Rowan Writing Arts Events Update: Week of September 10, 2018

Start Off the Semester with a Night of Literary Readings
 
Glassworks magazine and the Writing Arts Department are kick-starting the semester as they join forces next week – Tuesday night, September 18 – with a Back to School Reading featuring four of our colleagues presenting some of their most recent work. The event begins at 6:30 p.m. at the Rowan Art Gallery, right across from The Vic at 301 High Street West, with Katie Budris, R.G. Evans, Steve Royek, and Tim Zatzariny reading poetry, nonfiction, and fiction selections from their portfolios. They will be followed by an open microphone period with students and faculty signing up on site to present their creative pieces. This free event is open to the Rowan community and light refreshments will be served. Recent issues of Glassworks will be available for purchase. Get into the swing of the school year by attending and inviting your students to join you for a night of fun and creativity. This will be the first in a series of readings this academic year presented by Glassworks, a publication of our Master of Arts in Writing program, including the introduction of the magazine’s Fall 2018 issue in October. Keep an eye on this space for more details on the where and when for these events.
 
It’s Time to Volunteer For, And Attend, The Collingswood Book Festival
 
Another sign the semester is underway is the annual Collingswood Book Festival and the Rowan Writing Arts booth at the event. This year’s 16th edition of the popular celebration of writing and writers will be Saturday, October 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. As usual, the borough’s main drag – Haddon Avenue – will be filled with writers, publishers, educators, and book enthusiasts of all sorts promoting the craft and their offerings. As we do each year, the department is calling for volunteers to help set up, tear down, and staff our booth on the 6th. If you’re interested in helping out, and picking up some department service credit, contact me at royek@rowan.edu to sign up for one of three shifts – opening and 10 a.m. to noon, noon to 2 p.m., or 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and closing – or let us know if you’re available to work any of those three shifts. It’s always an exciting event with more than 6,000 attendees, nearly 300 exhibitors, and over 40 authors, and you never know whom you’ll see presenting throughout the day . . .
 
Writing Arts Takes the Stage in Collingswood
 
. . . such as our colleague Megan Atwood. She will be reading from and discussing her three latest books, all released earlier this month: A Fall for Friendship, the third book in her Middle Grade series; and two new offerings in the “Dear Molly, Dear Olive” chapter book series, Molly Gets A Goat and Olive Becomes Famous. Megan is a regular presenter at the event, having hosted similar discussions and readings in the past (the event’s website calls her a “festival favorite”) and she will be among a star-studded cast of authors. These include former New Jersey Gov. James J. Florio leading a political discussion panel and promoting his new book Standing on Principle: Lessons Learned in Public Life, and two local sportswriters/broadcasters – Sal Paolantonio and Ray Didinger – who will be presenting excerpts from their latest works celebrating the Philadelphia Eagles’ Super Bowl victory: Philly Special: The Inside Story of How the Philadelphia Eagles Won their First Super Bowl Championship by Paolantonio, and Eagles Encyclopedia Champions Edition by Didinger.
 
Don’t Forget The SHOP While You’re Shopping
 
Now that the fall semester is in full swing, student traffic at The SHOP food bank in the Rowan Boulevard Apartments is picking up. As mentioned a few weeks ago in the final Rowan Writing Arts Events Update newsletter of the summer, we will be collecting donations of non-perishable food items at our monthly department meetings. I’ve started picking up an item or two to donate whenever I stop at ShopRite and I’m always keeping an eye out for sales. (Example: Three four-packs of Spaghetti-Os for $9.99!) Feel free to drop off any items with me or Dawn here on the fifth floor, or bring them with you to our next department meeting on Wednesday the 19th. As mentioned before, nearly half of the students in our classes face food insecurity issues each week; let’s do what we can to help stem the tide of hunger. Thank you.
 
Rowan is America’s Sixth Fastest Growing University!
 
With our enrollment at an all-time high of more than 19,000 (double the number of students from just 12 years ago), it should come as no surprise that Rowan University recently was named the sixth fastest growing college or university in America. The survey conducted for the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Almanac of Higher Education 2018-19 included all U.S. public doctoral institutions and listed the top six as the University of California/Merced, Utah State University, Arizona State University/Phoenix, the University of Texas/Dallas, the University of Texas/Arlington and Rowan. That school up north -- Rutgers University/New Brunswick – was further down the list at #19.
 
Do you have a new publication, a reading, or any other event of interest coming up? Please let me know so I can feature it in the Rowan Writing Arts Events Update newsletter. Stop by my Victoria 521 office or email me at royek@rowan.edu to give me the 4-1-1.
 
Stephen A. Royek, M.A.
Lecturer, Writing Arts
Rowan University
2015 Rowan Medallion Award winner
     Phone: 856-906-4755
     Victoria Hall, Room 521
     Email: royek@rowan.edu

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