C A M P U S
The Poster Child
Kay Ryan, a former U.S. poet Laureate and winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, visited campus recently.
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING POET VISITS CAMPUS Poet Kay Ryan drew a crowd of approximately 200 for a reading recently and then kept them laughing. Ryan, a former U.S. poet Laureate and winner of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for poetry, read from her latest book, “The Best of It: New and Selected Poems.” “Kay is highly decorated but her poems are not,” said English Department faculty member Maggie Dietz in her introduction of the poet. She noted that Ryan’s poems have been compared to Fabergé eggs or Joseph
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Cornell boxes, “which is to say it’s a delight to open them and discover what’s inside.” Ryan took the podium declaring that after such a fine introduction she felt inspired to go write some more poems immediately. English Department Chair Tony Szczesiul said Ryan’s visit marked an important day for the department, which has grown significantly over the past two years and recently added a concentration in creative writing.
Legal Studies Professor Michael E. Jones—who has not only a J.D. from Miami University, but also an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania—is also an accomplished author, district court judge, globally ranked triathlete and painter. The last talent has brought his latest honor. Jones was selected to create the image that will serve as the official triathlon poster for the 2012 Olympics in London. His original painting will be made into posters and sold throughout the Olympic venue and at the USA Olympic Trials and national championship triathlon race. “It’s a pretty cool honor,” says Jones, who also had paintings selected for Olympic posters at the 2004 and 2008 games. The Pelham, N.H., native’s connection to the Olympics is deep. A teammate of Mark Spitz on the U.S. national swim team in the 1970s, Jones made it to the Olympic Trials in 1972. “Not all first dreams come true,” he says. “I’m completely happy with who I am and how things turned out. So many athletes live in the past. I respect and honor the past—but I don’t want to live in it. After all, I made the Olympic games, just in a different way.” The 2012 Olympics triathlon poster will be based on this painting by Prof. Michael E. Jones.
Weasels Have Problems, Too “The Weasel Problem” multimedia installation by Provincetown artists Zehra Kahn and Tim Winn was on exhibit in the University Gallery in October. Coordinated by the Art Department and sponsored by the College of Fine Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences, the non-profit University Gallery exhibits the work of regionally and nationally recognized professional artists.
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