Master of Liberal Arts & Science
Saturday University for Spring 2013
Rhyme and Reason: Three Saturday University Poetry Workshops
With Thomas Lux, Stephen Dobyns, and Garrett Hongo
In collaboration with Vanderbilt’s Department of English and Creative Writing Program
January 12, March 16 and March 23, 2013
And now for something completely different: Three visiting poets, three distinct workshops designed for the local Nashville community. Following the tremendous success of our Billy Collins Poetry Residency, we have invited three poets who will be visiting our MFA classes and offering Thursday Evening readings to present poetry workshops for Saturday University.
For poetry lovers, aspiring writers, teachers in our local middle and high schools, inquisitive adults wishing to explore a wholly new adventure, Rhyme and Reason will present a penetrating between the lines, up front and personal, inside the poem look at the mechanics and craft of poetry with three highly regarded, award-winning poets.
Saturday University – for adult learners eager to rediscover the joy of education for its own sake, without entrance exams, homework assignments, or final papers – was instituted to present academic outreach to our community. Saturday University is designed to fill the niche between the single lecture and a full degree program. A lecture series held on Saturday mornings, this is a non-degree program for those in the community who want to sharpen their own engagement in lifelong learning.
Saturday University has been a success from its inception, allowing us to showcase Vanderbilt faculty, research centers and programs. Whether it has been our De-Coding the 2012 Election sessions, the Immigration lecture series with Professors Donato, Gerstle, Barsky and Pierre or the fall 2011 sessions with Billy Collins, Saturday University has been a vital activity for Nashville’s lifelong learners. Past sessions have highlighted the Center for Medicine, Health & Society; the Center for Study of Democratic Institutions; the Vanderbilt Institute for Energy & Environment; and History of Art faculty and the Vanderbilt Art Collection. In addition to its community outreach, Saturday University has been welcomed by MLAS students and alumni, as another way for them to stay connected with Vanderbilt.
January 12th: Thomas Lux holds the Margaret T. and Henry C. Bourne, Jr. Chair in Poetry at the Georgia Institute of Technology and runs Georgia Tech's "Poetry at Tech" program.
Among his many books of poetry: God Particles: Poems (2008); The Cradle Place (2004); The Street of Clocks (2001); New and Selected Poems, 1975-1995 (1997), which was a finalist for the 1998 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; The Blind Swimmer: Selected Early Poems, 1970-1975 (1996); Split Horizon (1994), for which he received the Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Lux has been the poet in residence at Emerson College (1972-1975), and a member of the Writing Faculty at Sarah Lawrence College and the Warren Wilson MFA Program for Writers. He has also taught at the Universities of Iowa, Michigan, and California at Irvine, among others. He received three National Endowment for the Arts grants and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He was educated at Emerson College and The University of Iowa.
March 16th: Stephen Dobyns has published ten books of poetry and twenty novels.
His books of poetry include Winter's Journey (2010); Mystery, So Long (2005); The Porcupine's Kisses (2002); Do They Have a Reason? (2000); Pallbearers Envying the One Who Rides (Penguin, 1999); Common Carnage (1996); Velocities: New and Selected Poems, 1966-1992 (1994); Cemetery Nights (1987), which won a Melville Cane Award; Black Dog, Red Dog (1984), which was a winner in the National Poetry Series; Heat Death (1980); and Concurring Beasts (1972), which was the 1972 Lamont Poetry Selection of The Academy of American Poets.
He is also the author of Best Words, Best Order: Essays on Poetry (1996, 2003) and Next Word, Better Word: The Craft of Poetry (2011).
He graduated from Wayne State University and has an MFA from the University of Iowa. Among his many honors and awards are fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Guggenheim Foundation. He has taught at a number of colleges and universities, including the University of Iowa and Boston University. Stephen Dobyns lives in Boston with his wife and three children.
March 23rd: Garrett Hongo is currently Distinguished Professor of the College of Arts & Sciences and a Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Oregon in Eugene.
His collections of poetry include Coral Road: Poems (2011); The River of Heaven (1988), which was the Lamont Poetry Selection of The Academy of American Poets and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; and Yellow Light (1982). He is also the author of Volcano: A Memoir of Hawai'i (1995), and he has edited Songs My Mother Taught Me: Stories, Plays and Memoir by Wakako Yamauchi (1994) and The Open Boat: Poems from Asian America (1993).
His honors include fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the Rockefeller Foundation. He received his MFA in English from the University of California at Irvine.
Lectures will be held over three Saturdays. Each session will include lecture plus Q&A. Sessions run from 9:30 – 11:30 on January 12th, March 16th, and March 23rd. The total fee is $75. We anticipate a huge demand for these sessions. Space is limited, so send in your registration soon.
All lectures will be held in Furman Hall 114, situated on the eastern end of campus. Ample parking is available in Terrace Place garage and the open lot on 21st Avenue South.
» Registration Form for Spring 2013 Saturday University
For more information, contact Martin Rapisarda, associate dean for Arts & Science, at 615.343.3140 or martin.rapisarda@vanderbilt.edu.