The Auburn Writers Conference is fast approaching!

If you have not registered for the first annual Auburn Writers Conference, don't miss your chance!

The Auburn Writers Conference 2010 will feature keynote speaker Julianna Baggott; publishing agent Holly Root; writer and illustrator Elizabeth Dulemba; and young adult authors Rachel Hawkins and Irene Latham. Auburn University's very own Chantel Acevedo, Judy Troy, Peter Campion and Peter Huggins of the College of Liberal Arts' English faculty will participate.

Small-group workshops, panel discussions, and readings will give established and emerging writers perspective, skills, and community. Learn about two new workshops here. You can register online or by mail.

Mary Jane Apartments Come Down

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Originally uploaded by Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities

Between June 21 and June 28, 2010, the Mary Jane Apartments, next door to Pebble Hill, were taken down, making room for a planned conference space to serve the College of Liberal Arts.

The Auburn Writers Conference Blog

Keep up to date with all of the Auburn Writers Conference news by visiting the official blog. The Auburn Writers Conference is also on Facebook and Twitter!

History at High Noon

Beat the heat this summer with Old Alabama Town’s "History at High Noon” lecture series. Bring your own brown bag lunch and enjoy one-hour talks presented by scholars from our Draughon Seminars in State and Local History series.

The Draughon Seminars in State and Local History are funded by the Kelly Mosley Endowment in honor of Dr. Ralph B. Draughon, president of Auburn University from 1946 to 1965, and a historian with a deep commitment to both state history and public education.

This year, the Draughon Seminars are pleased to highlight the Encyclopedia of Alabama, a free online reference resource on Alabama's history, culture, geography, and natural environment.

Each lecture begins at noon in Old Alabama Town's Loeb Reception Center, located at 301 Columbus Street in downtown Montgomery, and admission is free. For more information, call 1-888-240-4500 or visit www.oldalabamatown.com.

June 29: American Naturalist-Author William Bartram, lecture by Kathryn Braund

July 6: Fones McCarthy and the McCarthy Gin, lecture by Angela Lakwete

July 13: Philip Henry Gosse: English Naturalist-Artist in Alabama, lecture by Gary Mullen

Lectures at Tuskegee University

Join us in Tuskegee for two upcoming lectures:

June 22 (Tuesday), 9:30 am. New Perspectives: "Writers of the WPA in Alabama ," Lecture by Bert Hitchcock. Bioethics Auditorium, Tuskegee University. Co-sponsored by Tuskegee University Archives and the Tuskegee University History and Political Science Department.

July 13 (Tuesday), 9:30 am. Speakers Bureau: "Beyond the Culture Wars: What Multilingualism Can Do for Us All," Lecture by Robin Sabino. Bioethics Auditorium, Tuskegee University. Co-sponsored by Tuskegee University Archives and the Tuskegee University History and Political Science Department.

For more information about these programs, visit our website or contact the Tuskegee University Archives at 334-725-2374 or archives@tuskegee.edu.

NYC Launch of "Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation"

NYC Launch 2
Originally uploaded by Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities

On June 17, contributors to Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation gathered at Jazz at Lincoln Center to celebrate its publication.

Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation is published by Pebble Hill Books, a cooperative publishing venture of the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts and Humanities and the University of Alabama Press.

The collection includes essays on various aspects of Murray's work written by prominent scholars of African American literature, jazz and Albert Murray. It also includes reminiscences from Murray's friends and associates, and interviews with Murray himself. The collection testifies to Murray's place as a central figure in African American arts and letters and as an American cultural pioneer.

Launch of "Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation"

Jazz at Lincoln Center will host a panel discussion celebration on the publication of Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation on June 17, 7 to 9 p.m. The Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts will host a book talk celebration at the University Chapel on June 30, 4 p.m.

Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation, the first book of scholarly and personal essays on the work of a writer who was instrumental in founding Jazz at Lincoln Center, is edited by Dr. Barbara Baker, director of the College of Liberal Arts Women’s Leadership Institute, and features contributions by Dr. Anne-Katrin Gramberg, Dr. Caroline Gebhard, Dr. Bert Hitchcock, Henry Louis Gates, Wynton Marsalis and others.

The Jazz at Lincoln Center panel discussion, which is free and open to the public, will be held in The Agnes Varis and Karl Leichtman Studio at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center. The panel includes Baker; Paul Devlin, SUNY Stony Brook; Roberta S. Maguire, University of Wisconsin; Sidney Offit, New School for Social Research; Greg Thomas, jazz educator, print and broadcast journalist, former host of Jazz It Up!; Lauren Walsh, New York University; and more.

The Auburn program will feature Baker, Hitchcock, Gebhard and other contributors and will be followed by a reception. The public is invited. Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing at both events.

Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation is published jointly by the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities, College of Liberal Arts, Auburn University, and The University of Alabama Press.