Thursday, October 24, 2013

Are You Thinking about Studying Abroad???


Greetings, Class Community.

Are you considering a study abroad experience?


Yours truly, 

Dr. Hill

Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Talks about the Intersections between Technology and Creativity

Greetings, Class Community.

I have posted the videos we reviewed in class along with some we did not have a chance to view together.

View and/or review the videos. They may give you pointers for your presentations that begin next week.



Friday, October 18, 2013

Book Trailer Genre, Remix Theory, and YouTube Technology

Greetings, Class Community.

Below you will find a 'book trailer'.  This new genre, 'book trailer', is clearly a modification of the 'movie trailer'. In kind, the genre of the 'book trailer' is a YouTube medium.  

Please watch the book trailer and consider what we have discussed about the intersections of remix theory and creative writing. Also consider the popularity of YouTube and the associated technologies on the creation of this genre.

Do you think that a 'book trailer' is a new genre or a modification of previous promotional genres related to the marketing of books and/or information? How are techniques associated with scrapbooking and remix evident? 





Dr. Ruth Nicole Brown is a professor at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She is releasing a new book on Black Girlhood Studies entitled Hear Our Truths: The Creative Potential of Black Girlhood.  This is an ideal book for any of you that might be interested in the intersections of gender studies, education, creativity and African AmericanStudies.

Intersections in Creative Writing, Music, and History

Greetings, Class Community.

I wanted to take a moment to share an interview between poets and professors, Randall Horton and Tyehimba Jess.  Horton and Jess discuss persona poems,  language, titling complete works, McKoy (The Two-Headed Nightingale)  Sisters, freak show, and researching as a writer.

Arts@UNH Interview with Tyehimba Jess



Randall Horton 

Randall Horton is an associate professor of English at the University of New Haven in Connecticut and the author of The Definition of Place (2006) and The Lingua Franca of Ninth Street (2009). He is the recipient of the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Award, the Bea González Poetry Award, and a National Endowment of the Arts Literature Fellowship. Randall is a fellow of Cave Canem and a member of the Affrilachian Poets, two organizations that support African American poetry; and a member of the Symphony: The House That Etheridge Built, a reading collective named for the poet Etheridge Knight. An excerpt from Horton’s memoir, Roxbury, is newly released as a chapbook.

Tyehimba Jess bridges slam and academic poetry. His first collection, leadbelly (2005), an exploration of the blues musician Huddie “Lead Belly” Ledbetter’s life, was chosen for the National Poetry Series  and was voted one of the top three poetry books of the year by Black Issues Book Review. A reviewer for Publishers Weekly noted that “the collection’s strength lies in its contradictory forms; from biography to lyric to hard-driving prose poem, boast to song, all are soaked in the rhythm and dialect of Southern blues and the demands of honoring one’s talent.”


TedxNashvlle - Tyehimba Jess - Syncopated Sonnets
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OmtH0A5mVnA




National Day of Writing - Like to Write?

Greetings, Class Community.


Today, Friday, is the National Day of Writing.  Writing booths will be set up all over Lexington.  Some University of KentuckySigma Tau Delta members and faculty from English and WRD will be at the tables just outside of Starbucks in the Student Center from 10 AM until 2 PM -- come write with us... A phrase, a sentence, a paragraph... Whatever you are inspired to write.  

We hope our booth produces the best and longest chapter city-wide.
Come join us!

Pearl James, Faculty Sponsor

Sigma Tau Delta--UK Chapter
FACEBOOK.COM/UKSIGMATAUDELTA
Follow us on Twitter: @UKSIGMATAUDELTA
instagram: UKSIGMATAUDELTA




Join Penny Kittle (@pennykittle) and Katherine Sokolowski (@katsok) on Sunday, October 20, at 8 p.m. ET, for a Twitter Chat (#nctechat) celebrating the National Day on Writing!  They’ll spend the first half of the chat on how we write to connect with technology (in honor of Connected Educators Month #ce13) and the second half on how to write to connect across the curriculum K-20.

National Novel Writing Month

Hi everyone, Dr. Hill asked me to post about some of the stuff Lexington is doing for NaNoWriMo. Lexington has grown into a very active NaNo group and we're doing some very awesome things this coming November.

For those who don't know, NaNoWriMo stands for National Novel Writing Month. It started in July 1999 in California with Chris Baty and a group of his friends who decided to challenge each other to write a novel in one month. 50,000 words was decided the target and thus NaNoWriMo was born. The event now takes place every November 1-30 with Camp NaNos now happening in June and August. The Office of Letters and Light (OLL) has expanded into an amazing writing support program and over 300,000 people participated last year.

Part of the fun of NaNoWriMo is getting together with local Wrimos. NaNo Lex is the name of our group and you can find us on Facebook, email (lexKYnano@gmail.com), or, once you join the NaNo forums, through there also. The Lexington group has slowly gotten bigger over the years and this year we are going to have a lot of write ins, 2 All Night Writes, parties, and lots of word wars. This year we are hoping to challenge both Louisville, KY and Oxford, England to a word war (who can write the most words by the end of November)!

The next event is the Novel Nosh on October 26 from 11am-2pm at the Carnegie Center. You can bring your lunch and talk about how to plan out your novel or help others figure out theirs. It's a lot of fun and tends to include silly challenges.

After that is the Kickoff Party on November 1st at 7pm at one of our Muncipal Liasions' (basically the moderator for the group) homes. This is basically us getting together, maybe writing, maybe not, and getting into the spirit of NaNoWriMo.

Other major events this month include an All Night Write at St. Michael's November 8 and another All Night Write at Joseph Beth ($25 ticket) on November 22. These are pretty much what they sound like! We get together for 12 hours and write, have word wars (who can write the most amount of words in a certain amount of time), have plot bunny races, eat food, and a lot of other fun things. Joseph-Beth is new this year and there will be snacks, wine, interactive booths for inspiration and plenty of space to find a quiet corner and do a lot of writing. (There are places available to smoke in both locations if anyone is a smoker.)

More events are planned and added to the calendar both in advance and spur of the moment through November. I'm hoping to host some write-ins either on or near campus for anyone who is interested.

I'm happy to answer any and all questions either here on the blog, in class, or through email (elizabeth.angell@uky.edu).

Thursday, October 17, 2013

Student Contribution (Elizabeth Angell) - Memory Kart Events

Greetings, Class Community.


Thank you for adding this information Elizabeth Angell.   I will be sure to spread the word about Memory Kart.


This community will also have different NaNoWriMo, National Novel Writing Month, events.  If you would like more information, email or chat with Elizabeth.

Dr. Hill


Student Contribution (Ashly Pennington) - Poet Misspells 'Father'



Greetings, Class Community.

I would like to begin by thank you Ashly Pennington for sharing this interactive spoken word poem by Marshall Davis with us.  This example is taken from an article entitled "Video: Poet 'misspells' the word 'father' in a spelling bee & why" by Anne Sewell.

In addition to admiring the poem for its literary complexities, consider the ways the poem is remixed and/or enhanced by new technologies.

Enjoy!

Dr. Hill

Check out Digital Journal  -  http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/356136

Check out Marshall Davis - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kFX2LrNE3VI 

Wednesday, October 16, 2013

Virtual Museums and Poetry with Xanath Caraza and Zeega

Greetings, Class Community.

Recently poet Xanath Caraza recorded her poem "Before the River" in her book Conjuro (Mammoth Publications) using a Zeega with the Smithsonian Latino Virtual Museum. The poem is based on the La Llorona.

Consider how "Before the River" in this format affirms, complicates or changes our considerations about creative writing and remix theory. Also consider how Zeega can help an artist begin to express her/himself using 21st Century tools and modes of interpreting information.

Yours truly,

Dr. Hill



Xánath Caraza is a traveler, educator, poet and short story writer. Caraza is an Award Winning Finalist in the 'Fiction: Multicultural' category of the 2013 International Book Awards.  Her book Conjuro was awarded second place in the ‘Best Poetry Book in Spanish’ category and received honorable mention in the ‘Best First Book in Spanish, Mariposa Award’ category of the 2013 International Latino Book Awards.  She was named number one of the 2013 Top Ten “New” Latino Authors to Watch (and Read) by LatinoStories.com. She won the 2003 Ediciones Nuevo Espacio international short story contest in Spanish and was a 2008 finalist for the first international John Barry Award.  Originally from Xalapa,Veracruz, Mexico, she has lived in Vermont and Kansas City. She has an M.A. in Romance Languages. She lectures in Foreign Languages and Literatures at the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Her upcoming poetry collection, Sílabas de viento  (2014) is from Mammoth Publications.  Her short story collection, Lo que trae la marea/ What the Tide Brings (2013) is from Mouthfeel Press.  Her full-length book of poetry Conjuro (2012) is from Mammoth Publications and her chapbook Corazón Pintado: Ekphrastic Poems (2012) is from TL Press. Caraza is a writer for La Bloga and she writes the US Latino Poets en español column (http://www.periodicodepoesia.unam.mx/).  In addition, she writes the poetry/narrative section for Revista Zona de Ocio. She curates the National Poetry Month, Poem-a-Day project, for the Con Tinta Literary Organization since 2012.  Caraza was a judge for the 2013 José Martí Publishing Awards, The National Association of Hispanic Publications (NAHP).   Caraza has participated in Festival Latinoamericano de Poesía de New York City de 2013, X Festival Internacional de Poesía de la ciudad de Granada, Andalucía, España de 2013, Floricanto Barcelona 2011 and 2012, Festival de Flor y Canto 2010, USC.  Caraza is an advisory circle member of the Con Tinta literary organization and a former board member of the Latino Writers Collective in Kansas City.