Campus Community Comes Out for Reading at Reed Library

This was certainly my first exposure to Willa Cather, as was the case for fellow group members Jillian Ziemianski and Paul Beverly. We were assigned to our very own Reed Library, at first a cause for celebration because it meant that we would be on familiar territory and within walking distance of any event that we planned to promote the book. However, the more we discussed our possibilites, the more we realized what working on a project of this stature, well within the realm of the professional and academic environment really meant. Soon, the pleasant dream of a nice and quiet round table discussion with wine and cheese faded away for us just as it began to take shape and come alive for many of our classmates. This was going to have to be on a bigger scale of events, with a more intensive amount of research and networking than we had anticipated. Putting on an event for the campus community definitely required a critical lens that would motivate people to want to attend the event, or perhaps even want to participate.

Reading of My Antonia: a dramatic adaptation Performed by Prof. Ted Sharon as "Jim" and student, Kathleen Grace Fiori, as "Antonia."

It was through Cather’s own sexuality that we developed an introspective lens, thus deciding that gender roles and homosexuality would play a key part in the theme of the event. Another thing that we realized was that because of the size of the event, direct discussion of the novel would be more difficult than it would have been in a smaller library setting. This prompted us to rethink our own personal goals of the event. We were not going to be directly engaging people in a campus wide discourse but instead encouraged them to do it on their own through a selection of works that we would have campus members read aloud and explain how it pertained to the novel. With the a great amount of help from our Reed Librarians, Dawn Eckenrode and Scott Richmond, we were able to do some real public relations work not often seen in your typical undergraduate English class in order to enlist the help of other campus faculty members.

Highlights of the event included a reading of a section of the novel relating to young women growing up on the prairie by Professor Aimee Nezhukumatathil, a reading of Walt Whitman’s Pioneers, O Pioneers! By Professor Dustin Parsons, (a short film about Cather's sexual identity donated by Dr. Adrienne McCormick,) an essay by Truman Capote about his experiences meeting Cather as a young writer read by Dawn Eckenrode, a portion of the Eclogues by Virgil was read by Dr. John Arnold and A Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf was read by Dr. Jeanette McVicker. Student readers included Allison Murray and Brian Fanelli as well as a theatrical rendition of the end of novel’s ending by Ted Sharon and his students Jessica St. George and Kathleen Grace Fiori. On behalf of my group, we would like to thank Reed Library Director, Randy Gadikian and everyone who helped with the event or took the time to attend.

View photos of this and other Big Read events on Flickr.

Posted by: Cais Jurgens