​Rowan Writing Arts Events Update: Week of September 17, 2018

Faculty Reading Features Breakups, a Helicopter, Sisyphus, and a Machete
 
With the psychedelic colors of artist Heather Ujiie’s “Terra Incognita” exhibit providing the backdrop, the first Glassworks magazine/Writing Arts Department event of the school year – a Back to School Faculty Reading and Open Mic Event – took place at the Rowan Art Gallery earlier this week. Four Writing Arts faculty members -- Katie Budris, Steve Royek, R.G. Evans, and Tim Zatzariny – shared some of their latest works of poetry, nonfiction, and fiction while nearly half a dozen students and faculty members took to the podium in the open microphone session. Katie (who also serves as Glassworks editor-in-chief) and R.G. (who’s known as Bob to his colleagues) read from their published collections of poems – Katie’s Prague in Synthetics and R.G.’s Overtipping the Ferryman and The Holy Both. Their topics ranged from breaking up and not breaking up (Katie) to Sisyphus and not suicide (R.G.). Steve shared several passages from his nonfiction academic paper “Instructor Lore in the Journalism Classroom” that appeared in the Spring 2017 issue of the peer-review journal Writing on the Edge and Tim read the opening chapter of his South Jersey-based novel-in-progress about crime, self-reflection, and redemption On the Way Down. The next time you run into them, ask Steve about the helicopter and Tim about the machete. They’ll both be glad to share details. . . . Also, a quick shout-out to Writing Arts colleague andGlassworks managing editor Anthony Palma who gave an emotional open-mic performance, from memory, of a poem that simultaneously celebrated his Italian heritage and howled at the depravity of the world. . . . Mark your calendars for the next Glassworks literary event -- a reading to mark the publication of the Fall 2018 issue of Glassworks magazine – on Thursday, October 25 at 6:30 p.m. at the Rowan Art Gallery, 301 High Street West. 

Attention Rowan Shoppers: Donations Needed for The S.H.O.P.
 
Old Mother Hubbard would not be pleased with the current condition of the bare cupboards at The S.H.O.P. With the fall semester underway, and student traffic increasing dramatically at the university’s on-campus food pantry, the call is going out to Rowan Writing Arts for donations of non-perishable food such as pop-top cans of heat-and-eat pasta meals and other foodstuffs, cereal (full sized and individual servings), rice and pasta (especially shells, rotini, and elbows), soups and chicken broth, boxes of stuffing, peanut butter and jelly, and granola bars. In addition, microwave bowls, coffee mugs, and any type of personal hygiene items (including those that are either male- or female-specific) are greatly appreciated. Rowan Writing Arts is the only department on campus that is planning regular monthly donations to The S.H.O.P.; we want to make sure our September delivery helps meet the facility’s needs. Let’s fill those bare cupboards with the sustenance the young adults in our classrooms desperately need. Please contact me or drop off your donations at my office (Room 521 at The Vic) or with either Stephanie on the 4th floor or Dawn on the 5th floor. Thank you very much for your generosity!
 
Important Notes and Dates for Your Outlook or iCalendar
 
The Collingswood Book Festival is Saturday, October 6 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. We’re looking for volunteers to help with set-up and tear-down and to staff one of three two-hour shifts. Please contact me or Anna Bassiri if you’re interested. . . . Homecoming 2018 – “Rowan Goes Hollywood” – is the weekend ofFriday, October 19 to Sunday, October 21. . . . The fall semester College Assembled will be held on Monday, October 22 at 3:30 p.m. at a TBD location. Heads-up: Full-time Writing Arts faculty should attend. . . . The official launch (or is it kickoff, tipoff, first pitch, faceoff, or scrum?) for the CCCA’s Sports Communications and Media major is Tuesday, October 30 at 7 p.m. in Bunce Hall’s Tohill Auditorium. Legendary basketball coach, social activist, and motivational speaker George Raveling will be the featured guest and speaker. 
 
The Rowan Shuttle: A Cure For The Parking Lot Blues
 
Want to avoid the time and aggravation of endlessly circling parking lots, of following people to their cars to take their spots, and of risking a ticket by parking illegally? Try the Rowan Shuttle. With eight stops around campus and a shuttle arriving at each roughly every 15 minutes, you’re less than a two-to-three minute walk away from wherever you need to be. Our closest spot is listed as the Rowan Art Gallery at 301 High Street West, but the shuttle actually picks up passengers in front of the garage entrance on Mick Street right next to The Vic. Other stops (in order from 301 High) are the Rowan Boulevard Apartments, the Chamberlain Student Center, Memorial Circle in front of Bozorth Hall, Lot A and Business Hall, James and Robinson halls, the Edgewood Park Apartments and Chestnut Hall, and the Ellis Street Parking lot. The friendly shuttle drivers, however, will pick you up and drop you off if you wave them down or tell them where you need to go – as long as it’s along their usual route. . . . I have been riding the shuttle since the first day of the semester – my classes this fall are in Robinson and Engineering Hall – and the vans always have – so far, knock on wood – been on time. If you are thinking of using the shuttle, the free TransLoc app (search “TransLoc” in the App Store or on Google Play) will prove to be invaluable. It will tell you, to the minute, when the next shuttle will arrive at your stop, or at any other location on campus. One final note: During these first three weeks, I have seen only one other faculty member on the shuttle – my officemate Tim Donaldson, whom I invited to join me one day. Download the app, give it a shot, and I know you’ll become a regular rider of the Rowan Shuttle. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to ask me.
 
Do you have a new publication, a reading, or any other event of interest coming up? Please let me know so I can let all our colleagues know in the weeklyRowan Writing Arts Events Update newsletter. Stop by my Victoria 521 office or email me at [email protected] 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: [email protected]

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