Friday, September 26, 2008

Barnes & Noble Bookfair Benefiting Sheldon Museum of Art

If any of you are looking for an excuse to buy some books (come on, who really needs an excuse?) pay Barnes & Noble at SouthPointe Mall a visit this Saturday the 27th from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. Just mention the Sheldon and a portion of your purchase will go to the Sheldon Museum of Art!

More art related events will take place at Barnes & Noble starting at 11 a.m. including art trivia, face painting (for the kids or young at heart) and prizes!

Additionally, by no coincidence whatsoever, SouthPointe is also hosting the Lincoln Arts Festival on the 27th and 28th (10-6 Saturday, 10-5 Sunday) which always proves to be a fantastic experience, whether you're looking to buy or just looking to look!

For more info on the Sheldon Museum of Art Bookfair at Barnes & Noble, check out the website.
For more info on the Lincoln Arts Festival, check out the website.

Thursday, September 18, 2008

September is National Recovery Month

September is National Recovery Month, and in honor of all the hard work and dedication of those recovering from drug and alcohol addiction (and the friends and family members who are by their side), Plains Song Review Online is proud to feature a poem by Kelly Madigan Erlandson.



Rarely Have We Seen a Person Fail



I have not come to sobriety without reason.
The rim of the glass itself insisted. I was collared by bottles
let loose from their cardboard cells, who brandished photographs
of my unborn children. The clerk, crushing a cigarette
behind the liquor store counter, clucked his tongue
at my purchases. How could I continue, when the cubed ice
hurled curses from the cradle of my palm?

I have not come to sobriety
of my own accord, and no one does. The alchemy failed.
Weary of medicating the problem
with larger and larger doses of the problem, even I
could see the futility. I tried to persist,
learned to vomit in order to make more room
in my stomach, to prime before events,
to hold one hand with the other, to interlock
day and night. But longing has distended
itself beyond my reach. My organs have drafted
armies and built fences at their borders, a yellow dog
has rubbed against my skin.

I have not come to sobriety without quarrel. Tarot
cards foretold a better outcome. I knew the mixers
were the culprit. Stringing Jacob's Ladder
full of promises hasn't quelled the gag reflex, and now
my hands are tied. Otherwise I'd raise them
over my head, otherwise I would have already surrendered.

(Poem previously appeared in 32 Poems, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2007.)


Kelly Madigan Erlandson is the author of Getting Sober: A Practical Guide to Making it Through the First 30 Days (McGraw-Hill). Visit her web site at http://www.kellymadiganerlandson.com/

For more information about National Recovery Month, please visit the Recovery Month Website.

For local information and assistance visit the Bryan LGH substance abuse treatment center website.

For some informational recovery podcasts, check out http://www.aajustfortoday.org/.

Monday, September 15, 2008

Omaha Lit Fest 2008


Various locations around Omaha, Nebraska will be hosting the 2008 Omaha Lit Fest from September 19-20th. This year's theme is Plagiarism, Fraud, & Other Literary Inspiration.

From the Lit Fest Website:

Sunday, September 14th 1:30-4:00 pm (Satellite event)
Cash-for-your-words Teen Poetry Bash & Poetry Writing Contest
Omaha Public Library, W. Dale Clark (215 S. 15th St.)
omahapubliclibrary.org

Friday, September 19th, 7-10 pm
Opening night party, art exhibit, and book-banning, with food and wine.
(A suggested donation supports the Omaha Lit Fest and the Omaha Public Library)
TXT:ART; a one-night-only exhibit of visual art incorporating text; painting, prints, video installation, sculpture.
The opening night party will also be celebrating the 70th anniversary of the banning of the book Slogum House by Mari Sandoz. Slogum House was banned from Omaha Public Libraries by Mayor Dan B. Butler because it was "rotten and filthy" which I think we all know means "a fantastic read" in non-crazy speak.

Saturday, September 20th
9:30 am- 10:50 am
@ Aromas Coffee House, 1033 Jones St.
Meet the authors, fuel up on joe, and browse the authors' books, courtesy of a book table provided by the Bookworm. Book table also open throughout the day.

11 am-5 pm
Panel discussions every hour @ Bemis Center for Contemporary Arts, 12th and Leavenworth. Panel details below *.

5 pm-5:30 pm
@ Aromas Coffee House, 1033 Jones St.
Last-chance book signing, meet the authors.

5:30-7 pm
The featherproof books & MAKE magazine Slowdown Happy Hour, featuring readings by Zach Plague, Jonathan Messinger, Starlee Kine & Amy Guth. @ the Slowdown, 729 N. 14th St.

__________

There are also a plethora of panel discussions taking place on Saturday the 20th, which means you should all stay plenty busy if you attend the Lit Fest--which you should!

Photo courtesy Omaha Lit Fest Website.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Nebraska History Professor to Speak at Chadron State College

Dr. Rolland Dewing, professor emeritus of history at Chadron State College, will speak on the CSC campus on Wednesday, September 17 at 7 p.m. in the Chicoine Atrium of the Mari Sandoz High Plains Heritage Center. The presentation is open to the public and free of charge.

Dewing's presentation is entitled, "The Northern Great Plains: The Other Dust Bowl" and will discuss the impact of drought in the Northern Great Plains in the 1930's, with particular emphasis on its effects on Western Nebraska.

Much of the material Dewing will cover in his discussion originates in his book Regions in Transition: the Northern Great Plains and the Pacific Northwest in the Great Depression, published by University Press of America in 2006.

For more information on the event, visit the KCSR AM 610 news release.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize Lecture


The Center for Great Plains Studies at UNL will be hosting a lecture by Akim D. Reinhardt, entitled "American Colony: Pine Ridge Reservation in the 20th Century."


Reinhardt's book Ruling Pine Ridge: Ogalala Lakota Politics from the Ira to Wounded Knee was the recipient of the 3rd annual Great Plains Distinguished Book Prize.


From the Center for Great Plains Studies website:

"England and other European nations used colonialism to establish their presence and exert influence in America. By establishing colonies, they gained control over an expanding region, at the expense of Indigenous nations. When 13 of those English colonies broke away and formed their own nation, they continued the process of colonial expansion, again seizing land, resources, and political power from Indigenous peoples. While that process has changed many times and in many ways over the last 500 years, it nevertheless remains in motion, even to this very day. Akim Reinhardt will examine the role colonialism played for Indian nations during the 20th century. In particular, he will discuss the political situation on Pine Ridge Reservation, home to the Oglala Lakota (Sioux) people."


The lecture will be the first in the 2008-2009 Paul A. Olson Seminars in Great Plains Studies.


When: Wednesday, September 17 at 3:30 p.m.

Where: Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q Street in Lincoln

A reception will follow the talk.


For further information, please visit the Center for Great Plains Studies website.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

"Origins of Western Plains Cultures" Program at Neihardt State Historic Site

The John G. Neihardt Foundation's Sunday Afternoon at the Museum will be presenting "Origins of Western Plains Cultures" by Jim Horn on September 14, 2008 at 2:00 p.m.

Jim Horn is a member of the Osage Nation, a Historical re-enactor, and former National Parks Service Artist in Residence. The program is free and open to the public and will take place at the Neihardt State Historic Site at 306 W. Elm Street in Bancroft, Nebraska.

For more information feel free to call 1-888-777-4667 or 402-648-3388 for those who take a liking to local numbers.

The flier from which I took all this information has some pretty awesome sketches on it, which can only mean that this presentation will be equally as awesome. Check it out!

Monday, September 1, 2008

Center at Emporia State University Receives Grant


The Center for Great Plains Studies on the Emporia State University campus has received a $25,000 grant from the Kansas Humanities Council. The grant is to study F.M. Steele, a pioneer Kansas photographer.

From The Emporia Gazette:
"In 1890 at age 24 Steele arrived in Dodge City, where he outfitted a buggy with a portable darkroom and ventured out onto the open range to photograph cowboys at work. Over the next four and a half decades Steele documented all aspects of life in the southwestern plains: farming, railroad construction, irrigation projects, sugar production, small town life, rural scenes, and people."

In addition to a number of meetings to be held at the Kansas History Center in Topeka, the Center will mount a traveling exhibit of Steele's photographs.

Read the full story from The Emporia Gazette here.

Visit Emporia University's Center for Great Plains Studies here.

Photo taken by F.M. Steele (Library of Congress [USZ62-55220])