Renowned authors to read works
■ Creative Writing Reading Series presents the words of
award-winning poets and authors through May
By Mark Morical
for the Emerald
An American Book Award win
ner and two Pulitzer prize-win
ning poets are just some of the
writers scheduled to come to the
University campus throughout
winter and spring terms.
The writers will be coming as
part of the 2000 Creative Writing
Reading Series, which runs
through May.
Ehud Havazelet, an associate
professor, said one aim of the pro
gram is to enable students to learn
about writers who are the leaders
in the development of modem lit
erature.
“The reading series helps culmi
nate the process of literature we
study,” Havazelet said. “Not only
do we want to study Shakespeare
and other classics but also pieces
just now written. The people we’re
bringing in are the leading writers
of a generation who are writing
texts that will be used later on.”
The series began Thursday with
Danzy Senna, who read from her
best-selling novel “Caucasia”
about two sisters divided by poli
tics and race at the beginning of
the 1970s.
The program continues today
with Grace Talusan, a visiting fic
tion writer, and Havazelet.
Havazelet’s last collection of sto
ries, “Like Never Before,” was
named as one of the best books of
1998 by both the New York Times
and Los Angeles Times.
Havazelet said he hopes that the
reading series will provide inspi
ration to students trying to be suc
cessful writers.
“By having meetings like this
we show people that it’s possible,
and if they keep at it, it can hap
pen for them,” he said.
Talusan said she is also excited
about the reading series.
“It’s a great opportunity for stu
dents and the University commu
nity to hear writers read their
work,” Talusan said. “It’s a won
derful way for the audience to be
introduced to writers they have
never read before and for long
time admirers to hear and see their
favorite authors in person.”
Debra Gwartney, the assistant
director of the Creative Writing
Program and one of the program’s
organizers, said the reading series
has thrived partly because it is an
excellent way to expose students
to other ways of thinking about
reading. Gwartney said the read
ing series is an attempt to bring to
gether diverse people who write
about race and rediscovering per
sonal identity because the stu
dents in the Creative Writing Pro
gram at the University come from
a variety of different backgrounds.
“That’s why Senna, who writes
so much about race, was here, and
Gary Snyder, who’s always writ
ing about place, home and self
discovery, is here,” Gwartney
said. “We look at geographical di
versity, ethnic diversity and cul
tural diversity and try to bring in
this whole mix of influences and
ways of thinking for students to be
exposed to.”
Gwartney said many of the
guests who are scheduled for the
reading series have close ties to
the University.
As a beat poet throughout the
1960s and 70s, Snyder was a fre
quent visitor to the University. He
will make his reappearance on
March 9. Snyder’s “Turtle Island”
won the Pulitzer Prize for poetry
in 1975.
Charles Wright, another
Pulitzer Prize-winning poet, will
read on April 5.
Gwartney said students and fac
ulty are especially excited about
Chang-Rae Lee’s reading sched
uled for April 27. Lee is a former
associate professor in the Creative
Writing Department and author of
“Native Speaker,” which won the
American Book Award.
Havazelet said he hopes stu
dents will benefit from the oppor
tunity to be exposed to so many
different writers.
“Books are a vital part of our
culture and they are not the same
as TV or the Internet,” Havazelet
said. “To hear them read is a dif
ferent experience and is an impor
tant part of the living culture and
of the community.”
Debate team sets sights on Cuba
■ An Oregon high school debate team heads for its first
ever debates in Cuba, where it will be the first U.S. team
to argue with Cuban students on political matters
ASHLAND — A group of Ore
gon high school students em
barked Monday on a historic trip
to Havana, where they will be the
first U.S. high school debate team
to formally argue about interna
tional relations with Cuban stu
dents.
After gathering in the Ashland
High School Cafeteria for
predawn interviews on the CBS
Early Morning Show, the 27 stu
dents and nine chaperones mak
ing up the U.S.-Cuba Youth De
bate Team boarded planes in
Medford for a flight to Miami,
where they stop before flying on
to Havana.
“I’m looking forward to a real
one-on-one dialogue with stu
dents from a different culture,”
said Misha Isaak of Lincoln High
School in Portland. “I hope all the
students will teach and learn from
each other. And second, start
down the road of reform for
Cuba.”
It’s also the hope of the Clinton
administration, which made the
trip possible a year ago by allow
ing more contact with Cuba,
which has been under a severe
economic embargo imposed by
the United States since the early
1960s.
The State Department has said
it hopes that contacts between
young Americans and young
Cubans, such as these debates,
will help Cubans develop an orga
nized political opposition that
will allow a peaceful transition to
a more democratic government
when Fidel Castro passes from
power.
The policy shift also allowed
the Baltimore Orioles to exchange
baseball games with the Cuban
national team.
The Cuban government has
said it hopes the visits will give
Americans a firsthand look at the
benefits the communist revolu
tion has brought to their country.
The trip fulfills a dream of Ash
land High School debate coach
John Tredway, who still vividly
recalls watching television as a
child when President John F.
Kennedy announced the imposi
tion of a naval blockade after the
Soviet Union began installing
missiles in Cuba.
“We’re going down there to
promote peace,” Tredway said.
He added that it was fitting the
trip would begin on the national
holiday honoring Martin Luther
King Jr.
“It’s in the spirit of Dr. King,”
Tredway said. “He was killed in
1968, and at that time, he was call
ing for better relations with Cuba.”
Despite increased tension over
what to do with 6-year-old Elian
Gonzales, the boy who was res
cued from an inner tube in the
Gulf of Mexico after his mother
died trying to reach the United
States, Tredway said his greatest
concern was that someone would
lose their passport.
Ian Swallow from Ashland
High School said his biggest con
cern was whether his Spanish
would be good enough for the de
bates, which will be held entirely
in the language of Cuba.
The Associated Press
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