2009

CLU Awards Literary Prizes

Katherine Rose Bierach of Campbell and Allison Wachtel of Thousand Oaks received California Lutheran University’s top literary prizes during Honors Convocation on May 15.

English Department faculty awarded Bierach, an English major, the $1,000 Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize based on a selection of poems she had submitted. English professor Bruce Stevenson read one of her poems, “Sonnet of Autumn,” at the ceremony. Bierach also won the 2008 Van Doren award.

English professor Jack Ledbetter awarded the first Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize in 1972. It became an endowed scholarship through donations from poet Mark Van Doren’s sons, John and Charles Van Doren.

Wachtel, another English major, received the Ledbetter Prize for Excellence in Writing for a literary analysis titled “Reality, Mortality and Media: Finding Agency In Don DeLillo’s ‘White Noise.’” The award, named in honor of Jack Ledbetter, is given annually to an English major for the best work in any literary genre.

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)

2008

Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize, Ledbetter Writing Prize Awarded-2008

Katie 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.

Author Julie Otsuka Visits CLU

When 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.

Rather than using her own family stories for material, Otsuka did extensive research, wanting to write a novel about real people whose experiences are universal not only for Japanese Americans but for people of any ethnic group. “All throughout history people have been rounded up and sent away into exile,” says Otsuka. “The predicament of the family in my novel … is that of ordinary people caught up in the extraordinary.” The “quietly disturbing” novel moves between dreams, memories and sharply emblematic moments.

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)

2007

December 2007:
The English Department Adopts a Family

CLU’s English department participated in Beyond Shelter’s 2007 Adopt-A-Family program.  Participants in the program “adopt” a family in dire need of assistance and purchase Christmas presents based on what the family needs and wants.  All of the families in the program are participants in Beyond Shelter’s “Housing First” program for homeless families and are either currently homeless and living in a shelter or temporary emergency housing, or have only recently been moved into permanent rental housing.

The department’s adopted family was Lisa and Ian Daniels, who became homeless after fleeing domestic violence.  Lisa is a 43 year old single mother and her son Ian is 15 years old.  They currently live in a shelter while Beyond Shelter helps them obtain permanent housing. 

The experience of living in a shelter has been hard on them, but Lisa tries to remain positive for her son and Ian tries not to give his mom problems.  Ian is currently maintaining a 3.6 GPA in school.

The pictures below show Ian and Lisa holding up the presents that the English Departmental Assistants bought and wrapped for them in December 2007.  With monetary contributions from everyone in the department, the Departmental Assistants were able to purchase much needed clothing, a computer, and other items that Ian and Lisa needed.

Lisa and Ian Daniels

November 2007:
A Medieval Feast

On November 17, 2007 English 451, a single author class focusing on Chaucer’s works celebrated Medieval cuisine with a feast. The following is a selection of the menu as well as recipes for each medieval delicacy. The English department would like to thank Dr. Sims and all contributors for their delicious insights.

April 2007:
Mark Van Doren Poetry Prize, Ledbetter Writing Prize Awarded-2007

The Ledbetter Writing Prize was awarded to Emily Moffett, and the Mark Van Doren Prize was awarded to Lauren Coss at the CLU Honors Day Convocation on April 27.

Coss, an English major from Maple Grove, Minn., was selected to receive the $1,000 award by faculty members of the English Department based on a selection of her poems. Her poem, “The Great Aunt,” was read during the ceremony.

Moffett of Simi Valley was awarded the prize for her essay titled “Parallelism in the Modern Prometheus.”

Writer Nancy Rawles Visits CLU

By 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.