susan neville

Butler’s bountiful harvest

Posted by MS

After months of preparation, planning, and a venue upgrade, on Tuesday Butler’s first annual Writer’s Harvest came and went without a hitch. It was, in the words of one of our attendees, “One of the coolest, most amazing things I’ve ever gotten to see.” Hopefully you managed to hear about it from a friend, read about it in the paper (or on this very blog), or maybe you saw one of its beautiful posters– and hopefully you attended.

butler writer's harvest john green second helpings community kitchenIf you did, you saw eight (8!) tall boxes of donated rice and dried pasta filled to the brim, and you saw 761 spectators of all ages fill Clowes Hall. Considering the capacity of our original venue – Atherton Hall’s Reilly Room – is 400, and those eight boxes of donations added up to over 900 pounds of food (1.2 pounds of food per attendee), I’d say this harvest was a resounding success. Not bad for our first, eh? Continue reading →

Butler’s bountiful harvest

Posted by MS

After months of preparation, planning, and a venue upgrade, on Tuesday Butler’s first annual Writer’s Harvest came and went without a hitch. It was, in the words of one of our attendees, “One of the coolest, most amazing things I’ve ever gotten to see.” Hopefully you managed to hear about it from a friend, read about it in the paper (or on this very blog), or maybe you saw one of its beautiful posters– and hopefully you attended.

butler writer's harvest john green second helpings community kitchenIf you did, you saw eight (8!) tall boxes of donated rice and dried pasta filled to the brim, and you saw 761 spectators of all ages fill Clowes Hall. Considering the capacity of our original venue – Atherton Hall’s Reilly Room – is 400, and those eight boxes of donations added up to over 900 pounds of food (1.2 pounds of food per attendee), I’d say this harvest was a resounding success. Not bad for our first, eh? Continue reading →

Butler’s first annual Writer’s Harvest

Posted by MS

Slim profile version of Writer's Harvest promo flyer, which will appear in Nuvo.The third event in our Conversations@Efroymson series, which also happens to be our most exciting yet, is Butler’s first annual Writer’s Harvest. On Tuesday October 29, 7:30 PM at Clowes Memorial Hall, Indiana-based fiction powerhouses John Green, Ben Winters and Susan Neville will be giving readings– but that’s just the “writer” part. The “harvest” part is where you come in. We will be collecting your donations of dried pasta and white rice on behalf of Indy non-profit community kitchen Second Helpings. The event is, as always, free and open to the public.

While they do cook and deliver about 3,500 meals (about 150 pounds of pasta and rice!) every day, eliminating hunger is only one half of what Second Helpings does. The company also provides culinary job training to unemployed and underemployed adults. Their mission statement reads: “We’re not just teaching people to cook – we’re providing an avenue for people to transform their own lives. We don’t just collect food – we rescue food because we can’t stand to see it go to waste when others have none.” Naturally, your donation will be much appreciated. But we plan to make it worth your while; allow me to introduce our readers: Continue reading →

Martone sets tone for ECCW series

Posted by MS

Martone-sunglasses

This fall’s Conversations @ Efroymson line-up has been announced, and it includes an open mic women’s poetry reading, a visit from Michael Martone on his Double-Wide World Tour, a Writer’s Harvest featuring Indy rockstars John Green, Susan Neville and Ben Winters, and to top it all off: a creative writing contest.

A complement to Butler’s Visiting Writers Series, Conversations @ Efroymson is designed to be smaller, hands-on and interactive. One-to-one access to writers, editors, publishers and critics, as well as the greater Butler and Indianapolis community, but appropriately sized to fit within the cozy confines of the Efroymson house.

“People don’t have communities anymore,” MFA Program Director Hilene Flanzbaum explains. “We go to VWS readings to sit and listen. The Conversations series provides closer contact with various people in the profession, not just famous writers. It’s about talking together and building something.”

The series kicks off September 24 with an open-mic celebration of women’s poetry co-sponsored by the Gender, Women & Sexuality Studies program. Open to all Butler staff, faculty and students, we want to hear Angelou, Waldman, Hejinan, Dickinson, maybe Plath, Carson, Duffy— Sappho? If possible, interested readers should sign up ahead of time by e-mailing Efroymson admin Chris Speckman.

Alabama-based author Michael Martone will return to his Hoosier roots, stopping by on October 3 as part of his Fourth Double-Wide World Tour of Indiana. He’ll be giving readings and making visits at IU-East on Monday the 30, Earlam on the 1st, Purdue on the 2nd. He’ll talk about Indiana geography and how our humble plains can be inspiring.

October 29 is our first annual Writer’s Harvest, which will take place at the Reilly Room in Atherton Union and not the ECCW to accommodate the anticipated audience. Part charity, part reading, you share dry goods and canned food for us to donate to non-profit community kitchen Second Helpings, and local fiction powerhouses John Green, Susan Neville and Ben Winters will share some stories. Win-win. “It’s something we’ve wanted to do for a long time,” says Flanzbaum.

Closing the series on November 14, we’ll be hosting the reading portion of our Good Works Creative Writing Contest. Open to grads and undergrads, the contest will welcome prose and poetry that reinforces the importance of giving back. Submission and prize details will be forthcoming here and on the MFA Program’s website.