Vermillion Literary Project

The previously announced benefit for Annie Christain (and her squished optic nerves) is being moved to a different location because of anticipated bad weather. Join us in the basement of the United Church of Christ, Congregational, 226 East Main St., in Vermillion, starting at 6:00 p.m. tomorrow (Friday, May 2) -- a big thank you is due to the UCC and Pastor Steve Miller for donating this space at the last minute.

Celebrate the end of the semester with music and good food, and give Annie some much-appreciated support!

A few more details:

· If you have any small items in good condition (books, gadgets, art items, etc.) and would like to contribute them to the silent auction, please bring them with you.

· Donations of food and beverages are welcome; please contact Sarah.Garelik@usd.edu if you can help with this. Note that the UCC is a no-alcohol venue, so any alcoholic beverages contributed will be added to the silent auction rather than served at the event.

· A benefit account has been opened at Wells Fargo bank (branch in Jones Food Center). Checks may be made out to Annie Christain.

· Tickets for the barbecue are available in advance from Sarah.Garelik@usd.edu or at the door. Choose your price: $15-$50.

Thanks to everyone involved.

Please join us for an end-of-the year BBQ to benefit Annie Christain

Annie has been recently diagnosed with a condition which will cause her to lose her vision if left untreated. She doesn’t have health insurance, so we are trying to raise some money for her.

 Festivities will include:

    * music by Narrative Feed, The Golden Bubbles (Chris V’s band), and At Ease (Simon and Joe’s band)
    * a BBQ of delicious meats and meat-like vegetable products
    * a silent auction (including baked goods, poems, and rare signed x-rays of Annie’s optic nerve!)
    * a bar (wine, beer, and other much-needed end-of-semester beverages for a small donation)

 

When: 6:00, Friday, May 2nd (the last day of classes!)

Where: 213 Stanford (the West end of Clark, on the corner of Stanford and Clark)

Tickets: email sarah.garelik@usd.edu to buy (you choose the price of your ticket: $15-$50)

 

Because of the generous donations of time, talent, and food, all proceeds will go to Annie!

 

See you there!

On Friday 4/18,
the English Department's final visitor of the semester will be on campus
delivering a lecture.  The Colloquium will be held at 3:30
in Farber Hall, and the speaker is Courtney Lehmann, Associate
Professor of English and Film Studies at the University of the Pacific in Stockton,
California.  She is the author of Shakespeare Remains: Theater to
Film, Early Modern to Postmodern, published by Cornell UP, as well as two
volumes of Shakespeare and Screen criticism.  Currently, she has three
books under contract.  Her talk will be entitled "Kiss Me Katrina:
Cold Wars, Global Warming, and Compassionate Capitalism, or, Macbeth—The
Reality."  The event is free and open to the public.

The pages are still blank, but there is a miraculous feeling of the
words being there, written in invisible ink and clamoring to become
visible.  ~Vladimir Nabakov

Hi, all. Next week, April 24, 7-9
p.m. at the Coffee Shop Gallery, downtown Vermillion, is our LAST
reading/slam of the year, and a very special one. We will be launching this
year’s magazine (which looks completely boss, groovy, amazing, etc.), and
officially announcing the winners of and awarding prizes for the Comic Contest.
Our featured readers this month will be folks whose work was included in this
year’s mag, including, we hope, our short story contest winners. The slam
will follow, open to anyone as usual.

 We hope to see you all there for this wonderful celebration
of our VLP (both here and afar) collective genius!

If you can see your path laid out

in front of you step by step,

you know it's not your path.

Your own path you make with every step you take.

That's why it's your path.

 - Joseph Campbell
 

"The purpose of the writer is to keep civilization from destroying itself".  Albert Camus

 



THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH DAKOTA

PROGRAM COUNCIL PRESENTS:

A COMPETITION FOR COMPOSITION OF TEXT IN
A NEW GRADUATION RECESSIONAL SOLO/CHORAL WORK

Prizes:         1.       A
$200.00 gift card to Barnes & Noble bookstores;

2.       Setting
of your text to music by USD Composer-In-

          Residence
Stephen Yarbrough;

3.       Publication
and use of your text (with music) at USD Commencements.

Who may enter:     All current USD graduate and undergraduate
students, and USD Alumni.

Competition Guidelines:

1.    
Write a four to
five stanza poem encompassing the traditions and experiences of being a student
at USD (please type).

2.    
Include your
name, status as a past or present student at USD, and address and phone number.

3.    
Submit your work
to:  Dr. Stephen Yarbrough, College of
Fine Arts 125.

4.    
Review of entries
will begin Friday, August 29, 2008.

5.    
If a song is
chosen, the winner will be notified no later than Monday, November 3, 2008.

Adjudication:

Judging will be done by Dr.
Stephen Yarbrough and the USD Commencement Committee.  The winning entry will be premiered at the
May 2009 USD Commencement ceremony.  The
judges reserve the right not to award a prize if no submission is deemed
suitable.

VLP Poetry Reading & Slam

 
Celebrating

Women’s

History Month

Join us Thursday, March 28, from 7-9 p.m. at
the Coffee Shop Gallery, downtown Vermillion, for the VLP poetry reading
and slam celebrating Women’s History
Month and featuring Lee
Ann Roripaugh, Amanda Emerson, Michelle Rogge-Gannon, Marcella Remund, Sarah Garelik, Cheryl Walstrom, Catherine Beem, Marcia Kear and others, reading
selections from their favorite women authors. The readings will be followed by a poetry slam open to anyone. Slammers should  bring three original poems; prizes will be awarded.

For more info on slams, see www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/vlpslam.cfm.

For
more info on the VLP visit www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit

CONTACT: Marcella Remund, USD Dept. of English, mremund@usd.edu

THE VLP & THE COMMUNITY WRITERS GROUP ANNOUNCES:

 W R I T E  C L U B

Where: At RAZIEL'S - 13 W. Main  ***NEW LOCATION!!!***

When: THURSDAY, MARCH 13 - 7pm to 9pm


Rules:

The first rule of Write Club is - you do not talk about Write Club.

The second rule of Write Club is - you DO NOT talk about Write Club.

Third rule of Write Club - you ARE allowed to write anything you can Imagine!


Questions: Contact Douglas Bryenldson  -  mythmaker@hotmail.com 

or visit www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit




"WRITE CLUB wasn't about winning or losing. It was about words."

_______________________________________________________________________________________
The Vermillion Literary Project (VLP), a volunteer student literary organization of the University of South Dakota, Vermillion, invites you to join area writers for a rewarding evening with the WRITE CLUB, a community writer's group that meets every 2nd Thursday of the month from 7-9 p.m. at RAZIEL's, downtown Vermillion. Anyone is welcome to participate--community members, visitors to the area, brand new or experienced writers, USD students. Bring your original poetry, short stories, novels in progress, plays, screenplays, creative nonfiction, or anything that your imagination has produced. You'll get ideas, help, feedback and constructive critiquing from other group members in a supportive, relaxed setting. The group is FREE, and you are not obligated to present anything or to read your writing; you are welcome to sit back, observe, and listen to others, although you are encouraged to experiment and develop as a writer by sharing your work. If you have questions or want to find out more about WRITE CLUB, email Doug Bryenldson at mythmaker@hotmail.com. or call 605-563-2932. Be sure to leave a message--calls will be promptly returned.

DON'T FORGET THE VLP

MEETING THIS FRIDAY,

FEB. 22 at 4pm!!!!

 IN THE "USUAL PLACE"

... you know... that one place where

we always meet...

(*whispers* ...in the sewers

under the manhole

on Franklin St.)

OH... and don't forget... you won't get to lick any toads unless you are physically present with a gift of llama hair for Marcella. (HINT: She prefers red and yellow llamas.) 

 "If writing a novel is like having a baby... then how do you get pregnant?" - quote from "The Lost Essays of Anai Bendai", Volume XXV.

JOIN US TODAY AT THE COFFEE SHOP GALLERY for the VLP - COMMUNITY WRITER'S GROUP from 4pm to 6pm!

We'll drink HOT BEVERAGES and STAY WARM while discussing our latest LITERARY CREATIONS!

     “It is known that there are an infinte number of worlds, simply because there is an infinite amount of space for them to be in. However, not every one of them is inhabited. Any finite number divided by infinity is as near nothing as makes no odds, so the average population of all the planets in the Universe can be said to be zero. From this it follows that the population of the whole Universe is also zero, and that any people you may meet from time to time are merely products of a deranged imagination.” - Douglas Adams

2008 HOT SPRINGS WRITER’S CONFERENCE
FRIDAY, MARCH 28 AND SATURDAY, MARCH 29
HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA

INSPIRE YOUR WRITING AND SHARPEN YOUR CRAFT

Join us for the Write Now Writer’s Conference featuring David Allan Evans, Poet
Laureate of South Dakota and Wyoming author Craig Johnson. The conference will
emphasize hands-on writing in poetry and fiction with time for interaction and critique.
Additional seminars will be offered on internet blogging and marketing, and reading your
work aloud. Concluding the conference, Craig and Dave will be presenting a public
reading and book signing. Please see the Schedule of Events and Registration Form
for more details.

David Allan Evans
South Dakota Poet Laureate
Retired professor of English and Writer in
Residence at South Dakota State University,

David Allan Evans has served as South Dakota’s
Poet Laureate since 2002. He is the author of
five books of poetry, and the author or editor of
seven other books. He has been a Fulbright
Scholar to China twice. In 1974 he was the first
South Dakotan to receive a National Endowment
for the Arts grant. He also has writing grants
from the Bush Artist Foundation in St. Paul,
Minnesota and the South Dakota Arts Council.
His poems, short stories, and essays have been
published in many magazines and journals and in
over 60 anthologies.

http://sdhc.sdstate.org/davidallanevans

Craig Allen Johnson
Wyoming Fiction Writer
Craig Johnson is the author of four novels (the
latest to be released in June) and is the recipient
of a Wyoming Council for the Arts Award. His
background in education and law enforcement
gives a unique perspective to his writing
Johnson's first novel, The Cold Dish, was a
DILYS Award Finalist, and a Booksense pick by
the Independent Bookseller's Association and
Killer Pick by the Independent Mystery
Bookseller's of America. Craig's second novel,
Death Without Company, was the Wyoming
Historical Society's Fiction Book of the Year. A
dynamic and humorous speaker, Craig lives in
Ucross, Wyoming population 25.

http://www.craigallenjohnson.com

2008

Eric Lochridge
Eric Lochridge writes After Long Busyness: A Poetry Blog,
where he discusses poetry, with an emphasis on the poetry
of South Dakota. His first collection of poems, Father's Curse,
was published by FootHills Publishing in 2007. He is a
graduate of South Dakota State University and lives in Rapid
City with his wife and two children.

http://ericedits.wordpress.com

Andy Thorstenson
Andy Thorstenson recently finished a collection of poems,
crossing the 100th meridian. He has read and performed his
work at poetry events throughout the country. His poetry has
been strongly influenced by his travels to wild and natural
places around the world. He lives in Hot Springs with his wife
and two children.

http://www.andythorstenson.com/

Schedule of Events

Friday, March 28, 2008
Red Rock River Resort 603 N. River Street Hot Springs

6:00 p.m. Registration
6:30 p.m. Andy thorstenson “Spoken Word”
7:30 p.m. Eric Lochridge “Wording with Technology”
Saturday, March 29, 2008
SD Veteran’s Home Canyon Cottage 2500 Minnekahta Ave., Hot Springs
8:00-9:00 a.m. Registration and Coffee
9:00 a.m. Poetry Workshop with David Allan Evans
12:15-1:15 p.m. Lunch at the Red Rock River Resort 603 N. River Street
1:30-4:30 p.m. Fiction Workshop with Craig Johnson
The Wild Burro Bookstore 503 North River St., Hot Springs
7:00-9:00 p.m. Reading and Book signing with authors
Craig Johnson and David Allan Evans

For more information call 605.890.1212 or 605.745.7340
email

www.thewildburro.com/2008writenow.html

2008 HOT SPRINGS WRITER’S CONFERENCE
FRIDAY, MARCH 28 AND SATURDAY, MARCH 29
HOT SPRINGS, SOUTH DAKOTA
REGISTRATION FORM

Name _____________________________

email _____________________

Address _____________________________
_____________________________
phone _____________________

Friday Evening Workshops no fee ____

Both Saturday Workshops  $75 ____

OR

Poetry Workshop  $45 ____
with David Allan Evans

Fiction Workshop  $45 ____
with Craig Johnson

Lunch Saturday with the Authors  $9 ____

Check One:

__Chicken Salad Sandwich
__ Roast Beef Wrap
__ Vegetarian Wrap

Total Amount Due ______

Register Early, Space is Limited!

Make checks payable to SHAHC and return this form to:

Write Now!
Southern Hills Arts and Humanities Council
P.O. Box 715 Hot Springs, SD 57747
For more information or for credit card payments call 605.890.1212 or 605.745.7340
andy-AT-andythorstenson.com www.thewildburro.com/2008writenow.html

Thanks to all of our Sponsors
Southern Hills Arts and Humanities Council South Dakota Humanities Council The Wild Burro Bookstore
The Historic Mueller House B&B Red Rock River Resort A Dakota Dream B&B
2008
Hot Springs Writer’s CONFERENCE
Friday, March 28 and Saturday, March 29
Hot Springs, South Dakota
Write Now!
Southern Hills Arts and Humanities Council
P.O. Box 715
Hot Springs, SD 57747

Register early, space is limited!

The POETRY SLAM last night was a FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE! Kudos to all the poets who participated and a special HURRAH! for our very own Lee Ann Roripaugh for her WORLD CLASS reading of orignal prose and poetry last evening! Top notch Lee Ann!

*thunderous applause and enthusiastic whistling* 

Since I am also the PODCAST GOD, I will be working feverishly over the weekend to edit and post the POETRY SLAM at the VLP Podcast Site for so that everyone who didn't want to brave the frigid temperatures or had other obligation won't miss the highlights of this INCREDIBLE SHOW!!!

And now for something completely different...

24-Hour Comic

 Contest

February 29, 2008

6:00 p.m. (arrive before 5:45 p.m.)

Warren M. Lee Center for the Fine Arts
Graphics Lab Room 175
University of South Dakota
Vermillion, South Dakota

The Vermillion Literary Project and the U’s Art Department are sponsoring their inaugural 24-Hour Comics Contest. First place will receive automatic publication in the 2008 VLP literary magazine and $50. Additional prizes for the top three places will be provided by Rainbow Sportscards (of Sioux Falls and Sioux City) and the Art Department. Everyone is welcome to participate, including members of the University of South Dakota community and the general public. Contestants may enter the contest individually, or groups of contestants may enter as a team. The contest will begin in the Graphics Lab (Warren M. Lee Center for the Fine Arts, on the north side of the University of South Dakota campus in Vermillion), room 175, at 6 p.m. on Friday, February 29 and conclude 24 hours hence on Saturday, March 1 at 6 p.m. Contestants should arrive no later than 5:45 p.m. Friday. A campus map is available at http://www.usd-DOT-edu/aboutU/campus.cfm.

A theme, image, or idea will be announced at the beginning of the contest and must figure prominently in the finished comic. Within the 24-hour contest period, contestants are free to come and go at will but must be present at the contest end with a completed 6 to 8-page black & white or greyscale mini-comic, reproducible within an 8” by 5” page. Computers with Adobe CS software, scanners, and printers will be available for contest use in the Graphics Lab, though contestants are free to create comics by any method, in any location.

A panel of judges consisting of USD English and Art faculty as well as the VLP Magazine's Editor-in-Chief will select the winners.  Winners will be announced on the VLP website at http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit.

To register for the VLP 24-Hour Comics Contest, fill out the form available at http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/comics/comicregistrationform.pdf* and mail the form with a check to: The Vermillion Literary Project, Dakota Hall 212, University of South Dakota, 414 E. Clark Street, Vermillion, SD 57069-2390.  Registrations must be postmarked by February 23, 2008 for early registration rates; late registration available the day of the contest.  Contestants can also register in person in the USD English Department, Dakota Hall 212.  Registration fees cannot be refunded.Comic writers or illustrators looking for collaborators for the contest should send inquiries to dkofoed-AT-usd.edu.  For other questions, call 605-677-5229 or e-mail us at projlit-AT-usd.edu.

*If you have difficulty opening the registration form, you may need to download the free Adobe Acrobat Reader, available at http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.

"Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world." - Percy Bysshe Shelley; poet, liberal, democrat, athiest and social revolutionary extrodinaire

Just a very rare personal plug here - if you're interesting in experiencing some of my own original works (I'm far too shy to get up onto a stage like the bold and worthy poets at last nights Slam) and crave something completely different, radical, dangerous, controversial and sometimes even jaw dropping... visit my own personal creative writer's blog right here on the USD server: http://blogs.usd.edu/anai/ - Douglas Lee Bryenldson

DON'T FORGET TO JOIN US THIS Thursday, January 31, from 7-9 p.m. at the Coffee Shop Gallery, downtown Vermillion, for the VLP poetry reading and slam, featuring award-winning poet and USD English Professor Lee Ann Roripaugh. Roripaugh’s reading will be followed by a poetry SLAM open to anyone.

The featured reading will be followed by a poetry slam open to anyone. Poets interested in slamming should bring at least three original poems, and prizes will be awarded. For more information on poetry slams, see

http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/vlpslam.cfm.

The Vermillion Literary Project (VLP) is a student organization at the University of South Dakota that publishes an annual literary magazine and hosts a variety of literary events for the U. community and the general public. For more information, visit http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit or call 605-677-5229.

Lee Ann Roripaugh is an Assistant Professor of English at USD. She was born and raised in Laramie, Wyoming, and earned an MFA in creative writing from Indiana University. She is the author of two books of poetry, Beyond Heart Mountain (Penguin Books, 1999), selected by Ishmael Reed for the National Poetry Series and a finalist for the 2000 Asian American Literature Awards, and Year of the Snake (Southern Illinois University Press/Crab Orchard Poetry Series, 1994).VLP Poetry Reading & Poetry SLAM Featuring LEE ANN RORIPAUGH.

 FOR CONTACT INFO: Marcella Remund,   mremund-AT-usd.edu 

COMMUNITY WRITER'S GROUP QUOTE FOR THE DAY

_________________________________________________

Join us Thursday, January 31, from 7-9 p.m. at the Coffee Shop Gallery, downtown Vermillion, for the VLP poetry reading and slam, featuring award-winning poet and USD English Professor Lee Ann Roripaugh. Roripaugh’s reading will be followed by a poetry SLAM open to anyone.

The featured reading will be followed by a poetry slam open to anyone. Poets interested in slamming should bring at least three original poems, and prizes will be awarded. For more information on poetry slams, see http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit/vlpslam.cfm.

The Vermillion Literary Project (VLP) is a student organization at the University of South Dakota that publishes an annual literary magazine and hosts a variety of literary events for the U. community and the general public. For more information, visit http://www.usd.edu/orgs/projlit or call 605-677-5229.

Lee Ann Roripaugh is an Assistant Professor of English at USD. She was born and raised in Laramie, Wyoming, and earned an MFA in creative writing from Indiana University. She is the author of two books of poetry, Beyond Heart Mountain (Penguin Books, 1999), selected by Ishmael Reed for the National Poetry Series and a finalist for the 2000 Asian American Literature Awards, and Year of the Snake (Southern Illinois University Press/Crab Orchard Poetry Series, 1994).VLP Poetry Reading & Poetry SLAM Featuring LEE ANN RORIPAUGH.

 FOR CONTACT INFO: Marcella Remund,   mremund-AT-usd.edu 

COMMUNITY WRITER'S GROUP QUOTE FOR THE DAY

_________________________________________________

...I feel more alive when I’m writing than I do at any other time—except when I’m making love. Two things when you forget time, when nothing exists except the moment—the moment of writing, the moment of love. That perfect concentration is bliss.

Attribution: May Sarton (1912–1995), U.S. author. As quoted in Women Writers Talking, ch. 1, by Janet Todd (1983).

Tonight's VLP reading will feature U. English Instructor Melanie Wood, who once sat across from a chain-smoking Joseph Brodsky in a non-smoking restaurant, and Cathleen Pierce. The two larger-than-life poets nearly came to blows when Brodsky claimed, "Women can't write intellectual poetry." Huh.

Melanie's reading will be followed by a "table slam." This isn't a means of showing audience approval or disgust, nor is it what happens to poets who don't pass muster. It means that tables at the Coffee shop Gallery will be covered with paper, and slam poets' first-round poem must be one they compose on-the-spot, written on their "tablecloth." I anticipate much gnashing of teeth...

Join us Thursday, August 30 at the Coffee Shop Gallery, downtown Vermillion, for the VLP poetry reading & slam. Our featured reader will be Melanie Wood. Melanie teaches in the English department at the U. Her reading will be followed by a table slam open to anyone; slammers' first poem must be one they've written on the CSG's paper-covered tables. Slammers should also bring 2 additional poems. The table slam is a great way for novices to break into slamming--the playing field is somewhat leveled, since none of the first-round poets will have much time to polish or revise their poems. Should be interesting...