Reading/Discussion Class and Poetry Writing
Workshop at Library
March 20, 1998
The Andrew Carnegie Free Library in Carnegie, PA, is offering two
community classes beginning in April 1998, one a reading/discussion class
(novels), and the other a poetry writing workshop. Classes will meet in
the Mary Harris Room (the library's bookstore).
Cost for each class will be $50, payable to "Andrew Carnegie Free
Library."
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READING / DISCUSSION CLASS, 8 weeks, April 7 - May 26, 1998
Tuesday, 5:30 - 7:00 p.m.
To register for the class, or for more information, call Michael Yellin
at (412) 661-2878.
City-slickers often contend that nothing ever happens in small towns, but
American novelists disagree. Many of the most fascinating, comic, and
moving works of modern American fiction are set in small towns. In this
class, we will explore the contours of small town life. We will travel
from Texas to upstate New York to rural Washington state, and we will
meet an abundance of amusing and eclectic characters. We will eat
sumptuous cheeseburgers at greasy diners, and we will learn about the
difficulties that come with publishing a local newspaper. The reading
list for this class is as follows: The Last Picture Show, by Larry
McMurtry (author of Lonesome Dove); Mohawk, by Richard Russo (author of
Nobody's Fool); Snow Falling on Cedars, by David Guterson; and A Thousand
Acres, by Jane Smiley. We will also read a collection of poems about
small town life. Depending on the pace of the class, we may also read a
few short stories (Flannery O'Conner is a possibility). In addition, I
invite class members to bring in clippings from local small town
newspapers. We will use them to enhance our discussions and to find out
if fact really is stranger than fiction.
Michael Yellin grew up in Rochester, NY (not a small town, but a small
city). He migrated to Philadelphia, where he attended Haverford
college. Currently, he is a graduate student at the University of
Pittsburgh, where he expects to receive his Master's degree in English
literature in May 1998. He is a writing tutor, a fan of Henry Roth, and
an aspiring cook.
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POETRY WRITING WORKSHOP, 8 weeks, April 16 - June 4, 1998
Thursday, 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
To register for the class, or for more information, call Luisa Villani at
(412) 421-7636.
This eight week workshop is open to the novice, the advanced, and the
nouvea poet. If you want to be part of the poetic community, this
workshop is for you. Each week will begin with a short lecture on topics
such as content, the use of imagery, the creation of sound and silence,
and what publishers are looking for in a poet's work. Students will be
asked to bring a poem each week to class, and will be required to
critique each other's manuscripts. The course will be led by a published
poet, who will bring to the students a working knowledge of what the
current market is for their work and how the students' poems relate to
the contemporary scheme of American poetry.
Luisa Villani's work has appeared in The Birmingham Poetry Review, The
Hiram Poetry Review, The Dickinson Review, and many other publications.
Her chapbook, On the Eve of Everything, was awarded first place in the
WECS Press 1997 chapbook competition and was published this year. Her
other honors include a Bucknell Fellowship and an Academy of American
Poets Prize. A native of Los Angeles, Luisa currently teaches at the
University of Pittsburgh while pursuing a graduate degree.
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