UNC Student Organization for Undergraduate Literature

Hi everyone.

This is probably the most important announcement I've ever posted here:

My birthday is approaching. It's just a few days away: Tuesday, April 29th. That's right, it's just next week. I will be 23. Say it out loud. TWENTY THREE. Imagine yourself turning 23. It's not the exultant 21, or the confused 22, but the resigned 23: settling in for the climb. Approaching the hill of 30. Comrades... it's hard to grow old.

I post this announcement in order to let you all know that I won't be offended if you give me gifts.

Love,
Your Friend,
Sarah Bull

(This is in jest, really.)

These readings promise to be wonderful, so please consider attending and supporting the UNC Creative Writing program's finest! - Sarah Bull
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Senior Honors Fiction Readings

Members of the Senior Honors in Fiction Writing class will give three public readings of their work in the Morehead Lounge, first floor, Graham Memorial, Johnston Center for Undergraduate Excellence, UNC-Chapel Hill. A brief reception will follow each reading.
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Tuesday, April 8th, 6:00 p.m.

Nate Dixon
Adam Edgerton
Tanner McSwain
Ali Tharrington
Parker Woltz
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Monday, April 14th , 6:00 p.m.
William Drew Donegan
David Hodges
Sydney Krell
Lori Sullivan

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Tuesday, April 22nd, 6:00 p.m.
William Boggess
Mika Chance
Kitty Lynn
Katherine Meehan

For further information, please contact Professor Bland Simpson at bsimpson [ at ] email [dot] unc [dot] edu.

Hey guys--I just got this email and it reminded me: poetry month approacheth! These daily poems in April really make me happy, so I am posting the email here in case any of you want to sign up (there's a link below). And as an aside--last year, through the Knopf poem a day, there was a competition--basically one had to follow a link to a page where an author introduced a poem (audio file) and read it aloud, and to enter the contest one simply sent the name of the poet and poem to the Knopf people (no guess work, the author introduces his or her self AND the poem)... the prize was an audio CD from Knopf, poems read by authors, neat to listen to an author reading his or her work. I won the CD, I think, because so few people entered! So give it a try if you sign up for this.

Sarah
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Dear Poetry Lover,

Ten years ago we began a Knopf tradition. To celebrate National Poetry Month, we sent a poem a day by e-mail for 30 days to anyone who asked to receive them. Now, with over 35,000 subscribers, we are proud to continue with a whole new series of daily poems. Each day during the month of April you will receive a poem from some of the best poets in the world including Mark Strand, Mary Jo Salter, Julia Hartwig, and Richard Kenney, as well as classics from Frank O'Hara, Rudyard Kipling, Kenneth Koch and more. This year, we'll also be featuring special podcasts, gorgeous printable broadsides, and signed books.

If you know of someone who might like to join the Poem-a-Day party, they may visit http://www.randomhouse.com/knopf/poetry/poemaday/ to sign up.

Best Wishes,

Jason Kincade, Knopf New Media
knopfpoetry@randomhouse.com

Dear English and Comparative Literature majors and minors:

The 2008 UNC Conference for English Language and Literature is
offering a unique opportunity for undergraduate students to share
their papers and research. Hosted by SOUL and the UNC Department of
English and Comparative Literature, this year it is titled
"Considerations of 19th and 20th Century British Literature."
Attached to this post is the call for papers.

The conference is accepting papers from undergraduates that touch
upon any aspect of British literature, from the Romantics to the
Victorians to modernism to contemporary literature. It is designed to
give you a chance to present your hard work and to gain firsthand
experience in how academic conferences are conducted. Papers written
for your classes at UNC are certainly welcome, as are honors theses
or personal research. For those of you who intend to apply to
graduate school, participating will not only be a boost to your
application and c.v., but will help to prepare you for later
conferences in your academic career. If you do not wish to present a
paper, but still wish to gain academic experience, consider
participating as a proposal reviewer or respondent.

The conference will be held in the afternoon on Saturday, April 5th.
And, yes, there will be refreshments!

Papers should be between 8-10 pages (or, if longer, pared down to a
15 minute presentation). Abstracts will be accepted until 11:59 pm
Monday, March 24th, and can be submitted to unc [dot] cell [at] gmail.com . Any questions about the conference can also be directed to this email address. - Professor Anderson, Anna Willis
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( Papers should be 8-10 pages long or capable of being presented in fifteen minutes. Submit your abstract and contact information to Anna Willis at unc [dot] cell [at] gmail.com by 11:59 pm on March 24th. Please note your A/V needs. Queries are welcome. )

As I think of our loss--our school's loss--

Well, what could I say? Words are hardly enough, and they really might be too much. Art--literature--might need to be quiet in the face of Disaster, might not be capable of anything. I don't know. What I think we can do together, at least, as a school, and as a smaller community within a school, is grieve.

How often, when these things happen, we say: "It's terrible, and so strange to think 'it could have been anyone. It could have been me.'" Let's look away from ourselves tonight. It wasn't anyone--it was one of the best.

Perfection Wasted

By John Updike

And another regrettable thing about death
is the ceasing of your own brand of magic,
which took a whole life to develop and market --
the quips, the witticisms, the slant
adjusted to a few, those loved ones nearest
the lip of the stage, their soft faces blanched
in the footlight glow, their laughter close to tears,
their tears confused with their diamond earrings,
their warm pooled breath in and out with your heartbeat,
their response and your performance twinned.
The jokes over the phone. The memories
packed in the rapid-access file. The whole act.
Who will do it again? That's it: no one;
imitators and descendants aren't the same.

We'll be holding an events planning meeting today, Thursday, at 5:30 in the Donovan Lounge.

What: Events planning meeting. We'll be planning for the student/faculty get-together and looking forward to the other events we've got on the calendar.

When: Thursday, February 7th, at 5:30 PM

Where: Donovan Lounge, 2nd floor Greenlaw

Come if you can. Thanks.

Sarah
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Reflect on your present blessings, of which every man has many; not
on your past misfortunes, of which all men have some. - Charles Dickens

Join us at 7:00 tonight (Friday the 25th), room 317 Greenlaw, for a showing of Dead Poets Society.

Hey everyone!

Please try to make it out to our first meeting of the semester, next Wednesday at 6 pm (the 16th of January). We'll meet outside the Donovan Lounge. The purpose of this meeting is to regroup, brainstorm event ideas for the new semester, and start planning some of those events. I look forward to seeing you all.

Also, with this post, I have included a drawing of a bug, which I did today. That is all.

Sarah
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"Our great thoughts, our great affections, the Truths of our life, never
leave us." - William Makepeace Thackeray

Hi everyone!

Following Professor Anderson's message, I just wanted to extend my thanks to all of you--everyone involved with SOUL--for your participation and excitement this past semester. In a very real way, SOUL could not have been the success that it was without you.

As the community that has developed from the remnants (the rubble? the ashes?) of AEM (The Association of English Majors), we have good reason to be proud of ourselves. We've made something vital out of an idea that had essentially died. In doing so, I think we've moved in a significant way towards the creation of an English Major (and literature lovers) community. Every event we held this semester stands for an event we DIDN'T hold last semester, and hopefully we can expand upon this success in the coming semester and in the coming years.

We had planned two final events this semester--a student/faculty
get-together and a movie night (during which we'd show Wonder Boys)--but have postponed these events. At the tail end of the semester, stress is high and energy is low. We didn't want to fill your calendars (or ours) with events few would be likely to attend.

This said, we'll kick off the next semester with these and other fun
events, so look for our emails and keep checking our site. Best of luck on your finals!

Sarah Bull

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"Our great thoughts, our great affections, the Truths of our life, never leave us." - William Makepeace Thackeray