Author Luis Alberto Urrea joins our campus as the fall 2019 Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writer on Thursday, Nov. 7 in Buckley Center Auditorium at 7pm. He will also join us from 4-5pm that day in BC 120 for an informal Q&A: bring your questions! A member of the Latino Literature Hall of Fame, Urrea is the critically acclaimed, best-selling author of 17 books, winning numerous awards for his poetry, essays, and fiction (The Hummingbird’s Daughter, The Water Museum, Into the Beautiful North). The Devil’s Highway, Urrea’s 2004 non-fiction account of a group of Mexican immigrants lost in the Arizona desert, won the Lannan Literary Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. His latest novel The House of Broken Angels, set in San Diego, is a tragic-comic meditation by one sprawling family on the borderlands between life and death. He is a distinguished professor of creative writing at the U. of Illinois-Chicago. The events are free and open to the public. For details and questions contact English chair Lars Erik Larson at larson@up.edu.
Schoenfeldt Series
Schoenfeldt Writer Omar El Akkad Lecture & Book Discussion, Nov. 1
The Schoenfeldt Writers Series, in partnership with the English Department, proudly presents award-winning journalist Omar El Akkad as the fall Series speaker. El Akkad will be speaking about his debut novel, American War, on Thursday, November 1, at 7 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium.
El Akkad’s novel American War is a post-apocalyptic novel set during the second American Civil War in the year 2074. A darkly prescient tale, American War depicts a country and world torn apart by war, conflicts about fossil fuels, environmental catastrophes, and a devastating plague.
A discussion with the author will be held from 4 to 5 p.m. on Thursday, November 1, in the Terrace Room. A limited number of books for this event are available at no charge to the campus community; email schoenfeldt@up.edu to request a copy. Those who receive a free book are expected to attend the discussion.
To learn more about the Schoenfeldt Writers Series and other upcoming lectures, visit up.edu/Schoenfeldtwriters. Contact schoenfeldt@up.edu or x8264 with questions.
ReadUP Selection for 2016-2017: “All the Light We Cannot See”
As professors plan content for fall and spring courses, it may be helpful to note that the Read UP selection next year will be Anthony Doerr’s Pulitzer Prize-winning All the Light We Cannot See, according to Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center. Students and the entire UP community will have access to the book and several discussion groups will take place in residence halls and the Clark Library. The author will be on campus for a free public lecture on Monday, February 27, as a guest of the Schoenfeldt Series.
This book may tie in well for courses addressing World War Two, ethical formation, pacifism, fascism, and more. Plus it’s just a great, vibrant tale.
For more information on Read UP, contact Eifler at eifler@up.edu.
Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writer Alice McDermott, Feb. 26
The renowned novelist and essayist Alice McDermott, who won the National Book Award for her novel Charming Billy, will visit the campus and read from her work on Thursday, February 26, at 7 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium. Her lecture is free and open to all faculty, staff, students, and the public.
McDermott is the author of six other works of fiction, most recently the novel Someone. She is a professor of humanities at Johns Hopkins University.
The University’s Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series, founded in 1988, annually brings some of the finest writers in the world to campus, to meet with and speak to students, staff, and friends.
For more information contact Brian Doyle, marketing and communications, at bdoyle@up.edu or go to up.edu/schoenfeldtwriters/.
Doyle Delivering Delightfully Droll Discourse, Oct. 30
Essayist, novelist, and Portland Magazine editor Brian Doyle will speak as part of the University’s Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series on Thursday, October 30, at 7 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium. His talk will be free and open to all faculty, staff, students, and the public.
Doyle is the author of many books of essays, poems, and fiction, among them the sprawling Oregon novel Mink River and the sea novel The Plover. His most recent book is the essay collection Children & Other Wild Animals, from Oregon State University Press, which has also published his nonfiction books The Grail (about a year in an Oregon vineyard) and The Wet Engine (about the “muddle and music of hearts”). Among various honors for his work is inclusion in Best American Essays, Best American Science and Nature Writing, Best Spiritual Writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Previous recipients of that award include Mary Oliver and Flannery O’Connor.
The Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series was founded in 1988 by the late Rev. Arthur Schoenfeldt, C.S.C., and his sister, the late Suzanne Schoenfeldt Fields, in honor of their parents. The series is designed to honor and celebrate the art of writing by bringing some of the finest writers in the United States to the UP campus.
For more information contact John Orr at 503.943.7857 or orr@up.edu.
Reading by Former U.S. Poet Laureate Louise Glück, Feb. 13
The University of Portland’s Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series will welcome former U.S. Poet Laureate Louise Glück to campus on Thursday, February 13, at 7 p.m., where she will read from her work in Buckley Center Auditorium. The event is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public.
Glück recently released Poems 1962-2012, a collection spanning her entire career. The collection was awarded the 2013 Los Angeles Times Book Prize. The author of more than 10 books of poetry, Glück explores, as Donna Seaman noted, “the turmoil of family life; the fever, bliss, and misery of lust and love; the circular battle with the self; age and death.”
The Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series was founded in 1988 by Rev. Arthur Schoenfeldt, C.S.C., of the University’s Holy Cross community, and his sister, University regent Suzanne Schoenfeldt Fields, in honor of their late parents. The series is designed to honor and celebrate the art of writing by bringing some of the finest writers in the United States to the UP campus. For more information contact John Orr at 7857 or orr@up.edu.
Schoenfeldt Series Museum Displays, Postings
The University museum now offers a post about the Schoenfeldt Distinguished Visiting Writers Series on the UP Museum WordPress site. Click here for the page with the new post, or here for the post itself.
This year marks 25 years of the Schoenfeldt Distinguished Visiting Writers Series, founded by the late Rev. Arthur Schoenfeldt, C.S.C. (pictured) and his late sister, Suzanne Fields, in honor of their parents. Since writer Barry Lopez inaugurated the Schoenfeldt Writers Series in 1989, the University of Portland has hosted many of the finest writers to campus for classroom visits and public readings. Some of the past Schoenfeldt Writers include William Stafford, Ursula Le Guin, Peter Matthiessen, Sally Tisdale, Terry Tempest Williams, Kim Stafford, and more. The 2013-14 Schoenfeldt Writers are David James Duncan and Louise Gluck. For more information contact Carolyn Connolly, museum coordinator, at 8038 or piatz@up.edu.
25 Years of Schoenfeldt Writers
This year marks 25 years since the first Schoenfeldt Distinguished Visiting Writer, Barry Lopez, appeared on campus. Since the Schoenfeldt Writers Series was founded by the late Rev. Arthur Schoenfeldt, C.S.C. (pictured, with the right half of novelist David James Duncan) and his sister, the late Suzanne Fields, many of the finest writers in the United States have offered public readings and visited classrooms at the University. In honor of this milestone for the Schoenfeldt Series, all are welcome to view a display of some of the past Schoenfeldt visitors in the display case across from the Shepard Freshman Resource Center on the first floor of Buckley Center, created by the University Museum. The museum is located in the basement of Shipstad Hall in room 014. Hours are Monday & Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.; and also by appointment. Faculty, staff, students, and alumni are invited to stop in and learn more about the University’s history. Contact museum coordinator Carolyn Connolly at 8038 or piatz@up.edu for more information.
Fall 2013 Schoenfeldt Lecture
The Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series will welcome acclaimed novelist and essayist David James Duncan on Thursday, October 24, at 7 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.
Duncan is the author The River Why and The Brothers K, a New York Times Notable Book in 1992. He is also the author of three collections of essays; River Teeth, My Story As Told By Water, and God Laughs and Plays: Churchless Sermons in Response to the Preachments of the Fundamentalist Right. He received an honorary doctorate from the University in 2004 for the “power, passion, and poetry of his work.” This event also marks the second time Duncan has been a Schoenfeldt speaker at the University.
The Schoenfeldt Writers Series was founded in 1988 by the late Rev. Art Schoenfeldt, C.S.C., and his late sister, University regent Sue Fields, with the assistance of retired UP English professor Louis Masson. Among its guests have been Barry Lopez, Peter Matthiessen, Ian Frazier, William Stafford, Ursula K. Le Guin. For more information contact Brian Doyle, marketing and communications, at 8225 or bdoyle@up.edu.