Aspire 2020

Page 74

Michael Lasater, department chair of integrated new media studies and professor of mass communications, has had his poem, Obit, selected as a finalist in the 2020 Joy Bale Boone Prize and will be published in The Heartland Review. Lasater has many interests, but poetry has been something he has been interested in since high school.

By Kate Luce

“I’ve had a strong interest in poetry since high school, where I was a member of a writing club. When I was a music student at the Oberlin Conservatory, I included poetry classes in my electives – modern poetry was my favorite. In my performance career I was constantly involved with opera, oratorios, lieder – I studied German and Italian – poetry was everywhere. I’ve produced broadcast documentaries on poets and poetry. Several of my friends have been poets and writers. So, poetry has been a thread running through my work and career from the beginning,” Lasater says. About six years ago, Lasater wrote Now for a gallery display with a video composition, One, Two. About the same time, he saw a call for poetry in the publication Kansas Time + Place. Since Lasater is originally from Kansas and Now was about his childhood there, he submitted the poem. Eventually it was published both online and in print. This encouraging start has allowed Lasater to continue putting his work out for publication, and for the community to enjoy. As of the past few years, Lasater has had several of his poems published. Last year, he won the Joy Bale Boone Prize for his poem Documentary. His poem, West of Wichita, was the runner-up for the same competition. Both poems were published in The Heartland Review. He has ties with Joy Bale Boone, as she was a coworker and mutual friend of his former colleagues at Western Kentucky University, Jim Wayne Miller and Mary Ellen Miller. “In memory of the three of them I very much wanted to see my work published in a competition named in Joy Boone’s honor,” Lasater says. “Documentary derives from my 1985 video documentary on Jim Wayne Miller and his poetry, and is largely situated in Jim’s homeplace, the mountain South. West of Wichita is entirely different, situated in my homeplace, Kansas. The jury process was blind. The Heartland Review did not know that I had any connection with Joy Bale Boone or the Millers. I was simply hoping to have one of the poems named finalist, which would result in publication. Documentary won first place, and West of Wichita won honorable mention. That was just astonishing.” This year’s published poem, Obit, is an obituary to the late Mary Ellen Miller. In 2011, Miller won a poetry prize for her work, The Poet’s Wife Speaks. Lasater writes about her poems and the years they spent working together in Obit. “I entered the poem in the 2020 Joy Bale Boone Prize again because of the connection between Mary Ellen, Joy, and

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Articles inside

Thank you Brianna & Tally

2min
pages 86-88

Heath Hicks: MA project gets the green light

4min
page 85

Inaugural Arts Video Intern Brandon Galvan

3min
page 84

Wishing Kevin Gillen the best

11min
pages 81-83

Fictional Space has a place of its own

2min
page 80

Once a Titan, always a Titan: Featuring faculty member Ryan Lohman

4min
page 79

Tim Hanson creates model of Drottningholm Slottsteaterl

4min
pages 76-78

A poet and a professor

6min
pages 74-75

Two centuries of Beethoven, two decades of the Euclid Quartet

5min
pages 66-68

Ryan Olivier’s Electronic Labyrinth

5min
pages 69-70

Lion King: Behind the seams

11min
pages 71-73

Printmaking: an impactful medium

3min
page 64

Honor roll of donors

1min
page 65

Michele’s Little Hearts Theatre

5min
pages 62-63

A holiday tradition comes to IU South Bend

4min
pages 60-61

A holiday celebration of the arts

5min
pages 58-59

Piano series provides world-class performances and education

5min
pages 50-51

A cult classic musical makes it in time for Halloween

3min
pages 52-53

Building unity & community through jazz

7min
pages 54-57

Spring BFA Exhibition goes online

7min
pages 44-48

Congratulations to our recent graduates

1min
page 49

Tap and Kick Line graduates dance their way to the top

17min
pages 38-43

From a temporary option to a proud alumna

5min
pages 36-37

A life changing performance

3min
pages 34-35

Long-term body on display for a limited time

4min
pages 32-33

The Many Faces of Patrick Watterson

5min
pages 30-31

A journey to find success

4min
pages 28-29

Integrated New Media student pushed the start of the Investment Club

2min
page 27

Leather Phase: when music and visuals combine

3min
pages 24-26

Music alumna ready for first album

4min
pages 22-23

Communicating the benefits of an IU South Bend education

3min
page 21

Creative Restless Spirit

4min
page 20

Kolton Sizer, painting a successful life after graduation

6min
pages 18-19

NEW MEDIA

4min
page 16

Never stop dreaming: the journey of Juan-Carlos Alarcon

2min
page 17

Bringing classical music to unexpected places

5min
pages 14-15

Ernestine M. Raclin School of the Arts officially becomes a Steinway School

4min
pages 10-12

Finally home

3min
page 13

FINE ARTS

4min
pages 8-9

Jorge Muñiz named interim dean

3min
page 7

SCHOOL OF THE ARTS

6min
pages 4-6
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