#ArtLitPhx: Kelly Nelson at Changing Hands

 

Kelly Nelson On October 16th, at Changing Hands in Tempe, the poet and Arizona Commission on the Arts recipient, Kelly Nelson, shares selections from her new chapbook, a meditation on love, loss, and the things that go unsaid. The Event starts at 7:00pm. After the Event there will be an Open Mic for all interested.
The poems in Who Was I to Say I Was Alive touch on love, loss and the things that go unsaid. Daisy Fried describes them as “little bombs going off. Or surprise packages left at the door.”

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
KELLY NELSON is the author of the chapbook Rivers I Don’t Live By. She has performed her poetry at the Phoenix Art Museum and on the Phoenix Light Rail. The recipient of a grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts, she chairs Tempe’s public art commission and volunteers as a docent at the Tempe Center for the Arts. She bikes to work and teaches Interdisciplinary Studies at Arizona State University.

 

First-Ever Tempe Community Writing Contest

tempe writing contest

 

November may be National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), but for ASU students and Tempe residents who’d rather try their hand at shorter works, this is also the month to start preparing for a new spring writing challenge.

ASU’s College of Letters and Sciences and the writing programs in the Department of English in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences are partnering with Tempe Public Library to host the first-ever Tempe Community Writing Contest.

The writing contest, which invites submissions in the genres of poetry, short fiction and nonfiction, is open to all Tempe residents, Tempe Library cardholders and all ASU students.

Entries will be accepted between Jan. 15, 2015 and Feb. 15, 2015 at this online submission link, and individuals may submit one piece in each genre if they wish. Entries will be read anonymously within three judging categories: high school student, college student (undergraduate or graduate) and community adult. One winner from each entry category will be chosen for each genre.

“The contest was the idea of several of the Tempe Public Library staff,” explains Jill Brenner, adult services librarian. “We’ve recently been offering more programming for writers as a natural extension of library services. The response has been fantastic, so we wanted to take it one step further.

“We immediately thought of ASU as a partner, since several of our writing workshops are being presented by ASU faculty members,” says Brenner.

She began collaborating in August with Jeanne Hanrahan, faculty associate and liaison for ASU Academic Success Programs, and Duane Roen, College of Letters and Sciences interim dean, to organize the contest and enlist judges from the university’s creative writing community.

“I thank the many faculty and staff who have enthusiastically stepped up to support the contest, and hope faculty across ASU will encourage their students to submit their writing,” observes Roen, who enjoys leading Tempe Public Library workshops to inspire family-history writing. “The process of writing, like any of the arts, can be an outlet for expression and a lifelong journey that enriches our individual lives and our communities.”

The Tempe Community Writing Contest winners will be announced in the spring and celebrated at a reception at Tempe Public Library. Winning entries will also be published on the library’s website. Additional information and contest details and a PDF of the contest announcement can be found at the Tempe Public Library events webpage.

For more information visit: https://asunews.asu.edu/20141110-tempe-writing-contest

bell hooks at ASU

Hosted by the ASU Project Humanities, bell hooks, well-known author and cultural critic, will be speaking on the Arizona State University Tempe and West Campuses.

Her February 13th presentation will touch on issues of race and gender and will be followed by a Q&A. The event will run from 7:00-8:30PM in the Katzin Music Hall on the Tempe campus. The event is free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Doors will open at 6:30PM.

The February 14th event will feature a conversation on the feature film and critically acclaimed novel, The Help. The presentation will begin at 3:30-5:00PM at will take place in the La Sala C Lecture Hall on the ASU West campus.

bell hooks is known for her transformational discussions on issues of feminism, politics, and popular culture. She has authored 33 books on a variety of topics, all of which have encompassed viewpoints on race, gender, and culture. Hooks’s work has been described as “transformative” and “soul-changing.”

You can find more information on the event on the Arizona State University Project Humanities page.