Star City Blog

Lincoln Literacy Council Publishes Book of Love Poems for Valentine's Day

For anyone tired of buying the same old perfume, chocolates, or neckties for their sweetheart on Valentine's Day, Lincoln Literacy Council has produced a slim volume of love poems. Poet Laureate Ted Kooser is among those to contribute to the book, titled, "All You Need: Love Poems from Around the World."
          
"It's guaranteed to make 'em swoon," the Council's executive director, Clay Naff, said with a grin. "We've got something for everyone in this little book."
         
"All You Need" features love poems from Asia, Africa, Europe, and America. Some are ancient, some are new. Some were written by the great masters of poetry: Dante, Rumi, Donne and of course Shakespeare. Some are by contemporary world poets. Others were written by local Nebraska poets who are not quite so well known as Ted Kooser, but are talented all the same.

Celebrate Love and Art with the Lincoln Arts Council at Barnes and Noble

The Lincoln Arts Council announces a day of celebration and support for the arts at the Southpointe Pavilions Barnes and Noble on January 23, 2010. A portion of the proceeds will be donated when customers mention the Lincoln Arts Council as they make purchases.

In the spirit of Valentine’s Day, between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. local celebrities will perform readings of love letters from the book “Love Letters From Great Men and Women: From the Eighteenth Century to Present Day” By C.H. Charles.

UPDATED: Blog Talk Live: Interview with Steven McFadden, Author

by Dennis Kornbluh

Tune in to Blog Talk Live this Tuesday, November 17 at 6pm on KZUM 89.3 FM to hear Steven McFadden discuss his new book "The Call of the Land", published this month by NorLightsPress.

Globally, one in six of us is urgently hungry or starving, according to the United Nations. Yet obesity afflicts two-thirds of Americans and costs $147 billion in annual medical bills, Time Magazine reports. Industrial agriculture produces cheap food but erodes soil, poisons the environment with chemical inputs, and consumes 19% of U.S. fossil fuels. Peak oil, climate change, and wobbling economies further jeopardize our ability to feed ourselves.

“Food and farms are involved in a blitzkrieg of changes,” writes veteran journalist Steven McFadden in The Call of the Land. The book joins a growing chorus voicing a new vision for food and agriculture. Picking up where Food Inc., the recent documentary on industrial agriculture, leaves off, the volume presents dozens of creative responses to the crisis.

Indulge in Nebraska Writing at the Nebraska Book Festival November 14

By Hanna Day-Woodruff

Every year, the Nebraska Book Festival calls all book lovers, writers and aspiring literary dreamers to one grand event in honor of Nebraska writers. The Festival will be held here in Lincoln this Saturday, November 14th, at the Nebraska Historical Museum and, in the evening, at nuVibe Juice & Java.

This free event (except for a $12 optional luncheon) begins at the early hour of 9:15 AM and will run late into the evening. A good bulk of the state's considerable literary force will converge on this one Festival, so if you are at all curious about the literary action in this state, this is the place to see and be seen.

Take Part in the Book Fair Benefit for the Lux Nov. 15th

LUX Center for the Arts is hosting a fundraiser at Barnes and Noble, 5150 O St on Sunday, November 15 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.  A portion of Barnes and Noble and coffee shop purchases from LUX Center supporters will be donated to LUX Center for the Arts to buy supplies and equipment for classrooms and studios. 

In order for the LUX Center to receive their donation, supporters must mention the LUX Center or give a voucher to the Barnes and Noble cashier before their purchase.  To download a voucher, go to www.luxcenter.org.

'Little Nooks From Great Books' Miniature Rooms at Love Library Oct. 31st

"Little Nooks from Great Books," the traveling exhibit of the Kruger Collection of Miniature Furnishings and Decorative Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will be on display at UNL's Love Library, 13th and R streets, Oct. 31-Dec. 17.

The exhibit features scenes from "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone"; "Little Women"; "Little House on the Prairie"; "Peter Pan and Wendy"; "The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe" and "Felicity Learns a Lesson: A School Story." Specific scenes include the cabin interior from "Little House on the Prairie" and the Gryffindor common room from Harry Potter, among others.

The exhibit is free and open to the public.

The Kruger Collection is a 1-to-12 scale collection of approximately 20,000 miniatures compiled by Eloise Kruger and donated to the UNL College of Architecture in 1997. For more information, visit http://krugercollection.unl.edu.

No Name Reading Series: Solving Friday Afternoon Blues One Word at a Time

By Francis Davis   
     
Do you ever wonder what to do on a late Friday afternoon before the main festivities of your evening kick in?  The UNL sponsored “No Name Reading Series” is a perfect way to spend your time as it presents some of the best young literary talent in the Capital City every other Friday at the Sur Tango Bar and Café (12th and P streets).
      
The readings are composed of graduate students from UNL’s English department, and the driving idea behind the series is to give these budding young talents the experience of reading in front of a crowd, an experience they hope to duplicate throughout their literary careers. 

Celebrate Banned Books Week at 'Lincoln Calling' Tonight!

By DeMisty Bellinger

In awareness of Banned Books Week, celebrated during the last week of September, American Civil Liberties Union Nebraska is hosting, “Dangerous Songs, Banned Books & Censored Movies.” The all ages event, which will be held during the music festival Lincoln Calling at Duffy's Tavern on October 1st, will feature music by the Academy of Rock. There will also be clips shown of banned movies and a display of banned books.

I recently spoke with Amy Miller, ACLU Nebraska's Legal Director regarding “Dangerous Songs, Banned Books & Censored Movies” and Banned Books Week.

What does ACLU have to do with banned media?
The First Amendment protects the freedom to access art, literature, and music without censorship. As a civil liberties organization, we use this holiday ("Banned Book Week," created by the American Library Association) to raise awareness about the need to be vigilant in protecting our freedom. Nebraska is a great state to celebrate in--the ACLU of Nebraska hasn't received a censorship complaint for at least 12 years!

Lincoln Music Venue Clawfoot House to Host Free Reading by Well-Known Author

Stephen Elliott, a visiting author from San Francisco, is giving a free reading at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Sept. 21st at Clawfoot House on 1042 F St in Lincoln. This appearance is one stop on what Elliott describes as a "grassroots, punk-rock" sort of literary tour, taking place mostly in people's homes, in support of his new book, The Adderall Diaries.

This will be the first literary event hosted by house concert venue, Clawfoot House. The reading will be free and open to the public.
 
About Stephen Elliott

Elliott has written seven books, including Happy Baby, a finalist for the New York Public Library's Young Lion Award. Elliott's writing has been featured in Esquire, The New York Times, GQ, Best American Non-Required Reading 20052007, Best American Erotica and Best Sex Writing 2006.

Essayist Willard Spiegelman to Speak at the Sheldon Museum of Art Sept. 10

Willard Spiegelman, the Hughes Professor of English at Southern Methodist University and editor of the Southwest Review since 1984, will present,"The Pleasure of Looking" at the Sheldon Museum of Art (in Ethel S. Abbott Auditorium) on September 10th at 5:30 p.m.

Spiegelman is author of Seven Pleasures, published last April, which examines seven activities that lead naturally and easily to a sense of well-being. These include dancing, reading, walking, looking, listening, swimming, and writing.

Spiegelman is a regular contributor to the Arts and Leisure pages of the Wall Street Journal. He has taught at SMU since 1971. He is author of numerous books, including two about the English Romantic poets, Wordsworth's Heroes and Majestic Indolence: English Romantic Poetry and the Work of Art.

The lecture is free and open to the public.