Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Item 1 - Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Item

Details
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
- Type
  - Text
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Identifier
  - HL_WesternCarolinian_2016-04-29_Vol83_No04_02
Transcript

A2 april 28, 2016 WCU's Sprin Madeline Moore Staff Writer Not every college student can say that their school has their very own literary festival, but _ catamounts have that privilege. From April 4-7, Western Carolina Univer- sity held its 18th annual Spring Literary Festival. The featured writers for this years festival included: poet Brent Martin; nonfiction writer Catherine Reid; poet Ma- jor Jackson; poet Lauren K. Alleyne; poet Den- ton Loving; fiction and nonfiction writer Bret Anthony Johnston; poet, fiction, and nonfiction writer Judith Ortiz Cofer; poet Darnell Arnoult; poet Jane Hicks; fiction and nonfiction writer Lee Smith and nonfiction writer Rick Bragg. In addition, Western Caro- linas very own Ron Rash (author of Serena) filled in for a cancella- tion and some student poets read during the first event. Such a wide array of writers made for a very diverse and exciting se- ries of events. Major Jacksons wit and sarcasm came through as he read poems like OK Cupid, a poem about online dating and trains of thought, which he rather reluctantly read as a request from the audience. The mastery of his craft was shown in everything he read from How to Listen to Why I Write Poetry to On Co- coa Beach, a widespread favorite. Poets Darnell Arnoult and Jane Hicks were a power duo with their ~ eloquent narrative poetry - and great advice for aspir- ing writers. Tf youre gonna _ steal, steal from the best, _ said Hicks as she ex- plained the importance of analyzing other writers _ work and learning from it. Arnoult added, Read. Always read. It helps bet- . NEWS Author Judith Ortiz Cofer with her best friend Kathryn at tthe Spring Literary Festival Photo by Breanna Taylor/STAFF g Literary Festival Professor Railsbacks Contemporary Literature class take a photo with author Brett Anthony Jackson ter your writing. Arnoult went on to give this beautiful piece of advice when telling about her experience with rejec- tion as a writer. No one can tell you how or if you can bea writer. Only you can decide whether or not you can be a writer, she said. Judith Ortiz Cofer put on quite the show with her bold personality and relatable writing. Stu- ~ dents were talking about her for days isi her reading. Ron Rash even gave insight on his opinion on the Serena film, saying that he didnt like how Serena was characterized and decided to let his chil- dren go to the premiere in his place. As mentioned before, the Spring Literary Festival has been around for thirteen years and it is expected to be around for many more. Pamela Duncan, the director of the festival, gave some insight into its history and background. Dr. Brian Railsback, . former head of the WCU English Department, spearheaded the launch of the Spring Literary Festival as part of a re- newed effort to stimulate . interest among students and residents of western North Carolina in the work of contemporary writers and poets, said Duncan. In regards to the first festival in 2003, Railsback has. been quoted saying, The festival will give those who love to read and those who love to write a chance to meet and interact with nation- ally acclaimed poets and writers. (Information disclosed by Duncan). When asked about the process of choosing and inviting writers, Dun- can said that, Authors for the festival are rec- ommended by English Department faculty and others across campus and in the surrounding: com- munities. Duncan continued, WCUs own Ron Rash has been instrumental in bringing well-known writers like Colum Mc- Cann, Andre Dubus III and Rick Bragg to our festival. If youre curious about next years festival, Dun- can says that it is sched- uled for April 3-6. Tt will feature keynote author Billy Collins, a for- mer poet laureate of the United States, she said. Renowned South African writer, Sindiwe Magona is also eenectet to be there. The Spring Liteey Festival provides so much opportunity for Western Carolinas students and faculty, ds well as mem- bers of the Cullowhee and Senior Sandra Nikula with newly purchased book The Western Carolinian "Photo by Breanna ita Photo by Breanna Taylor/STAFF Sylva community. While the Spring Liter- ary Festival is important as an educational oppor- tunity, it is also important because it helps to build community among WCU students, faculty and regional residents. All these folks are brought together by a love of words, story, language, literature and learning, said Duncan. Students are encour- aged to get involved with the festival and can volunteer to help orga- nize and work the events. Anyone who is interested in getting involved can contact Pamela Duncan at pyduncan@email.wcu. edu. NCUR takes place at UNC Asheville April % 9 Jordan Freeman Junior Editor From April 7-9, the National Conference for Undergraduate Research, or NCUR for short, hosted their 30th annual confer- ence at the University of North Carolina at Asheville. The purpose of the conference is to promote undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity for students in every field of study. The conference had more than 4,000 stu- dents and faculty mem- bers in attendance, with more than 100 students from Western Carolina University presenting their own respected research to students and faculty from both UNCA and other visit- ing colleges. According to a resi- dent student, UNCA had cancelled all class- es in accordance for the event but they had to go to a certain number of events to get credit for their classes. The basic run down of the three-day confer- ence was as follows: students would present their work in about a 20 minute time pe- riod where they would spend 15 minutes dis- cussing their research, either by reading their paper toaclassroom | sized audience or presenting their find- ings via PowerPoint or handouts. The last five minutes were used for either fellow present- ers, visiting or resident students, or faculty members to ask the pre- senter questions about their research. Students from all over the country have opportunities to partici- pate in NCUR, allowing for a wonderful experi- ence of meeting new people if you attend. Anthony Ross, a senior at the Univer- sity of North Carolina at Greensboro, was presenting his paper Transitive Power: The Relationship Between Unions and Social Jus- . tice Group Mobility, which discusses how the decline of unions in the United States of America coincides with the rise of social justice groups, talked about how he got into NCUR. My adviser casually mentioned the confer- ence to me, saying he thought my paper would be good enough to enter. So we worked out the details (his research and abstract) and we submitted it. It wasnt until I had already been accepted to the conference that Trealized how big of a deal it was, said Ross. In addition to pre- senting their work, stu- dents have the option of submitting their re- search to be published in the Conference Proceedings, which is proceeded annually by UNCA and distrib- uted to institutions all over the nation. Also, presenters get the opportunity to have faculty outside of their institutions to read and comment on their work, giving them the chance to enhance their paper for submission to other sources in their fields and publications can be used in their: resumes when applying to graduate school. Makayla Smith, a sophomore from West- ern Carolina, presented her paper, The Wan- derer: Questions in Consolation, which focused on the theory that by adding the first four opening lines and the last five lines in the poem The Wanderer, it makes it a Christian poem as opposed to a Pagan poem. She dis- cussed how she submit- ted her paper to NCUR. T did my paper for my [British Literature] class with Dr. Fenton. I found the paper a bit of a task as the most current research for the poem was from 1966, but, after a few mo- ments of struggle, I was able to get the paper done. Dr. Fenton pulled me into her office and told me how much she enjoyed my paper, tell- ing me I should sub- mit it to NCUR. After a bit of discussion, I agreed to do it. It was then I found out that NCUR stopped taking in submissions the very next day. The two of us quickly edited the paper and came up with an abstract, submitting the paper at the very last possible moment. Once I was accepted to the conference, I went from being stressed about writing the paper to stressed about pre- senting the paper, said Smith. She continued on to talk about her presenta- tion, stating, I wasnt expecting the turn out I received as I thought I was the only one who cared about the poem. However, it still wasnt as bad of an experience Photo by Jordan Freeman/STAFF Western Carolina University student Makayla Smith pre- senting at NCUR as I was expecting it to be. Though the organiza- tion has not posted any information as to when undergraduate stu- dents can start submit- ting their research to the conference in 2017, they have announced that the next confer- ence will be held at the University of Memphis in Memphis, Tennessee. For more information about NCUR and the larger CUR (Conferenc- es on Undergraduate Research), you can visit www.cur.org.

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Description

The Western Carolinian is Western Carolina University's student-run newspaper. The paper was published as the Cullowhee Yodel from 1924 to 1931 before changing its name to The Western Carolinian in 1933.
Details
- Creator
  - Western Carolina University
- Format
  - Publications (documents)
  - Text
- Type
  - Text
- Date
  - Date original: 2016-04-29
- Extent
  - Dimension: 22.5" x 11.25"
  - Pages: 12
- Subject - Topic
- Location
  - Jackson County (N.C.)
  - Cullowhee (N.C.)
- Source institution
  - Western Carolina University
- Source Collection
  - WCU Students Newspapers Collection
- Identifier
  - HL_WesternCarolinian_2016-04-29_Vol83_No04
- Repository
  - Western Carolina University Hunter Library

Western Carolinian Volume 83 Number 04

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Western Carolina University Publications