The Fourth Annual Spring English Conference is taking place on Friday, May 3rd, 2013. The conference features the original research and creative work of 45 DePaul graduate and undergraduate students. Refreshments will be provided, and the day will conclude with an exciting keynote speech by author and DePaul alumnae Rita Leganski.

The conference will take place on the fourth floor of Arts & Letters Hall, located at 2315 N. Kenmore Ave. The schedule of events is as follows:

Session One (1:30-2:30)

Room 404- Literary Analysis: Identity

• Dara Miller – “Demythologizing Patriarchy: Silence and Subversion in Angela Carter’s The Magic Toyshop“
• Emily Todd – “Inside Irene Redfield: Studying the Self in Nella Larsen’s Passing“
• Amanda Stewart – “They Have Made Shame Their Dear Daughter: Gender, Identity, and Shame in Le Roman de Silence“
• Josh Graber- “Being the Change: Helen Morales’ Critique of New Age Spirituality and Sara Ruhl’s Eurydice as a Sacrificial ‘Great Goddess’ Figure”

Room 408-Fiction 

• Jared Gerling –“Memories”
• Jillian Merrifield – “Angler Fish”
• Kevin Sterne –“Daisy”

Room 409 – Creative Nonfiction

• Michael Van Kerckhove – “The Pantry”
• Maria Hlohowskyj –“Knit Your Own Home”
• Tiffany Scarola – “The Ballad of Bill Greene”

Session Two (2:45-3:45)

Room 404- Literary Analysis: War & Trauma

• Richard Rodriguez – “The Homicidal Confederate and His Ghostly Family in Saunders’ CivilWarLand in Bad Decline”   
• Miranda Sanks- “Forget the Shrink; See a Novelist”
• Sarah Nowicki- “Revealing the Truth: How Wilfred Owen’s Revision Process Highlights the Heartbreak of War”
• Elizabeth Kerper- “Representations of Death”

Room 406- Poetry

• Alia Neaton- “On the Dew and the Dark” & Other Poems
• Emma Cushman Wood- “Shadow of the Bomb: A Poetic Anthology”
• Quintin Collins – “When”
• Matthew Morley – “Confessional Poetry”

Room 409- Creative Nonfiction: Travel & Other Cultures

• Mirna Velnic – “Old Country Estate”
• Maria Genovese – “My Malawi: A Creative Triptych”
• Joe Ruppel – “People Like Us”
• Meredith Boe – “Lessons”

Session Three (4:00-5:00)       

Room 404- Literary Analysis

• Carrie Mocarski- “Oroonko: A Critical Exploration”
• Daniel Backer – “Paradox and Reflection in John Barth’s ‘A Night-Sea Journey’”
• Danielle Wordelman – “Divine Metal: Swords in Early English Literature”

Room 406- Poetry: Chicago

• David Mathews –“View from the Cheap Seats: Poetry Portraits of Chicago”
• Cameron Rizzardini-“View from the Fox News Weather Cam at the Shedd Aquarium” & Other Poems
• Elizabeth Kerper –“Catcher” & Other Poems

Room 408- Fiction

• Zoe Stergiannis- “Backseat Baby”
• Christine Roche – “The Good Samaritan”
• Katie Hunsberger – “Portraits”
• Sara Patek – “Captive Audience”

Room 409 – Nonfiction: Family

• Michael Berry – “Literacy as Individuality”
• Tim Hillegonds – “Away”
• Vincent Moyet – “Igniting the Pauline War”

Break (5:00-5:45) – Refreshments will be served

Session Four (5:45-6:45)

Room 404- Literary Analysis: Milton

• Jaclyn Leonard – “Undermining a Flight Over the Mount in Milton’s Paradise Lost”
• Nick Scully– “Beauty in Paradise Lost: Powerful but not Valuable”
• Anna Dron – “Beauty Overrules Reason: The Power of Eve’s Beauty in John Milton’s Paradise Lost”
• Doug DePalma – “Naught Else Regarded: Milton’s Interaction with the Diggers and the Ranters in Paradise Lost”

Room 406- Poetry: Surrealism & Hybrid Genres

• Richard Rodriguez – “Wayne A. Ford’s Trousers” & Other Poems
• Josh Graber – “Be Normal” & Other Poems
• Sergio Garcia – “Barking Surprise” & Other Poems

Room 408- Fiction

• Olivia Orndorff – “A Mapmaker”
• Amanda Diana – “The Inevitable Demise of Teddy”
• Raul Palma – “Immaculate Mulch”  
• Stephanie Sylverne – Excerpt from Master Randolph’s Phantasey: A Novel

Room 409 – Nonfiction: Family

• Mame M. Kwayie – “Black Cool”
• Lisa Applegate – “Heredity”
• Tracey Hulstein – “In My Life”

Keynote Speech- 7:00 p.m. Arts & Letters Hall, first floor    

This year, the English Department is thrilled to welcome author Rita Leganski to campus as our keynote speaker. Leganski graduated from DePaul’s MAWP program in 2009, and is the author of The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow, which began as a short story for Dan Stolar’s fiction class and was recently published by HarperCollins.

The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow, Leganski’s debut novel, is the tale of a mute boy whose gift of wondrous hearing reveals family secrets and forgotten voodoo lore, and exposes a murder that threatens the souls of those who love him.

Bonaventure Arrow didn’t make a peep when he was born, and the doctor nearly took him for dead. But he was listening, placing sound inside quiet and gaining his bearings. By the time he turns five, he can hear flowers grow, a thousand shades of blue, and the miniature tempests that rage inside raindrops. He also hears the voice of his dead father, William Arrow, mysteriously murdered by a man known only as the Wanderer.

Exploring family relics, he opens doors to the past and finds the key to a web of secrets that both hold his family together, and threaten to tear them apart.

Set against the backdrop of 1950s New Orleans, The Silence of Bonaventure Arrow is a magical story about the lost art of listening and a wondrous little boy who brings healing to the souls of all who love him.

All are invited to attend this unique opportunity to hear a successful new writer speak about her life and work at the university where her novel got its start.

All panels are free and open to the public. If you have any questions, please contact: depaulenglishconference2013@gmail.com.

You can also find the Fourth Annual Spring English Conference on Facebook at facebook.com/events/122955074568400.