More Extra Credit

1. "Family Writing Contest"

The contest is part of the 2011 Centre County Reads/CALS Community Read of Jeannette Walls' "true life" novel Half Broke Horses.

Walls is also the best selling author of The Glass Castle, a memoir about growing up in a nomadic family with an artistic mother and alcoholic father.

Enter your best writing on a "family"-related theme in the categories of:
- Best Short Nonfiction
- Best Short Fiction
- Best Parody
- Best Entry for a Writer Under 18

$200 Grand Prize and additional prizes for winners in each category

Entries due February 15


Send your entry to familywrite@gmail.com -- Be sure to include a cover letter with your name, address, contact information, and a brief biography.

If your memoir meets the criteria of "family-themed" then, by all means, enter your story! If not, feel free to write a new piece. Either way, forward me the email you send to familywrite@gmail.com and you'll receive credit equal to one journal entry.

2. "Democracy and Literature: An Open Question"
When: February 17 & 18, 2011
Where: Foster Auditorium at Pattee and Paterno Library

Schedule:

Thursday, February 17, 3-5 pm
Opening Forum on democracy and literature, followed by a discussion

Friday, February 18, 10 am-12 pm
Panel One: Literature and the State

Friday, February 18, 1-3 pm
Panel Two: Literacy and Popular Culture

If you attend one of these talks, simply write a 500 word reflection, post it on your blog, and you'll receive credit for one journal entry.

3. The Mary E. Rolling Reading Series Presents...


Who: Terrance Hayes
Bio: Terrance Hayes most recent poetry collection is the National Book Award-winning Lighthead (Penguin 2010). His other books are Wind in a Box, Muscular Music, and Hip Logic. His honors include four Best American Poetry selections, a Whiting Writers Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship and a Guggenheim Fellowship. He is a professor of creative writing at Carnegie Mellon University and lives in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. 
When: Thursday, February 10, 7:30 pm
Where: Foster Auditorium at Pattee and Paterno Library


Also...


Who: Aimee Bender
Bio: Aimee Bender is the author of four books: The Girl in the Flammable Skirt (1998) which was a NY Times Notable Book, An Invisible Sign of My Own (2000) which was an L.A. Times pick of the year, Willful Creatures (2005) which was nominated by The Believer as one of the best books of the year, and The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake (2010) which recently won the SCIBA award for best fiction. 
Her short fiction has been published in Granta,GQ, Harper's, Tin House, McSweeney's, The Paris Review, and many more places, as well as heard on PRI's This American Life and Selected Shorts. She received two Pushcart prizes, and was nominated for the TipTree award in 2005, and the Shirley Jackson short story award in 2010. Her fiction has been translated into sixteen languages. She lives in Los Angeles, where she teaches creative writing at USC.When: Wednesday, February 23, 7:30 pm
Where: Foster Auditorium at Pattee and Paterno Library


If you attend a reading, write a 500-word reflection and post it to your blog in order to receive credit for one journal entry.