reading, Harper’s, Esquire, McSweeney’s, Byliner, Playboy, ESPN the Magazine, Details and many others. His most recent novel, the New York Times-bestseller Beautiful Ruins, has been hailed by critics and loved by readers of literary and historical fiction. Beautiful Ruins is the story of an almost-love affair that begins on the Italian coast in 1962 and is rekindled in Hollywood fifty years later.

Walter’s other publications include The Financial Lives of Poets, The Zero, Citizen Vince, Land of the Blind, Over Tumbled Graves, and Every Knee Shall Bow (rereleased as Ruby Ridge). The Financial Lives of Poets was Time Magazine’s #2 novel of the year for 2009; The Zero was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award and winner of the LA Times Book Prize; and Citizen Vince was winner of the Edgar Allen Poe Award for best novel.

Jess Walter lives with his wife Anne and children in his childhood home of Spokane, Washington.

Students are invited to an informal chat with the author on Monday, October 7, 3:00–4:00 p.m., in 1210 McClung Tower.

__
Writers in the Library is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Libraries and the UT Creative Writing Program in association with the John C. Hodges Better English Fund. For further information contact Marilyn Kallet, Director, UT Creative Writing Program (mkallet@utk.edu), or Christopher Hebert, Writer-in-Residence, UT Libraries (chebert3@utk.edu).

Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/Writers.in.the.Library
twitter.com/utklibwriters

Poet Edward Hirsch at Writers in the Library, Sept. 30

Ed_Hirsch_2Poet Edward Hirsch will read at UT’s Writers in the Library, Monday, September 30, at 7 p.m. in the John C. Hodges Library Auditorium (1015 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN). The event is free and open to the public.

Hirsch, a MacArthur Fellow, has published eight books of poems, including The Living Fire: New and Selected Poems (2010), which brings together thirty-five years of work. He has also written four prose books, among them How to Read a Poem and Fall in Love with Poetry (1999), a national bestseller, and Poet’s Choice (2006), which is based on his columns for the Washington Post Book World. He edits the series “The Writer’s World” (Trinity University Press). He has edited Transforming Vision: Writers on Arts (1994), Theodore Roethke’s Selected Poems (2005) and To a Nightingale (2007), and co-edited A William Maxwell Portrait: Memories and Appreciations (2004) and The Making of a Sonnet: A Norton Anthology (2008).

Hirsch holds a B.A. from Grinnell College (1972) and a Ph.D. from The University of Pennsylvania (1979). He has received numerous awards and fellowships, including the National Book Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, an Ingram Merrill Foundation Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, the Rome Prize from the American Academy in Rome, a Pablo Neruda Presidential Medal of Honor, and the American Academy of Arts and Letters Award for Literature. He is a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and holds seven honorary degrees. He taught in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston for seventeen years and now serves as president of the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

• On Monday, September 30, Hirsch will offer a presentation for UT researchers on what makes a successful Guggenheim application, beginning at 3:30 p.m. in Room 405 Tickle Engineering Building.

• Students are invited to an informal chat with the author on Tuesday, October 1, 11:00 to noon, in 1210 McClung Tower.

__
Edward Hirsch’s visit is funded by the Department of English, the Creative Writing Program, and the UT Office of Research. Writers in the Library is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Libraries and the UT Creative Writing Program in association with the John C. Hodges Better English Fund. For further information contact Marilyn Kallet, Director, UT Creative Writing Program (mkallet@utk.edu), or Christopher Hebert, Writer-in-Residence, UT Libraries (chebert3@utk.edu).

Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/Writers.in.the.Library
twitter.com/utklibwriters

Poets Jeff Hardin and Kali Meister at Writers in the Library, Sept. 23

Hardin_smallPoets Jeff Hardin and Kali Meister will read from their works at UT’s Writers in the Library, Monday, September 23, at 7 p.m. in the John C. Hodges Library Auditorium (1015 Volunteer Blvd., Knoxville, TN). The event is free and open to the public.

Jeff Hardin is the author of two books of poetry: Notes for a Praise Book (Jacar Press, 2012) and Fall Sanctuary (Story Line Press, 2004), and a recipient of the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize. His chapbooks are Deep in the Shallows (GreenTower Press, 2002) and The Slow Hill Out (Pudding House, 2003). His poems have been featured in Poetry Daily, Verse Daily, and The Writer’s Almanac. He is a professor of English at Columbia State Community College in Columbia, Tennessee.

Meister_smallKali Meister is an award-winning poet, actor, and filmmaker who served as the Jack E. Reese Writer in Residence of the UT Libraries, 2008–2009. She holds an MFA in creative writing from Goddard College. Her full-length play, After Autumn, was a finalist in the 2010 Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights at the Barter Theatre. She is co-founder of She Wonder Production; its films have been selections of the Knoxville 24-Hour Film Festival, the Secret City Film Festival, and the Knoxville Horror Film Fest. Meister teaches theater at Pellissippi State Community College and reading and writing at Roane State Community College.

The poets will hold an informal chat with interested students, 3-4 p.m., Monday, September 23, in 1210 McClung Tower.

__
Writers in the Library is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Libraries and the UT Creative Writing Program in association with the John C. Hodges Better English Fund. For further information contact Marilyn Kallet, Director, UT Creative Writing Program (mkallet@utk.edu), or Christopher Hebert, Writer-in-Residence, UT Libraries (chebert3@utk.edu).

Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/Writers.in.the.Library
twitter.com/utklibwriters

Screening of Spike Lee’s film to commemorate Birmingham Bombing

SpikeLeeOn September 15, 1963, a bomb exploded in a basement of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama, killing four little girls and injuring more than 20 others. The act of terrorism, motivated by racial hatred, galvanized the civil rights movement in America.

To commemorate the 50th anniversary of that turning point in the civil rights struggle, the UT Libraries will host a screening of Spike Lee’s documentary film, 4 Little Girls.

4 Little Girls
directed by Spike Lee
screening at noon, Friday, Sept. 13
129 Hodges Library

Books relating to the civil rights movement are on display at the Hodges Library 2nd floor entrance. For more in-depth study, consult our research guide on the 50th Anniversary of the Birmingham 16th Street Baptist Church Bombing.

Library Will Host Open House for Graduate Students, Aug. 23

Graduate students are invited to an Open House at the library.

OPEN HOUSE FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS
Friday, August 23, 1:00-2:30 pm
John C. Hodges Library
Main Street (2nd floor)

* Learn how the library supports your research and teaching.
* Meet your department’s subject librarian and learn more about resources in your field.
* Learn about citation management tools like Zotero and Endnote.
* Register for interlibrary loan and Library Express delivery.
* Bring your laptop and activate your wireless account.

Join us for refreshments and a potlatch of donated books. We will give away door prizes — including an iPad mini — that will help graduate students with their research and teaching.

Battle of Fort Sanders: Library Marks the Sesquicentennial

FortSandersThis fall marks the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Fort Sanders, a major engagement in the Knoxville Campaign of the American Civil War. The University Libraries will host an event highlighting the pivotal battle that took place less than half a mile from the current John C. Hodges Library.

The University Libraries holds significant collections on the Civil War, including Civil War diaries and letters. Look for information on our collections and the Battle of Fort Sanders in our upcoming Library Development Review.

We hope you will join us to mark the anniversary of the Battle of Fort Sanders on Thursday, November 14, at 5:30 pm in the Hodges Library. The event will include an exhibit featuring many items from the Libraries’ Civil War collections and a lecture by Dr. Tracy McKenzie, faculty member in history at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois, and distinguished historian on the American Civil War. Mark your calendars and plan to attend. Our Library Friends will receive additional details via invitation later this fall.

Andersonville Elementary School students are coming to UT to learn what it’s like to be scholars

There’s nothing like good ol’ hands-on, experiential learning to reinforce facts learned in the classroom. That’s why Andersonville Elementary School teachers are bringing their students to the UT campus this week to practice their math skills in real-world settings.

On Friday, about 160 third-, fourth-, and fifth-grade students will get a good look at campus, from the UT Libraries’ Commons to historic Ayres Hall on the Hill.

Several UT departments have staged problem-solving activities for the student visitors. Experiences are designed to blend math skills with research problems in other fields that have widespread appeal to young learners. Students will test pond pH levels, explore the role of mathematics in studying bat populations, investigate the behavioral ecology of spiders, and learn about research methodology. They will be led in these and other research experiences by faculty and staff from the departments of Biosystems Engineering and Soil Science, Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Mathematics, Psychology, the National Institute for Mathematical and Biological Synthesis (NIMBioS), the Center for Leadership and Service, VolsTeach, and the University Libraries.

Even lunch will offer a computational experience. Faculty will lead food-based math activities during a lunch hosted by the Center for Literacy, Education, and Employment.

The visit is part of the Morning Math program at nearby Andersonville Elementary School in which student volunteers work with teachers to provide extra math assistance to third- and fourth-graders each morning before classes begin. Morning Math has been highly successful at creating a positive attitude toward the subject of math and increasing students’ confidence in their math skills.

When students in the Morning Math program were asked how they wished to spend a grant from the Kroger corporation, they said, “go to UT and see the library and some scientists!”

That enthusiasm is high praise for the UT Libraries! Library staff members are pleased to host these future Volunteers and offer them a brief tour of the library’s iconic learning commons.

The learning commons is designed for the study habits of today’s college students. The Commons, which fills the entire main floor of Hodges Library, combines a lively social gathering spot with state-of-the-art technology and lots of in-person help. In the Commons, UT students can get research assistance from librarians, computer experts, math tutors, and writing instructors all in one location.

The UT Libraries’ outreach to area schools earlier this spring included a symposium for local high school students considering careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. That symposium also featured hands-on research experiences, as well as an opportunity for students to meet current UT undergraduates and faculty in STEM disciplines.

Welcome, Andersonville Elementary School students! You’re on the path to success!

De-stress for Success during finals week

massageStudents: take a well-deserved break from final exams, refresh and recharge at the library. The UT Libraries will once again offer finals week activities to help students “De-Stress for Success.”

Activities in Hodges Library begin on Study Day, April 29. UT’s Student Assessment of Instruction System will host a free ice cream social from noon to 2 p.m.

Other events that begin on Study Day will continue throughout final exams (April 30, May 1, 2, 3, 6, and 7).

Student Health Center staff will be on hand each day, from 10 a.m. to noon, to provide tips for healthful eating, better study habits, and handling stress.

Knoxville Massage Therapy Center therapists will give free chair massages in the Commons from 1 to 4 p.m., Monday, April 29, through Friday, May 3, and on Monday, May 6.

Everyone’s other favorite therapists — the HABIT (Human-Animal Bond in Tennessee) therapy dogs — will be on hand in the Mary E. Greer Room, 258 Hodges Library: noon to 2 p.m., Monday, April 29, through Friday, May 3; 5 to 7 p.m., Monday, April 29, through Thursday, May 2; and noon to 2 p.m., Monday, May 6.

HABIT dogs will visit Pendergrass Agriculture & Veterinary Medicine Library on Study Day, Monday, April 29, from 11 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Throughout the week, room 251 in Hodges Library will offer games, cartoons, and coloring books to help students relax and unwind. Pendergrass Library and the Music Library will both provide a craft table, outdoor games, and refreshments (while they last!).

dogsFree Chair Massages in the Commons, Hodges Library:

    1-4 p.m., Monday, April 29 – Friday, May 3
    1-4 p.m., Monday, May 6

HABIT dogs in 258 Hodges Library:

    Noon – 2 p.m., Monday, April 29 – Friday, May 3
    5-7 p.m., Monday, April 29 – Thursday, May 2
    Noon – 2 p.m., Monday, May 6

HABIT dogs in Pendergrass Library:

    11 a.m. – 7 p.m., Monday, April 29


De-Stress for Success sponsors include the UT Libraries, the Student Success Center, Student Assessment of Instruction System, UT Parents Association, School of Information Sciences, and Human-Animal Bond in Tennessee.

Student Winners of Graduate Writing Awards to Read, April 22

The University of Tennessee’s final Writers in the Library event of the academic year will feature readings by student winners of the John C. Hodges Graduate Writing Awards. Readings from the winning works will take place in the Hodges Library auditorium on Monday, April 22, at 7:00 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Awards are made possible by the English Department through the John C. Hodges Better English Fund, endowed by the long-time UT English professor and author of the Harbrace College Handbook, for whom the Hodges Library also is named.

2013 winners of the John C. Hodges Graduate Writing Awards:

FICTION

First Prize: Ryan Woldruff, for “Still, This Might Be a Love Story”
Second Prize: Daniel Wallace, for “My Arctic Circle”
Third Prize: Tawnysha Greene, for “All God’s Children”

POETRY

First Prize: Stephanie Duggers, for a series of poems
Second Prize: Christian Anton Gerard, for a series of poems (“Defense of Poetry”)
Third Prize: Tawnysha Greene, for a series of poems

Winners of the John C. Hodges Graduate Writing Awards will receive $500 for First Prize, $300 for Second Prize, and $100 for Third Prize in each category. This year’s judges were English faculty Laura Hoffer and Chuck Maland in fiction, and author (and former Writer-in-Residence at the UT Libraries) Brian Griffin in poetry.

The public is invited to join the university community for readings by these accomplished, up-and-coming writers.
__

Writers in the Library is sponsored by the University of Tennessee Libraries and the UT Creative Writing Program in association with the John C. Hodges Better English Fund. For further information contact Marilyn Kallet, Director, UT Creative Writing Program (mkallet@utk.edu), or Christopher Hebert, Writer-in-Residence, UT Libraries (chebert3@utk.edu).

Follow us at:
www.facebook.com/Writers.in.the.Library
twitter.com/utklibwriters

Free Range Video Contest: Winning Student Documentaries

freerangeVideo documentaries by winners of the library’s Free Range Video Contest will be screened on Tuesday, April 16, at 7 p.m. in the Hodges Library auditorium. The public is invited. During the screening, the audience will get a chance to vote live for the audience favorite. Awards will also be made to the top three videos chosen by a committee of student and faculty film and storytelling enthusiasts. The annual Free Range Video Contest is sponsored by the Studio in the Hodges Library Commons. The contest was open to all UT students, faculty, and staff. Entrants were able to borrow cameras and get technical help in the Studio.