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Click here to download calendar as a PDF Click here to download as a Word document 2010THE THINGS THEY CARRIEDTim O’BrienCalendar of Public Programs & EventsSee Details at end for additional information
ETC. Rochester’s Democrat & Chronicle will be serializing Tim O’Brien’s title story “The Things They Carried” throughout October. Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for permission. • Writers & Books is hosting a weekly, 8-session Writing Workshop for Veterans in October and November, led by professional facilitators and culminating in the publication of an anthology through W&B’s Big Pencil Press in December. Free and open to all veterans and active-duty military. For more information or to register for weekday afternoon, weekday evening or Saturday sessions, email karen@wab.org. • The Vietnam Learning Center at the Science and History Division at the Central Library (115 South Ave., Rochester) has a large collection of titles on the Vietnam conflict in addition to a collection of original battle maps. This collection was put together with a generous grant from Vietnam Veterans of America Chapter 20 and includes a large map case with display areas and internal lighting. The Vietnam Learning Center is intended as a living memorial to the men and women who served during this time and its main goal is to help educate today’s students about this period of American history. The Vietnam Learning Center continues to grow, collecting new materials, especially primary resources such as personal letters and diaries. For more information call (585) 428-7300. • The Central Library has also compiled a list of books and other media about the Vietnam War in their collection. See www.libraryweb.org for details. See Writers & Books’ web site at www.wab.org for other links and resources related to The Things They Carried. • Several libraries across the Greater Rochester region will have displays of Vietnam and other war-related books and media. • RELATED EVENTS Veterans Business Expo, presented by the Rochester Regional Veterans Business Council, Rochester Business Alliance and Nazareth College, Oct. 8 (8:30am-3:00pm) at Shults Center, Nazareth College. For more information see www.veteransbusinesscouncil.org. Veterans Outreach Center kicks off its lecture series on Oct. 20 (5:30-8:00pm) at Nazareth College with Dr. Jan Kemp, VA National Suicide Prevention Coordinator. For information see www.veteransoutreachcenter.org. Veterans Job Expo, presented by the Veterans Outreach Center, Oct. 28 (1:00-4:00pm) at Rochester Museum & Science Center. For more information see www.veteransoutreachcenter.org. Veterans Outreach Center 5th annual gala dinner, “A Stars and Stripes Celebration,” will be held Nov. 1 at the Riverside Convention Center. For information contact Alisa Parmiter at (585) 546-1081. VA Women Veterans Health Care, the Rochester Vet Center and Veterans Outreach Center are co-sponsoring a screening of The Lioness (2008), directed by Meg McLagan and Daria Sommers, at the Cinema Theatre, Nov. 8 (6pm). For more information see www.veteransoutreachcenter.org.
• SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien (paperback version) is available for sale at Writers & Books at a cover price of $14.95. Writers & Books offers a discount to members (just ask at the bookstore) and bulk discounts to schools and book groups; please email karen@wab.org for more information about bulk sales.
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A Reader’s Guide to The Things They Carried, produced by the National Endowment for the Arts, is available to download through Writers & Books’ web site: www.wab.org. It includes a biography of and bibliography of books by the author, related books of interest, discussion points for the book and more. Limited print copies of the Reader’s Guide are available at Writers & Books as well as local libraries and bookstores. Copies are available to download on the NEA web site at www.neabigread.org/books/thethingstheycarried/.
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Also available (in limited quantities) only at Writers & Books: an audio (CD) guide to The Things They Carried. Limited print copies of A Teacher’s Guideare also available at the W&B bookstore or by attendingA Training for Teachers and Book Discussion Leaders on Sat. Sept. 11. The Teacher’s Guide includes classroom syllabi, discussion points and capstone projects. Writers & Books also has organized a group of veterans (many of whom are or were educators) who are able to visit schools and discuss their experience and/or The Things They Carried with students at all levels. Please email karen@wab.org for more information. The audio guide and Teacher’s Guide are also available on the NEA web site at www.neabigread.org/books/thethingstheycarried/.
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Check out the Writers & Books web site at www.wab.org for more information and resources about The Things They Carried and much more. DETAILS ABOUT CALENDAR EVENTS1. Creative Approaches to The Things They Carried: A Training for Teachers and Book Discussion Leaders. Join Wendy Low, former Youth Education and Outreach Coordinator at Writers & Books; Big Read Coordinator and Rochester Institute of Technology Adjunct Instructor Karen vanMeenen; and local Vietnam veterans who are/were also educators for a presentation and discussion of various approaches to teaching The Things They Carried. The discussion will revolve around analyzing the writer’s craft; character development, choices and change; social and cultural issues raised within the text; the use of creative writing and personal writing assignments in the classroom; and other pertinent information. This workshop is geared toward anyone interested in a deeper understanding of the book, especially teachers looking for insight and creative approaches to the learning process and book discussion leaders. Several local veterans will attend and be available for later classroom visits. Sat. Sept. 11, 10:00-11:30am at W&B. Free but registration required: email karen@wab.org by Thurs. Sept. 9 at 5pm. 2. Join us as we kickoff this year’s Big Read program on a First Friday with an open mic session for veterans (of all wars and conflicts), hosted by Norm Davis and headlined by Marty Napersteck in our performance space and music by The Silver Threads in our café. Learn more about our local veterans’ support groups and the local Vietnamese community, which will have representatives on hand. This Big Read kickoff event is free and open to the public. Veterans can sign up to read upon arrival. For information on W&B events visit www.wab.org. For information about the monthly First Friday events visit www.firstfridayrochester.org. 3. We Were Soldiers Once panelists: Bob Gill served in Vietnam in transportation. He devotes much of his time to visiting youth organizations to share his experiences in Vietnam. He is a Past Commander of VFW Post 8495 in Fairport and is responsible for Freedom Hill, the post’s monument to veterans of all eras. Dick Grube served two tours of duty in Vietnam working in a field hospital in Saigon and served as an ambulance driver during the Tet Offensive. He is a member of Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA) Chapter 20, and presently is Post Commander of VFW Post 8495 in Fairport. Roy Sargent served as a combat infantryman in Vietnam, earning the Combat Infantry Badge. He is active in several veterans’ organizations, and is the Past Commander of Braman Post in Penfield. He was instrumental in getting the Veterans’ Memorial in Penfield built. Jim Schenkel served in Vietnam as an air traffic controller for the U.S. Army. In addition to being a member of VVA Chapter 20, the American Legion Braman Post and Past Commander of VFW Post 8495, he is President of the Board of Directors of Perinton Overseas Veterans. Moderator Rick Gough served on the DMZ in Korea during the Vietnam War. He is Commander of the Monroe County Council of the Veterans of Foreign Wars and was recently appointed by County Executive Maggie Brooks to serve on the Monroe County Veterans Advisory Committee.
4. Dr.Terry Hamblin, Associate Professor at The State University of New York at Delhi,will present “You Say You Want A Revolution: John Lennon, The Beatles, and the Politics of the 1960s and 1970s.”This lecture and multimedia presentation highlights the Beatles’ impact on the political, cultural and social changes of the 1960s. This program, which is free and open to the public, is made possible through the support of the New York Council for the Humanities’ Speakers in the Humanities program.
5. Politics and Government: How Veterans Needs Can Be Served panelists: William Dube currently serves as a communications and public relations representative for Rochester Institute of Technology. John Batiste is a retired Brigadier General and Chairman of the Board of the Veterans’ Outreach Center. Barry Culhane is Executive Assistant to the President at RIT and Director of the Rochester Vietnam Veterans Memorial Project. Jim McDonough is President and CEO of the Veterans Outreach Center and former director of the New York State Division of Veterans’ Affairs. Deborah Stendardi is Vice President of Government and Community Relations at RIT and a registered lobbyist. Moderator Ellen Warren isVice President of Development, Government & Community Relations for the Veterans Outreach Center.
6.Join us for free screenings of feature films (and one documentary) about the soldier’s experience of war, focusing on Vietnam, each followed by a discussion. Feel free to bring snacks or a brownbag supper. Soda and coffee will be available for purchase.
7. Softball Tournament for Vietnam-era Veterans. Players will sign up as individuals and be assigned to teams the day of the games. No fee for participating. Players should wear rubber spikes (recommended) or sneakers; metal spikes not permitted. Players should bring their own gloves and bats, but if a player does not have a glove or bat, he or she will be able to borrow them. Participation is co-ed. Advance registration not required (you can just show up on game day), but is requested (by e-mailing taftamericamolly@aol.com). Open to all Vietnam-era military veterans. 8. How the Vietnam War Changed Journalismpanelists: William“Bill” Drumright is an Assistant Professor of History at MCC, where he teaches various courses in U.S. history, including World War I, World War II, the Cold War-era and Vietnam. He received his PhD in 2005 from the University of Tennessee/Knoxville. Bob Smith, host and producer of WXXI’s “1370 Connection,” is a longtime journalist. He holds a PhD in American political and legal history from Cornell University. Moderator Tom Proietti is the founder of the communication programs at MCC and St. John Fisher College and a former newspaper, radio and TV reporter, producer and assignment editor as well as a radio and TV producer and a cable TV executive. 9. Author-journalist Nancy Lynch will speak on Vietnam Mailbag, Voices From the War: 1968–1972 (2009), her book based on the nearly 1,000 letters and hundreds of pictures she received as a columnist with the News Journal in Wilmington, Delaware, from 1968 to 1972. The book received a gold medal from Independent Publisher in 2009 for Best Non-Fiction in the Mid-Atlantic. For more information about the book see www.VietnamMailbag.com. 10. Test your knowledge of Vietnam War history with our second annual Big Read version of the Old Toad’s famous weekly quiz. Come early for the fine food, stay late for the drink offerings. There will be beverage discounts for quiz participants and prizes for the winners. The quiz begins promptly at 9:00pm. 11. Don Fox served as Chief Announcer for Armed Forces Vietnam Network (AFVN). When not on the air broadcasting the “Goooood Morning, Vietnam” radio program in 1966-67, he took to the wide boulevards of Saigon and the rustic, dusty streets of rural villages photographing ordinary Vietnamese citizens caught in the crosshairs of history. When he returned to civilian life, photography took a back seat to a continuing career in broadcast journalism, followed by over two decades as a teacher. His one-man traveling exhibit, “Face to Face: Images from a Different War,” includes more than three-dozen digitally remastered photos from his time in Vietnam. 12.Join educator Wendy Low, former Youth Education and Outreach Coordinator at Writers & Books, for discussions of The Things They Carried with teens (with several veterans in attendance) on Oct. 17 and the YA novel Shooting the Moon (2009) by Frances O’Roark Dowell with younger readers on Oct. 24. The Things They Carried is appropriate for 9th grade and up and is available at libraries and at the Writers & Books bookstore. Shooting the Moon is appropriate for grades 5 to 8 and is available at public and school libraries. Free but registration required. Email karen@wab.org by 5pm on Tues. Oct. 12 and Tues. Oct. 19 respectively to register or for more information. 13. About Welcome Home, Jenny Sutter:When U.S. Marine Jenny Sutter returns from Iraq, she lays down her rifle but isn’t ready to pick up her children. How do we take care of those who put themselves in harm’s way to take care of us? Why is re-entry so difficult for so many of them . . . and why do we sometimes look away from those most in need? (Strong language and mature content.) For more information on The Hornet’s Nest see www.gevatheatre.org/events/the-hornets-nest.php. 14. Anti-warActivism, Then and Now. Join local peace activists, who have protested wars and conflicts from Vietnam to Iraq, for a discussion of the changes in the movement since the 1960s and where it stands now. Mara Ahmed is an activist filmmaker whose documentary The Muslims I Know was broadcast on WXXI in 2009. Steve Huff, a poet and fiction writer, is Director of Adult Education at Writers & Books. Brian Lenzo is a long-time antiwar activist, an online contributor to the political blog The Sitch.com and to Socialist Worker.org, and recently traveled to the Gaza Strip to witness the effects of Israel’s blockade of the territory. Moderator Jack Bradigan Spula is a freelance journalist, pianist, teacher, (non-combat) veteran and pacifist with three decades’ experience as an organizer and “grunt” in the antiwar, human rights and environmental movements. 15. Chess Tournament for Vietnam-era Veterans. Advance registration is requested, but not required. Contact taftamericamolly@aol.com to register. Entrants pay $10 at the door. Everyone is guaranteed to play a minimum of four games. Trophies will be awarded. Rochester Chess Center at 221 Norris Dr. (near Cobbs Hill Park). The center sells snacks, but people are free to bring their own lunch or snacks. Open to all Vietnam-era military veterans. 16. 25 & Under: Writers 25 and under are welcome to join us to read original poems written in response to the prompt “What are you carrying?,” inspired by the book. For more information or to register to read email kristinan@wab.org by Tues. Oct. 22 at 5pm. 17. Soldiers at School panel discussion: Veterans who are currently attending area colleges after returning from combat share their experiences of making the transition from the service to school. 18. Panelists will discuss TheLiterature of War throughout the ages and how The Things They Carried fits into the genre. Gail Hosking is the author of Snake’s Daughter: The Roads in and out of War. Her essays and poetry have appeared in such places as The Florida Review, Nimrod, Birmingham Poetry Review and Tar River. She holds an MFA from Bennington College and teaches writing at Rochester Institute of Technology. Al Geier teaches Classics (Greek and Latin languages and literatures) at the University of Rochester. Ken O’Brien teaches History at The State University of New York College at Brockport and is the current President of the SUNY Faculty Senate. John Roche is Assistant Professor of English and Literature at Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Moderator Janet Zandy is Professor of English at RIT and the author of five books on American working-class culture. 19. Combat Papermakers workshop for veterans. Through papermaking workshops veterans use their uniforms worn in combat to create cathartic works of art. The uniforms are cut up, beaten and formed into sheets of paper. Veterans use the transformative process of papermaking to reclaim their uniform as art and begin to embrace their experiences as a soldier in war. The Combat Paper Project is based out of art studios throughout the U.S. and has traveled to Canada and the U.K., providing veterans’ workshops, exhibitions, performances and artists’ talks. There will be a follow-up workshop weekend during which the veterans will use the products of this first weekend to create hand-bound books. Free and open to veterans of all wars. For more information see www.combatpaper.org. To register email karen@wab.org by Tues. Nov. 2 at 5pm. 20. Blue Star Mothers panelists: Vera Mae Rudd-Young has been married for 31 years to a Vietnam Veteran, and has four children, the youngest of which is in the 401st Civil Affairs and has served one tour in Baghdad. Sue Louis is a proud mother of two military sons, one active duty, the other honorably discharged. Each deployment her sons have been on has been a journey for her in ways she never would have imagined. Moderator Jeremy J. Bagley, an 8-year Army veteran of both Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom, is the founder of www.soldieroftheday.com. Special thanks to our program partners, presenters and sponsors.
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“How Do I Love Thee?” Romantic Love Poems Through the AgesTuesday, February 7, 7 p.m. Afternoon TeaWed., Feb. 8, 4:30 - 6 p.m. The Bertrand Russell SocietyHosted by Phil Ebersol Book Kick-off: Angels Flying Backwards, by Iris MillerThursday, Feb. 9, 7 p.m. Valentine’s Day card-making workshop for families.Saturday February 11, 10 a.m. - noon Genesee Reading SeriesHosted by Wanda Schubmehl Click here for more February Events...
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| Writers & Books, Rochester's community literary center, inspires and instructs over 25,000 people each year through a wide array of offerings in nearly every literary genre. Believing that the written and spoken word are central to our lives and culture, Writers & Books celebrates, promotes and works to make them available to all. Writers & Books is located at 740 University Avenue, near Atlantic Avenue in the Neighborhood of the Arts. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
