K.A. Laity's Blog, page 151

Con-Eire: Now Available as an Ebook

Con-Eire: a comedy for voices



Download: $1.83



"RADIO PLAY" SCRIPT is ideal for live performances at cons!



It's three days before the start of CON-EIRE, the best Irish-themed science fiction and fantasy con in the tri-state area, when a phone call sets the entire Convention Committee into panic mode. Is Big Name Writer going to pull out at the last minute? What does Very Famous Artist have to do with that decision? And what do the Fairies have to say about all this? Follow the hilarious mishaps as the committee members work desperately to salvage months of planning and hard work, all of which are about to be undone by a well-known prima donna.



You can also "like" the page to share with friends on Facebook or pass it along on Twitter, Reddit, Digg or even (gasp!) MySpace. It's great for reading impromptu at cons: we had so much fun doing it at Trinoc*coN! Yes, just another plank in my plan for World Domination.

Blogger Has Been Down

Hence the lack of posting: more soon.

It's Official

My department has approved my release for Galway: college approval on its way. A million and one things to do (like grading, revising, planning, teaching next week, and more) but a moment to celebrate properly with a little Vic.

Tuesday's Overlooked Film: Spirit of the Beehive

A film of incredible beauty, sadness and love for the monster: Victor Erice's magical 1973 film, Spirit of the Beehive . Think of this as the prelude to Guillermo del Toro's films, especially The Devil's Backbone. How the unimaginable horror of war seems to the unfathoming innocence of a child. There aren't enough movies that awe on a visual level that aren't simply candy-colored assaultive spectacles. This understated tale of a young girl's fascinating with Karloff's iconic creature will amaze you.







As always, drop by Todd's blog for a round-up of all the overlooked A/V.

Hectic

Paperwork for the Fulbright to prepare; details to work out; pictures for the work permit; appointments to schedule; belongings to jettison; prep for the reading of "Lumottu"; revisions of essays to finish; grading grading grading. So, um -- here's something from the Fall!

The Galway Project

Yes, I've dug out my Learning Irish book and tapes (yes, tapes O_o) and will endeavour to master what I can.



I probably should have thought of it before, but thanks to Karen Hayes for asking on Facebook if I would share a description of the project I'll be working on in Galway (assuming all the massive paperwork and permissions and whatnot go through :-). Here's a little snippet, but if you want to read the whole thing, it's on Google Docs. The proposal begins with the pitch for the undergrad seminar for the fall:



Writers in Motion: Romanticism and Reality in Lives of 21st Century Writers



The "Writers in Motion" project aims to bring together popular portrayals of writers on film with the realities of being a writer in the 21st century. Films offer us a romantic view of writers' lives. Forget hard graft: according to movies, writers live, love and drink to excess, then occasionally transcribe their adventures in a brief montage. Success, naturally, ensues. We will spend some of our time interrogating romanticized representations of writers in a variety of modern films, while contrasting those portrayals with the realities of writers' lives both in the past and in the present. We will explore the benefits inherent in the complicated gap between reality and representation: why is Hollywood selling us this vision of the writer? Just as historians seek to recover past writers in the context of the social conditions of their time, de-mystifying the distorted perceptions fostered by Hollywood's commoditization of a romanticized past that obscures social realities, we will try to glimpse the realities beneath the representations modern writers confront.



Technology is changing the writer's life with the new surge in publication of ebooks and the instant access to writers and books provided by the internet. Writing was once a solitary profession, but now writers can collaborate and communicate with each other and with their readers. How are instantaneous communication and elastic textual formats changing the ways we write and read? What does it mean to be a writer in the 21st century? Will the traditional print hierarchy and genre structure dissolve or will new categories develop? Are traditional publishers still necessary? The recent end-run around publishers by the Wylie Agency, when super agent Andrew Wylie sold his clients' ebook rights directly to Amazon's Kindle store, has inflamed already tense relations between traditional print publishers and ebook sellers—not to mention authors, agents and readers.



What new categories are emerging that may supersede the traditional forms of publishing? How should writers approach these new opportunities? With greater access afforded to publication by the web, does this model, made possible by new and revolutionary technologies, lead to more democratic forms of producing and disseminating ideas and knowledge? Or does it reinforce and exacerbate existing hierarchies among writers and the value of what they produce? Does equal access to publication in digital media enhance the range of alternative ideas and democratize knowledge by expanding access to readers hitherto excluded? Or does it further reduce its value by flooding cyberspace with reams of otherwise unpublishable dreck? [continued...]

BitchBuzz: Judy Judy Judy

My column today seems to be snagging the zeitgeist, as Publishers Weekly picked up on the same story. If you don't know the saga of Pennsylvania English teacher Judy Buranich, read on:

The Problem with Literary Slut ShamingBy K. A. Laity

Because women don't write anything important, right?



Shocking revelations this week—or at least that's how it was presented. WNEP in Snyder Country, Pennsylvania ran a story with the deliberately provocative headline, "Parents: English Teacher Writes Racy Novels" as a way to manufacture controversy. Like the Simpsons' Helen Lovejoy shrieking, "Won't somebody please think of the children?" the local news station began their "news" story with the following slut-shaming gasp:



A series of racy romance novels by an author named Judy Mays are a little too racy for some parents in our area, especially now that they have discovered the woman known as Judy Mays is teaching their children...

Read the rest over at BBHQ and see the comments, too, where I've added link to the PW write up and to the fantastic video made by one of her former students that will warm the heart of any teacher.



I'm still reeling from the news about Galway! So much to do -- which is why after going to bed around 1am I woke up before 6 and could not get back to sleep. Paperwork is the first order of the day (well, actually laundry was) as I have to have formal permission from my college to be released from the coming year's teaching. Given the prestige a Fulbright offers to the institution, I suspect it won't be a problem, but there are always hoops through which one must jump. I got the welcome packet already and emails of a couple of current Fulbrighters so I can ask them about their experiences. The info from the foundation had the tag line about being "A Fulbrighter for Life." As one of my former students pointed out on Twitter, "It sounds like you just joined the Jets or the Sharks." 

Big News!

Okay, so remember how I got that form letter rejection from the Fulbright Foundation? Turns out that was an error. I'M GOING TO GALWAY!







I got the phone call this morning (and yes, still nervous not to have something tangible to show but they assure me it's real :-) and wow, was it hard to teach with all that in my head but I couldn't see the dean until this afternoon. I was fairly certain that the college wouldn't have a problem with supporting a Fulbright scholar but you know, best to be sure. Now I'm going to have to run around banging on my pots shouting, "Fulbright, Fulbright, Fulbright!"



UPDATE: I've got a PDF of the offer letter which is winging its way to me now.

Frankenstein v Frankenstein

Check Todd's blog for other featured items in Tuesday's Overlooked A/V or add your own.



It was impossible to resist the urge to see both versions of the National Theatre's Frankenstein. Benedict Cumberbatch and Jonny Lee Miller rotated the central roles which was fascinating in itself, never mind the rest of the new script by Nick Dear. The new production, directed by Danny Boyle, focuses on the creature to a much greater extent, including a prolonged "birth" scene where he moves from first sentience through an accelerated childhood. It's a real showcase for the actor playing the role and where some of the differences in portrayal appear. Miller's creature was a more feral one, animalistic and somewhat more intimidating. Cumberbatch's seemed to center more on vulnerability (though they both did to a great extent) and discovery. In the pre-show interviews they both mentioned closely observing Miller's toddler Buster for inspiration. I didn't realise that the broadcast version was slightly different than what folks saw most nights on stage, but you can't have everything, eh?



The play has some great moments: the train run by people is a great visual but it gave me the expectation that more of the play would be impressionistic like that. The creature's development remains the focus, so we see his stay with the Laceys more vividly (though Felix's sister and wife have been combined O_o). Naomie Harris has a nice turn as Elizabeth, but there's not much for her to do here other than suffer the more explicit revenge of the creature. I loved how Cumberbatch in particular made Victor so arrogantly clueless. Miller's creator seemed more compassionate, although he was more awkward with Elizabeth. In both cases, it was thoroughly enjoyable and the final stark denouement in the frozen north both touching and grim. A great pair of nights out.



Check in your area for NT broadcasts: so worth it! Next up the fabulous Zoë Wanamaker in The Cherry Orchard. Of course I hope to catch a couple NT shows in London next month.

Penultimate Day of Teaching

Up until 2.30 last night finishing something that needed to be done; relieved that the end of the semester is upon me, but also stressed for the same reason (grading, grading), so something more substantial tomorrow. Something to keep you entertained today: the entire documentary "The Wonderful and Frightening World of MES" online.





A man stopped me on the way to campus, saying, "1971: this way?" "It certainly feels like it," I say. We blink at each other and then go on, uncomprehending. Sometimes life's like that.