Sit Down at THE HAPPY TABLE OF EUGENE WALTER

On October 5, at 3 pm and 7 pm, two special events will celebrate the publication of a special book, The Happy Table of Eugene Walter: Southern Spirits in Food and Drink.

At 3 pm, the University Libraries will sponsor a book talk in Special Collections and Archives at the Ralph Brown Draughon Library. 

At 7 pm, The Gnu’s Room will host a dining experience with recipes from the book prepared by chef Galen Haggerty. Both events are free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase at both.

The Happy Table of Eugene Walter is based on recipes and writing by the late and beloved Eugene Walter, assembled and edited by Donald Goodman, literary executor of Walter’s estate, and food writer Thomas Head, former executive wine and food editor of Washingtonian magazine.

Mark Kurlansky to Speak October 8th

New York Times bestselling author Mark Kurlansky will be featured as the Arts & Humanities Distinguished Speaker at the second annual Auburn Writers Conference. A public lecture will be held October 8 at 3:00 p.m. in the auditorium of The Hotel at Auburn University and Dixon Conference Center.

Kurlansky started out in New York as a playwright. He won the 1972 Earplay award for best radio play of the year. From 1976 to 1991 he worked as a foreign correspondent for The International Herald Tribune, The Chicago Tribune, The Miami Herald, and The Philadelphia Inquirer. Based in Paris and then Mexico, he reported on Europe, West Africa, Southeast Asia, Central America, Latin America, and the Caribbean. His articles have appeared in a wide variety of newspapers and magazines, including New York Times Sunday Magazine, Audubon Magazine, Food & Wine, Gourmet, Bon Apetit, and Parade. His 19 books range between fiction, nonfiction, and children's books and include Cod (Walker, 1997), Salt (Walker, 2002), and What? (Bloomsbury, 2011). His many awards include the 2006 Bon Apetit Magazine Food Writer of the Year, 1999 James Beard Award for Food Writing, ALA Notable Book Award, and The New York Public Library Best Books of the Year Award. Four of his works have been New York Times bestsellers.

The Auburn Writers Conference is sponsored by the Auburn University College of Liberal Arts’ Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities and Department of English, in partnership with the College of Education’s Truman Pierce Institute. This year’s theme, “Myth, Memory, and the Haunted Muse,” considers the ways that writers use the idea of "the haunted" in their work—either literally or figuratively, as in the memories, histories, people, and places that haunt, and hence propel, characters.

This lecture is part of the College of Liberal Arts’ Arts & Humanities Month. Visit www.clacelebrates.org for a list of upcoming events. Special funding provided by Auburn Connects!, Auburn University’s common book program.

For more information, please visit our conference website, follow the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities on Twitter or join us on Facebook for updates. 

Myth, Memory, and the Haunted Muse

It’s an image a writer can’t forget, perhaps from memory, maybe from an old snapshot, the edges of the paper yellowing. Maybe it’s a phrase of music heard through an open window, or the scent of perfume lingering in an empty room. It could be a name scrawled in an immigration ledger or a date barely visible on a gravestone. Or perhaps it’s a beloved glimpsed on a crowded city street, or maybe the remembered taste of something that will never taste as good again. It’s the force of secret histories, and forgotten voices. It’s the haunted muse—that insistent idea, brainchild, and inspiration that drives the writer to the page, time and again. 

The Auburn Writer's Conference is fast approaching! This year's theme, Myth, Memory, and the Haunted Muse, asks participants to consider the ways that writers use the idea of “the haunted” in their work—either literally or figuratively, as in the memories, histories, people, and places that haunt, and hence propel, characters.

Want to learn more about the conference? Visit our website for workshop descriptions, a schedule, and registration information. Chantel Acevedo, the conference founder, has all of the details on her blog. Or hear from someone who participated last year!

Pizza and Poetry Night Tomorrow!

The first in a series of Pizza and Poetry Nights, “Poetry for Fun” will take place on Tuesday, September 20 at 6:30 PM in Haley 3183-85.   “Poetry for Fun” invites poets and poetry lovers to come and read their best stuff, whether original poetry or old favorites by other writers.

Fun is the theme for the evening, including poems that are about fun and poems that are fun. 

Sign up for a (maximum) ten-minute slot by emailing Tom O’Shea (osheatm@auburn.edu) or BreAnn Baxter (kbb0007@auburn.edu). Listeners are more than welcome too: if you like to hear poetry read or recited, please come.

For updates about this and future events, like AU Poetry Series on Facebook or follow @aupoetryseries on Twitter.

POV's Sweetgrass at The Gnu's Room

On Friday, September 16, 7 p.m., The Gnu’s Room will screen “Sweetgrass,” a new film from PBS’s POV Series. The screening is free and open to the public.

“Sweetgrass” presents a riveting and poetic portrait of the American West just as one of its traditional ways of life dies out. Shot amidst the grandeur of Montana’s Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, the film follows the last modern-day cowboys to lead their flocks of sheep up into the breathtaking and often dangerous mountains for summer pasture.

Keith Cummins, professor in the College of Agriculture’s Department of Animals Sciences, will lead a discussion following the film. "Its not a life we live in the South. It makes me think of Goat Ears, one of my first ewes, of the big sky, of fresh air, and home.  I recommend it," says Cummins.

PBS’s POV (Point of View) is television's longest-running showcase for independent non-fiction films. Each year, it premieres more than a dozen bold, innovative programs on PBS. Known for their intimacy, their unforgettable storytelling and their timeliness, POV documentaries put a human face on contemporary social issues.

Coffee and pastries will be available for purchase. For more information, visit www.thegnusroom.com or www.auburn.edu/cah. 

Wayne Flynt to Discuss New Memoir

Please join us on Tuesday, September 13 at 3:00 pm for a book talk by Wayne Flynt, author of Keeping the Faith: Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives. This historical memoir by the widely recognized scholar chronicles the inner workings of his academic career at Samford and Auburn Universities, as well as his many contributions to the general history of Alabama. The program will be held in the Special Collections and Archives Department of the Ralph Brown Draughon Library.

Wayne Flynt is a Distinguished University Professor of History at Auburn University and author or coauthor of eleven books, including Alabama in the Twentieth Century; Alabama Baptists: Southern Baptists in the Heart of Dixie; Poor But Proud: Alabama's Poor Whites; Alabama: The History of a Deep South State; and Taking Christianity to China: Alabama Missionaries in the Middle Kingdom, 1850-1950. He has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including the Lillian Smith Book Award, the Clarence Cason Award in Nonfiction Writing, the James F. Sulzby Book Award, and the Alabama Library Association Award for nonfiction.

In addition to the book talk, a special program, "An Intimate Evening with Wayne Flynt," will be held that evening at 7:00 pm at The Gnu's Room. 

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University Libraries, and the Auburn University Bookstore. For more information on the program, contact the Center at 334.844.4946 or visit ww.auburn.edu/cah.

Celebration of A FORD IN THE RIVER by Charles S. Rose

Please join us for a celebration of the publication of A Ford in the River by Charles S. Rose on Thursday, September 8 at 7:00 pm at The Gnu’s Room, 414 South Gay Street, Auburn. The celebration will feature readings by John Williams and Marian Carcache, who together wrote the foreword to A Ford in the River.

A Ford in the River by the late Charles Rose, a beloved teacher, friend, and writer, includes stories that first appeared in The Sewanee Review, The Georgia Review, The Southern Review, Southern Humanities Review, Willow Springs, Crazyhorse, The Chattahoochee Review, Alabama Literary Review, Blackbird, and Shenandoah, among others. A Ford in the River was released this August by NewSouth Books.

This lecture is co-sponsored by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts and The Gnu’s Room. For more information on the program and the series, contact the Center at 334.844.4946 or visit www.auburn.edu/cah.