October Conference On Monday, October 8, 2001, teacher-scholars from around the area, some from our own English Department, will convene for the 49th Annual Conference on Composition & Literature.  Attendees of the conference which welcomes both secondary and post-secondary teachers, will benefit from panel presentations that relate to this year's theme of "Teaching Traditions in a Time of Transitions."  The panelists will address myriad topics including literary genre approaches to teaching writing, teaching in real and virtual time, and linking academic and community literacy.  As the panel topics suggest, this year's conferences will seek to address some of the many factors that are changing the dynamics of English classrooms.  Featured speaker Amanda L. Golbeck, director of academic affairs with the Kansas Board of Regents, will discuss issues of articulation and transfer of courses under the newly reorganized State Board of Regents.  In addition, novelist David Anthony Durham will talk about his first published novel Gabriel's Story, which is set in central Kansas. The Department urges all of its members, especially those new to KU, to take advantage of this unique opportunity to hear and exchange stories and ideas with a community of experienced teachers.   Staff Writer   E.A.T Season Kicks Off With Labor Day Festivities By Alan Newton English Alternative Theatre kicked off its 2001-2002 season with its usual mix of laughter and provocation!  The annual Labor Day stated reading featured two plays about academia.  The first, a lighthearted one-act entitled "The Problem" by A.R. Gurney, Jr., starred Kim Miller and Kirk Branch.  The second, Spinning into Butter by Rebecca Gilman, a controversial play about racial politics in higher education, featured a cast of E.A.T. regulars, including Department members Amy Devitt, Jim Hartman, Jim Carothers, Bud Hirsch, and Tim Weaver.  Paul Lim directed both plays, and state managers for the show were Kirby Fields and Alan Newton. Speaking of Mr. Fields . . . Kirby's play "Mourning Glorie" will be produced this fall at the Lawrence Art Center as part of a twin-bil with Nathan Gonzales's "Running with the Bog Dogs."  Performance dates and show times are Friday, October 12 at 8 PM; Saturday, October 13 at 8 PM and 11 PM; and Sunday, October 14 at 2:30 PM.  Both plays are participating entries in the Kennedy Center/American College Theatre Festival, and are being co-produced with Card Table Theatre.  Finally, E.A.T. is helping to sponsor a third Card Table production, "Monsters R Us" by KU student Lily Morgan, with performances on October 27-28.  For more information about any of these shows, see Professor Paul Lim of the English department or call 864-3642.

Fall 2001 Inside this issue: Welcome to New Students Notes from the Co-President More E.A.T. News SAGE Officers Advice from the Doctor Celebrate Hughes! Resisting the Block           ________________ SAGE congratulates Justin Mills on raising nearly $30,000 in relief funds for the victims of New York's tragedy University Open House is scheduled for October 6.  Sage encourages participants Book sale tentatively planned for Spring Semester

Welcome New Grad Students! By Jamie Smartt  Sometimes I lose sight of why I have volunteered to do all of the things I volunteer to do.  The moment I raise my hand to do extra things, my reasons are clear, but as time goes by and I get busier and busier, I have to beg, borrow, and steal to get that extra time.  As the deadline for SAGE Advice submissions approached and I became busier, I scrambled to finish my article, but soon found out that the many new faces I encountered in the process were well worth the effort!      The things that provided the most inspiration for this article were my own reflections on being the new kid in town.  I thought back to the days when I was a very apprehensive, first-year GTA in the English Department.  I walked into V-6 orientation feeling nervous, anxious, excited, afraid.  I left V-6 orientation feeling nervous, anxious, excited, afraid.   These feelings did not subside in the least until I ventured down into the depths of Wescoe Hall and was lucky enough to meet people who had once felt just like me.      The seasoned GTA's I met readily welcomed me and told me that what I was feeling was normal.  I imagine this was because it had not been very long since they were in my shoes.  Now, I find I am no longer in the incubator, but I am still nervous, anxious, excited, afraid.  Still, I pretend to quell the fears of others as I greet and introduce the new GTA's to the English Department.  Welcome Brigette Bernagozzi, Ryan Devlin, Brooke Finan, Crystal Gorham, Jeff Mack, Andrew Martino, Becky Miller, Tiffany Ng, Moira Ozias, Jan Prewitt, Aaron Profitt, Heather Schrotberger, Kip Smilie, Tiffany Walter, and Aimee Mosier Wuthrich!      "Old" GTA's, don't be shy!  Take the time to drop by the newbies' offices and get to know them.  They are a unique and talented group.       Before you meet them, I will relay some of the answers they gave to the SAGE Icebreaker questionnaire.  It is up to you to take the next step:  introduce yourself and find out who belongs to these answers! Where is home? Long Island, New York Wichita, Kansas Fort Scott, Kansas What did you do this summer? Planned a wedding (this is more than just one person) Worked as a season code enforcement Went to Disney World for a week What was your most significant learning experience? Study abroad (France, England, Scotland, etc.) Teaching English in France Teaching What literary character would you be? Jane Eyre Pip - Great Expectations Henry David Thoreau Rosalind - As You Like It Elizabeth Bennet - Pride and Prejudice What are your special talents? Calligraphy Meddling Cooking Eating an apple in four bites What do you want to be when you grow up? English Teacher/Professor Supreme Court Justice Grow up? A Note from the Co-President by Kirby Fields Traditionally, this space has been used to offer further notes of welcome for new students in KU's English Department.  But after orientation, the picnic, gatherings at Johnny's, and general banter in Wescoe's halls and mailroom, I think the glad hand has been well-extended to the new graduate students and GTAs.  Instead, I prefer using my designated column to introduce a new program SAGE will be undertaking this academic year, a program tentatively called "Academics Anonymous," a program that we hope will energize students and faculty alike. As much as I would like to claim credit for Academics Anonymous, I am proud to admit that SAGE is blatantly stealing both the concept and the name from a small school in Joplin, MO, Missouri Southern State College (MSSC).  Those who participate in Academics Anonymous will meet once a month (at this point) during lunchtime.  At the meeting, we will invite a faculty member to speak briefly (10-15 minutes) about an issue of his or her choosing.  The topic can be academic;  the topic can be frivolous.  The ieda is that the faculyt member should feel free to discuss a topic with interested parties that he or she may not always have a chance to discuss within the sometimes restricting confines of the classroom.  At MSSC, one instructor discussed an upcoming book, another held forth about J.R.R. Tolkien, and a third analyzed the new Beatle song, "Free as a Bird." We believe this program could benefit the Department in several ways.  First, as suggested above, instructors would have an opportunity to discuss interests that may brianch beyond even the liberal allowances of the English Department.  Ideally, the students might be able to enter the conversation durng the remaining "discussion" time and contribute valuably to the instructor's thinking concerning a given issue.  Secondly, students who are enrolled in perhaps only three or six graduate English hours per semester would have a chance to get to know more instructors during these meetings.  This would be especially beneficial when students begin the serious business of soliciting five faculty members to serve on committees for exams and theses.  Thirdly, the monthly interaction between students and faculty--whether they be familiar with one another or strangers--must also create an environment in which the full arsenal of the Department's resources feels more available.  By attending te meetings, hopefully we will increase chances of finding other students and teachers who share our academic and social interests.

2001-2002 SAGE Officers ******* Co-Presidents Kirby Fields, Joanna Harader Treasurer Shawn Thomson Secretary Tracy Candelaria SAGE Advice Editor Ellen Fangman Advisory Committee Representative Emily Wicktor Graduate Committee Representatives Alan Newton, Matt Hollrah, Kara Northway Freshman-Sophomore English (FSE) Representatives Emily Donnelli, Greg Brister, Lisa St. Ledger Graduate Assembly Representatives Jamie Smartt, Teresa Fernandez Lecturers and Readers Committee Matthew Candelaria, Mike Stigman GTAL Representative Amanda McGinnis Colloquium Coordinators Ellen Fangman et al. Web Master Kristin Bovaird-Abbo

Dear Dr. (Ph.D. not M.D.) Dear Dr.: Upon arriving at KU last month, I marveled at the friendly spirits who greeted me.  However, my rosy vision of this fine department has been challenged recently as I have begun to hear libelous remarks leveled at those who inadvertently post private messages to the list serve.  There seems no hope for the unfortunate to regain their reputations.  What can I do to avoid their fate?   Dear List Serve Lurker: I am especially sensitive to the risk you face, as I myself have endured the slander and defamation that awaits one who shortsightedly selects "reply" or "reply to all" when responding to particularly provocative messages.  Don't let the fate of once-revered scholars keep you from engaging our fine community through the list serve, however.  You must learn to bridle the temptation to immediately reply to that message about a house for rent, car for sale, or unclaimed books for the taking.  Instead, take time to "create a new message" for your response. With much solicitude, Dr.       ___________________________________________     The first SAGE Creative Reading will be held this Friday, September 28th at 8 PM at Cafe Nova. For more information about how you can be a part of these readings, contact Kirby Fields or Emily Donnelli.

CELEBRATE LANGSTON HUGHES! When:  January 31st and February 7-10 Where:  University of Kansas On the Anniversary of his birth, be among the many scholars and artists who are influenced and nurtured by Hughes.  The symposium will celebrate the life and legacy of one of the 20th Century's premier writers! Prospective Attendees Include: Pulitzer Price-winning author Alice Walker Danny Glover Former U.S. Poet Laureate Robert Pinsky Ossie Davis and Ruby Dee, actors who performed the first audio recordings of Hughes' works Kevin Powell of Vibe Magazine . . . . . . and many others. For program details and registration information, contact Heather Hoy at hhoy@ku.edu, or visit www.kuce.org/hughes

Resisting the Block      I hear it whispered behind closed doors.  I hear it murmured in the hallways of Wescoe.  I hear it from my students:  the phrase you don't ever want to say for fear it will come back to haunt you.  Some claim they never get it.  In the Academy Award-nominated Wonder Boys, Michael Douglas plays a pot-smoking English prof who vehemently denies he has ever experienced the writer's worst nightmake:  blockage.  The 2500 page novel lying in pieces around his office is proof positive that he is an anomaly--with a severe case of writer's diarrhea.  (Something Joyce Carol Oates came down with in the early eighties.)  Most of us should only be so lucky.      If I had a solution for the blockage, I would share it with you.  But all you have to do is count the myriad of books and papers that have been written about writing and ways to do it well to know that writing is, and never has been, an easy task.  We wait in the dark of sleepless nights for the perfect line to grace our latest poem.  And in the midst of waiting, we distract ourselves with what is tangible.  We turn on the T.V. to avoid mental anguish only to receive more.  Sooner or later a due date approaches, it's three months until our dissertation defense, or we're headed off to a conference with nothing but an abstract.  Frantically, we break down and buy prescriptive books like The Elements of Style, Writing Down the Bones, Clear and Lively Writing, Writing With Power, Writing Fiction:  A Guide to the Narrative Craft, a slew of Cliff's Notes, and the deceptive 12 Easy Steps to Successful Research Papers--most of which leave us paralyzed by process and decidedly uninspired.      Hemingway (or was it Chekhov?) claimed that all he did one day of writing was insert then later remove a comma.  This, too, for him, was a full day's work.  Is there a lesson here?  I suppose we could just take consolation in the fact that a day without words is requisite for even the greatest of writers. Staff Writer

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