Saturday, September 02, 2006
Fall Goods Reads Programs
Although it sometimes seems like libraries aren't about books so much anymore: we've got computers to use to find information, carry music, movies, and video games, and cooking programs; we still love our books, and plan plenty of programs to talk about good reads and meet the people who write them. Following is a list of all the programs about books that we'll be hosting this fall.
Jack Ridl: a Reading and Celebration of a Poetic Life
Jack Ridl just retired from teaching Poetry Writing, The Nature of Poetry, and Contemporary American Poetry at Hope College. He is also the founder of Hope College's The Visiting Writers Series, which since 1985 has brought more than 150 writers to campus. In 1996, the Carnegie Foundation named Ridl Michigan's Professor of the Year. This year he was invited to participate as a poet at the 2006 Geraldine R Dodge Poetry Festival which runs from September 28 through October 1.
His poetry collections include the chapbooks Against Elegies, which Billy Collins selected for The Center for Book Arts Award and Outside the Center Ring, a collection of circus poems, the poetry collections The Same Ghost (1985), Between (1988), the chapbook After School (1987), Poems from The Same Ghost and Between (1993), and Broken Symmetry (2006). He has been anthologized in numerous anthologies and poetry journals.
Tuesday, September 19
6:30-8:00 pm
Open for Discussion: a public book discussion
My Sister’s Keeper (fiction)
by Jodi Picoult
Anna was conceived to provide a donor match for her sister who has a rare form of leukemia. At 13, Anna sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned.
Tuesday, September 19 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, September 20 7:00-8:00 pm
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (history biography)
by Jung Chang
A gripping story of how three generations of women fared in the political maelstrom of China during the 20th century.
Tuesday, October 17 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, October 18 7:00-8:00 pm
Gilead (inspirational fiction)
by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead is a novel in the form of a letter written by John Ames, a 76 year old preacher who has lived most of his life in Gilead, Iowa, to his seven-year-old son. It is a summing-up, an apology, a compilation of his questions, experiences, fears, loves, meditations on fathers, children, faith and the imperfections of man.
Tuesday, November 14 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, November 15 7:00-8:00 pm
Fiction Writers Group
The Fiction Writer’s Group is a monthly writer’s group created to help writers meet fellow writers and workshop each other’s work, discuss and encourage writing and have fun in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.
Group leader: Kate Rizor
Kate’s first novel, The Governor’s Wife, is due out this summer. She is a former newspaper reporter, editor and trainer. She teaches “Elements of Fiction Writing” at Portage Community Education Center.
Wednesday evenings: September 20, October 18, and November 15
6:00-8:00 pm
Portage District Library
For more information, please call Kate Rizor at 269 271-2948,
Great Books Discussion Group
Discussion leader: Ken Fischer, Portage Library Staff
From the Great Books Foundation: “Many great minds have wrestled with the search for meaning – now you can, too. Great Books reading and discussion programs provide you with the essential tools for joining the great conversation about ideas: outstanding literature and a discussion approach that helps you truly connect with literature.” Readings will be taken from the Order and Chaos series.
The price of Order and Chaos is $15.95. In addition, two full length books may be read and may need to be purchased by participants. The group will meet every other Thursday from 7:00 to 8:30 pm to discuss a selection.
Before September, contact Ken Fischer at (269) 329-4524, ext 730. The first ten people will have priority. If more than ten people are interested in joining and any from the first ten do not join, the next names in line will be offered a spot. Please contact us at the number above or ask at one of the library desks for more information.
Discussion schedule includes the following Thursdays:
September 7 Initial orientation, purchasing books, etc.
September 21 Reading One (Gogol)
October 12 Reading Two (Bhagavad-gita)
October 26 Reading Three (Rezzori)
November 9 Reading Four (Euripedes)
November 30 Reading Five (O’Connor)
December 14 Reading Six (poetry selections)
The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis (Part II)
This is a series of six lectures/discussions. Materials covered include
Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, The Chronicles of Narnia and two readings, Till We Have Faces and A Grief Observed. The discussion will center on the key plots and Christian allegories that lie below the surface of each tale. A series of CD’s will be used to enhance the discussion.
Discussion Leader: Barbara Hemphill is an Assistant Professor Emeritus at Western Michigan University where she taught a course on spirituality to occupational therapy students. She has taught a spirituality course at Portage Senior Center and The Fountains. Dr. Hemphill has a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit.
Every Tuesday, September 12 – October 17
6:30-8:00 pm
Sundays Live: Music in the Atrium
September 17
2:00-4:00 pm
Troubadours
Recorders
Chasing the Dead: a Reading and Discussion of Horror Fiction
by Joe Schreiber
Portage Northern graduate and author, Joe Schreiber, is returning to Portage for a reading from his new supernatural thriller, Chasing the Dead, and a discussion about the craft of writing edge-of-your-seat horror fiction.
Joe Schreiber was born in Michigan but spent his formative years in Alaska, Wyoming and northern California. Before settling in Hershey, Pensylvania, he lived in New York, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and Philadelphia. Becoming a parent forced him to consider a career with more reliable income, and he took a job as an MRI tech at Hershey Medical Center, where he wrote a good part of Chasing the Dead on hospital computers while working the night shift.
Saturday, October 14th
1:00-3:00 pm
The Many Faces of Romance
Join Members of the Mid-Michigan chapter of Romance Writers of America as they discuss the broad range of genres that comprise the romance publishing industry today.
Participants include:
Rosanne Bittner – has written 57 books with over 10 million copies in print. She is is a prestigious Willa Literary Award finalist.
Diane Burton – a former president of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, she has published with ImaJinn Books, a paranormal romance house.
Susan Charnley – writes historical, contemporary, and paranormal romance and has published with Leisure Books and Hard Shell Word Factory.
Lisa Childs – writes for both Harelquin Intrigue and Harlequin Next. Her novel Taking Back Mary Ellen Black is a finalist for numerous romance industry awards.
Dana Corbit – is writing her 9th inspirational romance for Steeple Hill, and has written one inspirational fiction title for Guideposts Books.
Nancy Gideon – award-winning author with over 50 titles to her credit, she has written Western historical, regency, paranormal (vampire), and contemporary romance. She currently writes for Silhouette.
Lucy Kubash – will see her first romance novel published with Triskelion this fall.
Loralee Lillibridge – one of the founders of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, she is published with Silhouette.
Laurie Kuna - has three paranormal romances published with ImaJinn Books and a 4th due out in Fall of 2006. Her second novel was a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice finalist.
Author book signing and reception to follow.
Saturday, October 21
1:00 -3:00 pm
James Armstrong: a Poetry Reading & Book Signing
James Armstrong’s poems sit at the knees of a mute interlocutor, full of power and restraint—the massive, indifferent, moody, beckoning Lake Superior. Influenced by Neruda, Petrarch, Lowell, and the landscape poetry of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, Armstrong measures the clang and conceits of civilization against the force of water.
James Armstrong is the author of Monument of a Summer Hat. His poems have appeared in Triquarterly, Gulf Coast, Orion, The Snowy Egret, the New York Times Book Review, Shade, and elsewhere. Armstrong received the PEN-New England Discovery Prize for poetry in 1996, and he has been awarded an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in poetry and a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in poetry. He is currently a professor of English at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota.
Thursday, December 28
7:00–8:00 pm
Jack Ridl: a Reading and Celebration of a Poetic Life
Jack Ridl just retired from teaching Poetry Writing, The Nature of Poetry, and Contemporary American Poetry at Hope College. He is also the founder of Hope College's The Visiting Writers Series, which since 1985 has brought more than 150 writers to campus. In 1996, the Carnegie Foundation named Ridl Michigan's Professor of the Year. This year he was invited to participate as a poet at the 2006 Geraldine R Dodge Poetry Festival which runs from September 28 through October 1.
His poetry collections include the chapbooks Against Elegies, which Billy Collins selected for The Center for Book Arts Award and Outside the Center Ring, a collection of circus poems, the poetry collections The Same Ghost (1985), Between (1988), the chapbook After School (1987), Poems from The Same Ghost and Between (1993), and Broken Symmetry (2006). He has been anthologized in numerous anthologies and poetry journals.
Tuesday, September 19
6:30-8:00 pm
Open for Discussion: a public book discussion
My Sister’s Keeper (fiction)
by Jodi Picoult
Anna was conceived to provide a donor match for her sister who has a rare form of leukemia. At 13, Anna sues her parents for the right to make her own decisions about how her body is used when a kidney transplant is planned.
Tuesday, September 19 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, September 20 7:00-8:00 pm
Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (history biography)
by Jung Chang
A gripping story of how three generations of women fared in the political maelstrom of China during the 20th century.
Tuesday, October 17 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, October 18 7:00-8:00 pm
Gilead (inspirational fiction)
by Marilynne Robinson
Gilead is a novel in the form of a letter written by John Ames, a 76 year old preacher who has lived most of his life in Gilead, Iowa, to his seven-year-old son. It is a summing-up, an apology, a compilation of his questions, experiences, fears, loves, meditations on fathers, children, faith and the imperfections of man.
Tuesday, November 14 10:30-11:30 am
Wednesday, November 15 7:00-8:00 pm
Fiction Writers Group
The Fiction Writer’s Group is a monthly writer’s group created to help writers meet fellow writers and workshop each other’s work, discuss and encourage writing and have fun in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere.
Group leader: Kate Rizor
Kate’s first novel, The Governor’s Wife, is due out this summer. She is a former newspaper reporter, editor and trainer. She teaches “Elements of Fiction Writing” at Portage Community Education Center.
Wednesday evenings: September 20, October 18, and November 15
6:00-8:00 pm
Portage District Library
For more information, please call Kate Rizor at 269 271-2948,
Great Books Discussion Group
Discussion leader: Ken Fischer, Portage Library Staff
From the Great Books Foundation: “Many great minds have wrestled with the search for meaning – now you can, too. Great Books reading and discussion programs provide you with the essential tools for joining the great conversation about ideas: outstanding literature and a discussion approach that helps you truly connect with literature.” Readings will be taken from the Order and Chaos series.
The price of Order and Chaos is $15.95. In addition, two full length books may be read and may need to be purchased by participants. The group will meet every other Thursday from 7:00 to 8:30 pm to discuss a selection.
Before September, contact Ken Fischer at (269) 329-4524, ext 730. The first ten people will have priority. If more than ten people are interested in joining and any from the first ten do not join, the next names in line will be offered a spot. Please contact us at the number above or ask at one of the library desks for more information.
Discussion schedule includes the following Thursdays:
September 7 Initial orientation, purchasing books, etc.
September 21 Reading One (Gogol)
October 12 Reading Two (Bhagavad-gita)
October 26 Reading Three (Rezzori)
November 9 Reading Four (Euripedes)
November 30 Reading Five (O’Connor)
December 14 Reading Six (poetry selections)
The Life and Writings of C.S. Lewis (Part II)
This is a series of six lectures/discussions. Materials covered include
Out of the Silent Planet, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, The Chronicles of Narnia and two readings, Till We Have Faces and A Grief Observed. The discussion will center on the key plots and Christian allegories that lie below the surface of each tale. A series of CD’s will be used to enhance the discussion.
Discussion Leader: Barbara Hemphill is an Assistant Professor Emeritus at Western Michigan University where she taught a course on spirituality to occupational therapy students. She has taught a spirituality course at Portage Senior Center and The Fountains. Dr. Hemphill has a Doctor of Ministry degree from the Ecumenical Theological Seminary in Detroit.
Every Tuesday, September 12 – October 17
6:30-8:00 pm
Sundays Live: Music in the Atrium
September 17
2:00-4:00 pm
Troubadours
Recorders
Chasing the Dead: a Reading and Discussion of Horror Fiction
by Joe Schreiber
Portage Northern graduate and author, Joe Schreiber, is returning to Portage for a reading from his new supernatural thriller, Chasing the Dead, and a discussion about the craft of writing edge-of-your-seat horror fiction.
Joe Schreiber was born in Michigan but spent his formative years in Alaska, Wyoming and northern California. Before settling in Hershey, Pensylvania, he lived in New York, Boston, Martha's Vineyard, Chicago, Los Angeles, Portland, and Philadelphia. Becoming a parent forced him to consider a career with more reliable income, and he took a job as an MRI tech at Hershey Medical Center, where he wrote a good part of Chasing the Dead on hospital computers while working the night shift.
Saturday, October 14th
1:00-3:00 pm
The Many Faces of Romance
Join Members of the Mid-Michigan chapter of Romance Writers of America as they discuss the broad range of genres that comprise the romance publishing industry today.
Participants include:
Rosanne Bittner – has written 57 books with over 10 million copies in print. She is is a prestigious Willa Literary Award finalist.
Diane Burton – a former president of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, she has published with ImaJinn Books, a paranormal romance house.
Susan Charnley – writes historical, contemporary, and paranormal romance and has published with Leisure Books and Hard Shell Word Factory.
Lisa Childs – writes for both Harelquin Intrigue and Harlequin Next. Her novel Taking Back Mary Ellen Black is a finalist for numerous romance industry awards.
Dana Corbit – is writing her 9th inspirational romance for Steeple Hill, and has written one inspirational fiction title for Guideposts Books.
Nancy Gideon – award-winning author with over 50 titles to her credit, she has written Western historical, regency, paranormal (vampire), and contemporary romance. She currently writes for Silhouette.
Lucy Kubash – will see her first romance novel published with Triskelion this fall.
Loralee Lillibridge – one of the founders of Mid-Michigan Romance Writers of America, she is published with Silhouette.
Laurie Kuna - has three paranormal romances published with ImaJinn Books and a 4th due out in Fall of 2006. Her second novel was a Romantic Times Reviewer’s Choice finalist.
Author book signing and reception to follow.
Saturday, October 21
1:00 -3:00 pm
James Armstrong: a Poetry Reading & Book Signing
James Armstrong’s poems sit at the knees of a mute interlocutor, full of power and restraint—the massive, indifferent, moody, beckoning Lake Superior. Influenced by Neruda, Petrarch, Lowell, and the landscape poetry of Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, Armstrong measures the clang and conceits of civilization against the force of water.
James Armstrong is the author of Monument of a Summer Hat. His poems have appeared in Triquarterly, Gulf Coast, Orion, The Snowy Egret, the New York Times Book Review, Shade, and elsewhere. Armstrong received the PEN-New England Discovery Prize for poetry in 1996, and he has been awarded an Illinois Arts Council Fellowship in poetry and a Minnesota State Arts Board Fellowship in poetry. He is currently a professor of English at Winona State University in Winona, Minnesota.
Thursday, December 28
7:00–8:00 pm
