Mark Spitzer, assistant professor of writing, recently had his book Writer in Residence: Memoir of a Literary Translator published by the University of New Orleans Press. His sequel to this autobiographical work, Sick in the Head, was a finalist in the 2010 William Faulkner-William Wisdom Novella Contest recently held in New Orleans.
ASU just purchased three large drawings from David Bailin, part-time instructor in the Department of Art, for their permanent collection. Selected by Townsend Wolfe, former Director of the Arkansas Arts Center, the charcoal on paper drawings include two from my Midrash series: Salt [Lot’s Wife], 1994, 96×144 inches ; Road [Job], 1996, 96×168 inches; and a charcoal drawing from Bailin’s Prophet series : Hiding, 2000, 72×89 inches.
Brent Shires, assistant professor of horn, recently performed at the International Horn Symposium held in Brisbane, Australia. In July the International Horn Society held its 42nd symposium, drawing horn professionals and students from around the world by the hundreds. Shires organized a performance of Anthony Plog’s Horn Quartet No. 1, collaborating with colleagues from Houston, Denver, and Las Cruces, New Mexico. The group belongs to a consortium that recently commissioned renowned composer Anthony Plog to write a major work for horn quartet. This performance represents the first performance of the work given outside the U.S., and was very warmly received. While at the week-long symposium, Shires attended many concerts and lectures as well. He also recently launched his research-related website, www.horn-and-band.info The site features past and continuing work in his area of specialty, original works for the solo horn accompanied by band. In July the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors notified him that his lecture proposal has been accepted for its 2011 conference, to be held at the University of Florida.
Stephanie Vanderslice, associate professor in the Department of Writing, published “Response To Rosalie Morales Kearns: ‘Voices of Authority: Theorizing Creative Writing Pedagogy,” in the June 2010 issue of College Composition and Communication. She also published an essay, “Once More to the Workshop: A Myth Caught in Time,” in Does the Writing Workshop Really Work? edited by Dianne Donnelly and published by Multilingual Matters. In addition, she was selected as one of ten curators for the National Writing Project’s “Digital Is,” website, a national effort funded by the John and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to create and disseminate resources and learning opportunities for educators in teaching writing and new media literacies. She will begin curating themed online exhibits in October.