{"id":361,"date":"2013-05-13T18:20:00","date_gmt":"2013-05-13T18:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/2013\/05\/13\/langsdale-library-panel-showcases-variety-of-alumni-authors\/"},"modified":"2018-07-18T21:29:20","modified_gmt":"2018-07-18T21:29:20","slug":"langsdale-library-panel-showcases-variety-of-alumni-authors","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/2013\/05\/13\/langsdale-library-panel-showcases-variety-of-alumni-authors\/","title":{"rendered":"Langsdale Library Panel Showcases Variety of Alumni Authors"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/a><\/div>\n
Taken from the current issue of the <\/i>UB Post<\/a><\/div>\n

By Heather Cobun<\/b><\/p>\n

Alumni authors from a range of disciplines gathered at Langsdale Library on April 4th  for a reception and panel discussion of their trade. The authors and various attendees came together to share experiences as writers, editors and publishers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey all come from different backgrounds,\u201d said Natalie Burclaff, chair of the Langsdale Library marketing committee. The panelists included a poet, an author and publisher, a book and literary magazine publisher and a sociologist. \u201cThey all have really unique publishing experiences,\u201d Burclaff said.<\/p>\n

An event bringing together alumni authors was held in 2010, according to Burclaff, but there was less emphasis on community and discussion. Starting from scratch, she and the Langsdale staff worked with the Creative Writing and Publishing Arts graduate program and the Office of Alumni Relations to contact as many alumni authors as possible and invite them to the event. Burclaff said the committee spoke with more than 20 authors and 13 attended the April reception and panel. \u201cI\u2019m hoping we can build on that list of authors and be in constant contact,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/a>
Sharon Rick, \u201905, said that she enjoyed seeing the writing community come together to share and perhaps inspire each other. \u201cBeing here makes me want to come back [for a master\u2019s degree],\u201d she said. \u201cWhen I came out of school all I wanted to do was write, but it\u2019s so important to be around other writers.\u201d<\/p>\n

The panel discussion focused on the different paths to publishing that University of Baltimore alumni have used as well as their current works.<\/p>\n

Shirley Brewer, M.F.A. \u201905, recently published a collection of poetry called After Words<\/i> with Apprentice House<\/a>, a student-managed publishing house through Loyola University Maryland.<\/p>\n

The book came out of the 2010 stabbing death of Stephen Pitcairn<\/a>, a young Johns Hopkins University researcher, in her neighborhood of Charles Village. Though she never knew Pitcairn, Brewer was asked to write a poem for his memorial and then continued to draw inspiration from Pitcairn\u2019s life and family, including forming a friendship with his mother.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never set out to write this book,\u201d Brewer said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry that I had to write it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Andrew Keating, M.F.A. \u201912, is both a writer and a new publisher, having started the Cobalt Review<\/a><\/i> literary journal\u2014available in print and online\u2014during the summer of 2011 and expanded with Cobalt Press, which will release its first book next year.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t just need to send yourself to the New Yorker,\u201d Keating said of traditional notions of what it means to be \u201cpublished.\u201d Cobalt Review prints a limited number of hard copies, but thousands view content through the website. \u201cI can consume literature in a completely different way because [the internet] makes that possible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Even the way publishers, authors and readers interact has been shaped by the internet. Keating said that most of his time as a publisher is spent perusing Facebook. \u201cSocial media is where I find a lot of authors and a lot of readers,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Keating\u2019s fellow panelist, Arnold Blumberg, M.A. \u201996, D.C.D. \u201904, is a more \u201ctraditional\u201d publisher. A self-described \u201czombie expert,\u201d Blumberg writes and contributes to science fiction compilations including Zombiemania: 80 Movies to Die For<\/i> and teaches a class on zombies.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have a whole host of creatures in pop culture that represent our fears,\u201d Blumberg said, explaining his fascination with the zombie genre. \u201cThe zombie is more modern.\u201d<\/p>\n

The zombie becomes a popular pop culture figure in times of war and financial hardship, and made its  most recent and enduring appearance following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. What followed was the longest modern string of zombie media, according to Blumberg. \u201cI would never have imagined that this one little subgenre would become as pervasive as it has,\u201d he said, citing the popular television show \u201cThe Walking Dead\u201d as a mainstream example.<\/p>\n

Blumberg is also a co-founder of ATB Publishing<\/a>, a small press focusing on pop culture and media-themed books. Outside In: 160 New Perspectives on 160 Classic Doctor Who Stories by 160 Writers<\/i>, the first publication by ATB Publishing, was released in November 2012.<\/p>\n

The panel also included Yoku Shaw-Taylor, M.A. \u201990, a sociologist and author whose book Immigration, Assimilation, and Border Security<\/a><\/i> investigates the push-pull between immigration and security, and the issues of cultural identity and profiling that result. Shaw-Taylor described the fragile atmosphere at an American border, where border security agents must keep traffic flowing while assessing in seconds whether someone is worthy of entering the country or should be detained. \u201cIf he can\u2019t tell, he might stereotype you,\u201d he said, emphasizing the small window of time border security has to ascertain someone\u2019s immigration status. Part of assimilation, he said, is controlling the urge to stereotype, which is done unconsciously.<\/p>\n

When asked if the \u201cMelting Pot\u201d ideal\u2014that the United States is a blending of the cultures of its inhabitants to form a unique culture itself\u2014still exists, Shaw-Taylor said: \u201cIt is the greatest immigration story ever told.\u201d
\u201cImmigration, Assimilation, and Border Security\u201d is available from Government Institutes, an imprint of Rowman & Littlefield. <\/p>\n

According to Burclaff, alumni authors who attended the event enjoyed it, particularly those who self-published or worked with small publishing houses who were given a chance to discuss their work and be recognized by the University of Baltimore community. The library hopes to have a reception and panel every two years as the alumni author community grows.<\/p>\n

Books by members of the University of Baltimore community are available at the Barnes & Noble located in The Fitzgerald.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Taken from the current issue of the UB Post By Heather Cobun Alumni authors from a range of disciplines gathered at Langsdale Library on April 4th  for a reception and panel discussion of their trade. The authors and various attendees Continue reading Langsdale Library Panel Showcases Variety of Alumni Authors<\/span>→<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1227,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[414,135,30,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1227"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=361"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1239,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/361\/revisions\/1239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=361"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=361"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ubalt.edu\/library\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=361"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}