News
2009 |
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CLU Awards Literary PrizesKatherine Rose Bierach of Campbell and Allison Wachtel of Thousand Oaks received California Lutheran University’s top literary prizes during Honors Convocation on May 15.
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Author Tim O'Brien Visits CLU"Tim O’Brien, hailed as 'the best American writer of his generation' by the San Francisco Chronicle, read from his work and shared his insights on the Vietnam War. During the summer, in preparation for his campus appearance, the entire freshman class read O’Brien’s best-known novel, The Things They Carried, which in 2005 was named by the New York Times as one of the 20 best books of the last quarter century. The book, which also received the Chicago Tribune Heartland Award in fiction, was a finalist for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The French edition received the prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, and the title story was selected by John Updike for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories of the Century. The Things They Carried challenges readers to think deeply about war, patriotism, historical truth and personal memory. The author of eight books, O’Brien has consistently received national awards for his writing including the 1979 National Book Award in Fiction for Going After Cacciato. In the Lake of the Woods, published in 1994, was chosen by TIME magazine as the best novel of that year, received the James Fenimore Cooper Prize from the Society of American Historians and was selected as one of the 10 best books of the year by the New York Times. His short fiction, which has appeared in numerous journals, received the National Magazine Award". - Exerpt from CLU calendar September 24, 2009. (http://www.callutheran.edu/calendar/event/2008) |
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2008 |
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Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize, Ledbetter Writing Prize Awarded-2008Katie Bierach was awarded the Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize, and Brigette Stevenson was awarded the Ledbetter Prize for Excellence in Writing at California Lutheran University's Honors Day Convocation. The Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize was first awarded by English professor Jack Ledbetter, Ph.D., in 1972. The prize became an endowed scholarship through donations of poet Mark Van Doren’s sons, John and Charles Van Doren. The Ledbetter Prize, named in honor of Professor Emertitus Ledbetter, is given annually to an English major for the best work in any literary genre. |
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Author Julie Otsuka Visits CLUWhen the Emperor Was Divine was assigned reading for the 2008 freshman class. Begun as part of her thesis at Columbia University, Emperor is Julie Otsuka's first novel. The subject matter is very personal for Otsuka whose family was interned during WWII. Her grandfather was arrested by the FBI the day after Pearl Harbor, and her mother, then 11 years old, and her uncle and grandmother were sent to Topaz, Utah, for the duration of the war. Otsuka was a winner of the sixth annual Asian American Literary Award in 2003 and a 2004 recipient of a Guggenheim fellowship. Her current project is a novel that continues the exploration of some themes found in When the Emperor Was Divine. - Exerpt from CLU calendar September 24, 2009. (http://www.callutheran.edu/calendar/event/1679) |
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2007 |
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December 2007:
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Lisa and Ian Daniels
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November 2007:
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April 2007:
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Writer Nancy Rawles Visits CLUBy Clair Tenney “Opening Lines,” the hour-long creative writing workshop with speaker and award-winning author Nancy Rawles, brought instruction, examples and perspectives of writing techniques to students at California Lutheran University. The award-winning author discussed her previous work, led attendees through a writing exercise, and shared writing tips and her own experiences. Rawles aimed to provide attendees with a thorough understanding of the hard work involved in becoming a writer. Throughout the workshop, she emphasized the importance of the beginning of a piece. The beginning sets the tone and the stage for everything that follows. She described the beginning of a story as critical, saying it is crucial that the writer keep returning to the beginning, crafting and re-crafting until the rest of the piece is developed. Rawles recited the beginning paragraph of one of her upcoming novels. The audience was fixated on Rawles during this point of the lecture and applause erupted when she was finished. “The first paragraph is the voice from who is going to tell the story; it should emotionally engage you,” Rawles said. This particular portion of the workshop was especially appreciated by attendee and CLU English professor Dr. James Bond, who related beginnings to not only creative writing but to the everyday writing of composing essays, letters and memos. “A student essay for English 111 could become an incredible piece of writing if the writer thought of the composition as a spiraling process of unfolding performance, one that requires the writer to keep honing that beginning as the rest of the essay begins to fall into place,” Bond said. Rawles also spoke on previous writing she has done, such as play writing and journalism. “Journalism helped me realize that my writing isn’t too precious, it will always be edited,” she said. Rawles shared her thoughts on personal work, such as journaling and painting. She described writing as a public act. When one puts their work on paper they choose to think about the reader and the audience. “If it is a painting, writing or whatever you are doing, it should not be locked away,” Rawles said. “By putting it on paper you are making it public and taking a risk that someone might see it.” The last 20 minutes of the workshop was spent partaking in a writing exercise to develop dialogue. “You want your dialogue to be meaningful in a novel, it is not movie dialogue,” Rawles said. “You have to make it sing.” Rawles paired students together, letting them choose who would play what role; one was a parent figure and the other a child. Participants were told that a conflict must arise between the two roles. A piece of paper was passed back and forth in-between partners and one had to always answer what their partner gave them. “Every line has to move the story forward,” Rawles said. While dialogue was being created on the papers laughter could be heard around the room. After 10 minutes Rawles encouraged partners to share their dialogues. While five groups shared, Rawles gave feed-back and a story of each short dialogue. She described where she saw the conflict going and what background information she could pick up on. Editor of CLU’s literary magazine and one of the people who shared their dialogue, Kate Hicks, found this portion of the workshop to be helpful with her writing. “It encouraged me to write more and think more reflectively on what I have written,” Hicks said. “I appreciated the help and thought it was a great opportunity.” At the end of the workshop the 19 attendants were given the opportunity to ask Rawles questions about writing and advice she had to offer.Students also had the opportunity to share an opening line, paragraph or stanza, they had written to receive Rawles feedback. Rawles’ books, “My Jim,” “Crawfish Dreams” and “Love Like Gumbo” will be available in the Pearson library. |


