Thursday, July 29, 2010

Alumni Spotlight on Laura Littleford in 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival

"Romeo and Juliet Go to Winnipeg"
One Woman Show by Laura Littleford

Laura Littleford, MFA 1998, premieres her latest one woman show, "Romeo and Juliet Go to Winnipeg" on Friday, August 6, at 5:30 p.m. at the Playwrights' Center (2301 Franklin Avenue E, Minneapolis) as part of the 2010 Minnesota Fringe Festival (visit www.fringefestival.org for details).  Stay tuned for opening night festivities at www.lauralittleford.com.  Also, check out her event page at http://www.facebook.com/pages/edit/?id=105567592822663#!/pages/Laura-Littleford/105567592822663.

This autobiographical work features "misadventured, piteous overthrows" by two teens who try to escape bickering Baptist families in bucolic Burnsville.  Old dogma breaks into new insanity in 1969, while Romeo and Juliet make out for 491 miles on a high school choir tour to Winnipeg.

"Romeo and Juliet Go to Winnipeg" plays at the Playwrights' Center at the following dates and times:
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Friday, August 6 at 5:30 p.m.
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Sunday, August 8 at 4 p.m.
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Wednesday, August 11 at 7 p.m.
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Saturday, August 14 at 10 p.m.
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Sunday, August 15 at 1 p.m.

It sounds hilarious, so we hope to see a lot of you turning out to support your fellow alumni and enjoying  gobs of all-around artistic talent at the Fringe Festival.  This year, the Minnesota Fringe Festival runs August 5th-15th.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

July Poetry Book Club: July 27

Don't forget!  In just a little under one week, we meet to discuss In the Bird Museum by Kristy Bowen.

The Hamline GLS Alumni host a Poetry Book Club on the last Tuesday of each month from 7:30-9pm at Jean Larson's house.  This is an incentive for graduates interested in poetry to read a whole book of poems, to come up with questions/insights/what works what doesn't/ favorite moments, and discuss them with alumni. We have a deal going with one of the local bookstores to get each month's book at a discount.  You can sit back, engage, read part, read all. Come monthly, come sometimes. Flexible and low key (unless someone decides to raise a ruckus; you know how poetry can affect some of us).

Please email Jean at jeanielars@comcast.net for more information.

Tuesday, July 13, 2010

Check out Beth Greshwalk's blog: Coffee with a Koala: My Realities of Relocating from Minneapolis to Melbourne

Name of your blog: Coffee with a Koala: My Realities of Relocating from Minneapolis to Melbourne

Link to your blog: http://www.bethinoz.wordpress.com/

What your blog is about: In narrative essay form, this blog explores the journey of a 30-something American woman who packed up three suitcases, two cats, and a fist full of hope and ventured to Melbourne, Australia, to live. I was driven by the one thing women’s magazines and girlfriends have warned us about for years: a long distance relationship. My Aussie boyfriend (a travel writer) and I met at an Indonesian writer’s festival, fell in love over email and phone calls, and spent seventeen months of correspondence, visits and travel before I moved to Australia to see this adventure through. The purpose of this blog isn’t to (a) tell overly sentimental stories or (b) focus on love relationships. It’s about exploring the flip-sides to the fantasy of moving abroad.

Your name (if you're not blogging anonymously): Beth Greshwalk

Years you were at Hamline: 2001-2008 (M.F.A.)

When you started blogging: June 22, 2010 (still new; several entries and growing)

Why you blog: It allows me to write in the way I enjoy most (memoir) and be published, in a sense. This cathartic outlet also gives me confidence and keeps me writing on a regular basis. Great practice!

Who your intended audience is: It's possible that women may relate most, but I think it may work for anyone who tends to take chances and "follow their heart," over their head. Travelers or anyone else who is currently or has lived abroad may also be interested.

What blogs you like to read: I'm still pretty new to the blogging scene - would love some suggestions.

Advice to or question for bloggers: Just do it. It's a great platform for writers who want to get their voices out there. I think you'll be surprised by its hidden benefits. I'm still a newbie, and am sure to have questions for other bloggers soon!

Anything else you'd like to add: I was actually in the MFA program from 2001-2008, so a smattering of people may remember me, though I was only in one evening class per semester. Also, I did spend 2005-2006 living in Athens, Greece, where I completed my final MFA capstone project, a memoir about immersion in a foreign country (I did a long distance, independent study/correspondence with Barrie Jean Borich). And THAT was actually inspired by a MALS/MFA arts course in 2001, where we'd spent 11 days in Athens! So I can honestly thank the GLS program for changing my life in this way - inspiring me to live abroad and to write about it! :) Sorry for the gushing, but I seriously do owe this to GLS! :)

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Come meet the low-residency folks on July 12th at 7

GLS Low-Residency Reading and Reception: Monday, July 12  7:00 pm  
A Meet and Greet for the GLS Community
Did you know that GLS offers a low-residency MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults?  Twice a year, students in this program come from across the nation to the Hamline campus for a 10-day residency full of seminars, workshops, lectures, and readings.  At this summer’s residency (July 8 – 18), faculty, visiting writers, graduating students, and guest editors/publishers will deliver lectures and offer seminars that examine a broad range of issues for writers in the field.  Because these low-residency students and faculty are only on campus for a short time, they rarely get to meet other students in our programs.  But this summer, we're opening the doors and bringing everyone together! 
We’d like to invite all members of the GLS community to a special residency reading and reception on Monday evening, July 12 at 7:00 pm in the Kay Fredericks room, 3rd floor of the Klas Center.  The reading will feature our faculty/authors Ron Koertge, Jane Resh Thomas, Anne Ursu, Lisa Jahn-Clough, and Jackie Briggs-Martin.  A book signing and reception will follow.  We hope you can join us for this special event.  It will be a great way to meet these students and the wonderful faculty who teach in our low-residency program!

These are really great authors with tons of writing experience and books under their belts, not to mention all the great students you've never met.  So come on out and meet them all!



Sunday, July 4, 2010

Scriptwriting opportunity


One of our alumni let us know about this opportunity.  Be sure to check it out if you're interested.

"Seeking someone who would be interested/have experience/capability in writing a script for a family entertainment film. Work with a scriptwriter and computer animator to develop The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister to develop the character into a 3D computer animation film. The story would appeal to 8 - 12 years old and family. They are pretty far along in the development process and are  looking for people who can write dialog. The bones of the story are somewhat worked out. Character must change quite a bit (grow up) to appeal to a more grown up audience. For more information send your contact information to Joan Stavely."