SUNY Orange, "If you have the dream, we have the way!"SUNY Orange

Past Event: Speaking Up 2011: Communities and Their Stories

Held: April 14 2011

Special Guest: Stephen DunnSpecial Guest: Pulitzer Prize Winning Poet: Stephen Dunn

A day long event filled with writing workshops, special presentations, panel discussions and readings on things literary with a community focus.

This annual event brings together students, faculty and members of the local community of Orange County to learn about creativity, writing and ways of tapping and sharing our own stories in order to understand and better appreciate their value. Communities refers to many things, including: the campus, one's home and family, the local city and towns and social and ethnic groups. During the course of the 2011 event, there were readings (including a keynote from Pulitzer Prize Winner Stephen Dunn), workshops on writing and creativity, displays, and discussion panels.

Photos from Speaking-Up 2011:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/sunyorange/sets/72157626593270684/

SPEAKING-UP SCHEDULE FROM 2011:

Schedule/Program:

Times Event Building/Room Panelists
8:00 - 9:00 a.m. Registration Morrison Hall Music Room  
9:00 - 9:50 a.m. Favorite Fictional Communities LRC (Library) 102 Geoffrey Platt, Professor of English, SUNY Orange. Andrea Laurencell, Instructor of English, SUNY Orange. Ben Stiebel, Author and Critic. Moderator: Pat Sculley, Assistant Professor of English, SUNY Orange.
  Although our local communities offer a lot, everyone has a fictional place he/she likes to escape to whether it is the world of Jane Austen or J.R.R. Tolkien. Our panelists share some of their favorites and why. The audience will be encouraged to share their own favorite places to escape to in literature, art, music, architecture or elsewhere.
9:00 - 9:50 a.m. Anthropological Tales in Our Own Backyard LRC (Library) 221 Barry Kass, Professor of Anthropology, SUNY Orange
  Barry Kass, one of the college’s anthropology professors, will present how there are a number of stories right in front of our eyes in the Hudson Valley that illustrate various ethnic and cultural traditions.
10:00 - 10:50 a.m. How to Get Published LRC (Library) 102 Mary Makofske, Assistant Professor of English, SUNY Orange (retired). Joan Siegel, Professor of English, SUNY Orange (retired). Alexandra Kay Instructor of English, SUNY Orange. Moderator: Amandra Steibel, Instructor of English, SUNY Orange.
  After you have written your story/poem/play/essay, what now? Our panelists, published writers all, will discuss the next steps toward how to submit a work for publication. The wheres, hows, whys, and what to look out for.
10:00 - 10:50 a.m. Morrison Hall Stories Morrison Hall Music Room Dr. Kathy Malia, Professor of English, SUNY Orange. Mary Ann Vanbenschoten, Librarian, SUNY Orange. Moderator: Pat Scully, Assistant Professor of English, SUNY Orange.
  Both of the presenters, Dr. Kathy Malia and Mary Ann VanBenschoten, have researched the history of the campus’s signature building and will be sharing their findings about the history of the Horton and Morrison families as well as the mansion itself.
11:00 a.m. - Noon SPECIAL GUEST: Stephen Dunn Reading LRC (Library), Gilman Center Stephen Dunn
 

Pulitizer Prize winning poet Stephen Dunn will read selections from his works and answer questions from the audience. After the reading, Mr. Dunn will be signing his books in the foyer of the Gilman Center.
Noon - 1 p.m. LUNCH BREAK
  Please feel free to partake of the campus’s cafeteria for lunch or visit one of the eateries within a few blocks of the campus. Reference the eatery map included with your packet from registration or available from one of the guides around campus.
1:00 - 1:50 p.m. Community Service and You LRC (Library) 102 Anthony Sculley, Executive Board Member of Downing Park Planning Committee, Newburgh, NY. Rabbi Joel Schaub, Temple Sinai, Middletown, NY. Elaine Torda, Associate Professor of English and Honors Program Coordinator. Moderator: Amandra Stiebel, Instructor of English, SUNY Orange.
  The panelists will discuss the various opportunities to give back to our local community through various rewarding works ranging from working with the homeless to sponsoring service dogs.
1:00 - 1:50 p.m. Hudson Valley Stories LRC (Library) 221 Alexandra Kay, Instructor of English, SUNY Orange. Moderator: Jina Lee, Instructor of English, SUNY Orange.
  The Hudson Valley has been the inspiration for many creative works from Washington Irving to Richard Russo. Our panelists will discuss and illustrate various works that have been inspired by our area.
2:00 - 2:50 p.m. Where I Came From and How I Came to Be Here LRC (Library) 103 Jean Carlos Cown, Asst. Prof. of Foreign Languages, SUNY Orange. Abdel Farah, Assoc. Prof. of Global Studies, SUNY Orange. Anne Sandor, Asst. Prof. of English, SUNY Orange. Moderator: Tony Cruz, Assistant Professor of English, SUNY Orange.
  The panelists will discuss the differences, difficulties and surprises faced when comparing where they were raised with coming to the Hudson Valley. The presenters’ experience will range from foreign lands ranging from Columbia to Sudan to Brooklyn.
2:00 - 2:50 p.m. Local Writers and Their Favorite Works LRC (Library) 102 Anne Sandor, Assistant Professor of English, SUNY Orange. Jim Givant, Professor of English, SUNY Orange. And more...
  Writers from the college and community will read some of their favorites works whether their own or a favorite poem. The audience will be invited to share a favorite poem or passage of their own (one brief work each).


Writing Workshops:

Colleagues Diane Bliss, Deborah Chedister, Sandy Graff, Eileen Israel, Anne Sandor, Mary Makofske and Anna Rosen will work with participants to find their voices in real and imagined stories, journals, memoirs and poetry. Workshops limited to 15 participants each.

Times Workshop Building/Room Mentors
9:00 - 10:45 a.m. Fiction Writing Morrison Hall Library Room Anne Sandor, Eileen Israel.
9:00 - 10:45 a.m. Memoir Writing BioTech 303 Anna Rosen
1:00 - 2:45 p.m. Poetry Writing Morrison Hall Library Room Sandy Graff, Mary Makofske
1:00 - 2:45 p.m. Journal Writing BioTech 203 Diane Bliss