Food Writing: A Tasting Menu
10:00 am – 11:00 am
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets
Reading Marathon
11:00 am – 3:00 pm
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets
Futures in Writing: Advice from Drexel Alumni
3:00 pm – 4:00 pm
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets

Control/Alt/Adapt: Alternative Fiction and Adaptation
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets
Reading Marathon
12:30 pm – 4:30 pm
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets

Bookfair for Literacy
10:00 am – 5:00 pm
Behrakis Grand Hall, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets
Speed Editing
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm
Behrakis Grand Hall, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets
Maya Open Mic
1:30 pm – 2:30 pm
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets

University Writing Program/Saturnalia Book’s Prize Winner Reading
11:00 am – 12:30 pm
Mandell Theater, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets
Journal Writing: Self-reflection, Self-improvement, and Professionalism
2:00 pm – 3:20 pm
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets

Writing for Laughs
11:00 am – 12:00 pm
Mandell Lobby, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets
Whose Story is it Anyway? Interactive Improv Session
12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
Dance Studio, Creese Student Center, 33rd and Chestnut Streets

All Week of Writing events will take place in the Creese Student Center, accessible via Chestnut Street entrances. Please check the individual events for details on which part of the Creese Student Center those events will take place within.

Food is one of the greatest and most enjoyed indicators of culture and history. Discovering what people eat tells us more than just what is on the plate. It tells us where they live, what flavors excite different people, how tastes evolve, and how they can be both individual and shared (some people may never understand haggis). This panel will focus on the ways in which food and the culture of eating is explored through writing. On the panel will be Lise Funderburg; her latest book is narrative nonfiction: Pig Candy: Taking My Father South, Taking My Father Home (Free Press), a contemplation of life, death, and barbecue. She has been a regular contributor to O, the Oprah Magazine and has written a book about the Tony-winning musical The Color Purple. Her articles, essays and reviews have appeared widely in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Nation, Salon, Newsday, and many other publications (http://www.lisefunderburg.com); Sebastian Agudelo, whose book of poems, To the Bone, uses food as its primary subject; Melissa Goldthwaite, who teaches food writing at St. Joseph’s University and recently edited an anthology of food writing. The panel will be moderated by Jason Wilson, a columnist for the Washington Post’s food section. His column won the 2008 award for Best Newspaper Column from the Association of Food Journalists. His food and travel writing has appeared in National Geographic Traveler, Conde Nast Traveler, Travel & Leisure, Salon, Outside, and many other publications. He formerly served as the restaurant critic at Philadelphia Magazine. At Drexel University, he edits both The Smart Set and Table Matters. He is also the series editor of The Best American Travel Writing. A Tasting Menu will be sure to please any palette – after all, who doesn’t love to eat?

WoW Contest winners and Drexel’s own faculty congregate in the Mandell Theater Lobby to share their work in poetry, fiction, nonfiction,  and humor. You’ll laugh; you’ll cry; you’ll be inspired.

English majors, humanities students, and writers alike often ask themselves “just what exactly am I going to do with this degree?” After four or five years in college, the question of what comes next is often hard to answer. This panel will discuss writing as a career, and represent the various fields and careers available to those with a talent for or interest in writing. With an emphasis placed on those Drexel University alumni currently working in writing or publishing, the panel will demonstrate to current students the wide-ranging writing career paths available. Panelists may include those working in journalism, technical writing, or medical writing.

Panelists include: Rich Lampert, who is a publishing consultant, working primarily with publishing companies and professional associations involved with book and digital publishing in the health sciences. Rich started his career as a Drexel co-op working as the first summer intern ever employed by the W.B. Saunders Company, at the time the largest medical publisher in the English-speaking world. Rich became the editor in charge of the Saunders textbook publishing program in biology, then moved into medical publishing with a succession of companies. His latest corporate position was as Vice President, Global Surgery for Elsevier, working with academic physicians and selling into markets throughout the world. In 2004, Rich established The Lampert Consultancy to undertake consulting related to many aspects of health science publishing, including editorial, marketing, e-publishing, and business strategy.

Chris McPherson is a writer and on-air personality for PhiladelphiaEagles.com. During his time at Drexel, Chris took advantage of the Co-Op Program and interned with the Eagles, Fox29 and WB-17. He was also very involved with The Triangle where he was the sports editor. Chris graduated with his B.S. in Communications in 2003 and worked for the Daily Local News in West Chester covering high school sports until July 2004 when he rejoined the Eagles on a full-time basis.

Angela Norton is a 2007 graduate of the Masters of Science Publication Management Program at Drexel University. She currently is a developmental editor for Elsevier in Philadelphia. Angela is the founding member of the Philadelphia chapter of the Young to Publishing Group (YPG) which aims to educate young professionals in the publishing industry while providing the members a networking resource outside their own publishing houses.

Amy Weaver graduated from Drexel in 2006 with a B.A. in English and a Certificate in Creative Writing and Publishing. She is currently the Marketing Manager for Drexel’s College of Arts and Sciences and the Publicity Director for the Drexel Publishing Group.

After the canon, what’s left to say? When hypertext becomes commonplace, what can possibly be new? This panel will discuss re-imagining text in visual, written, and live forms, as well as where new technology might take text next. Panelists include Allen Sabinson, dean of Westphal College and producer of more than 20 adaptations of classic novels into film; Robert Berry, graphic novelist whose newest project is an electronic graphic novel adaptation of James Joyce’s Ulysses; and Nathalie Anderson (of Swarthmore’s Department of English Literature) who has written several librettos, most recently an adaptation of Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Scandal in Bohemia,” featuring the immaculate intellectual detective Sherlock Holmes in a story where he’s “beaten by a woman’s wit.” The panel will be moderated by and contributed to by Chad A. Rutkowski, a copyright and trademark lawyer practicing in Philadelphia with the law firm of Woodcock Washburn LLP. Mr. Rutkowski counsels his clients on matters involving copyright infringement and fair use issues, and has litigated numerous copyright claims for both the high tech industry and the arts. Mr. Rutkowski is an active member of the Copyright Society of the USA, and provides counsel to several arts organizations, including the Painted Bride Quarterly.

The conclusion of readings acknowledging the best undergraduate and faculty writing.

Painted Bride Quarterly, a nonprofit literary magazine in its own right, welcomes several local small presses and journals to Drexel for the opportunity to present themselves and their work. A used book sale will accompany the event, with all proceeds and remaining books being donated to Philadelphia Reads, a local literacy group. This will mark the first such venture for WoW, with any and all participation and patronage being greatly appreciated.

This event harnesses our efforts to acknowledge that in this digital age, the written word has never been more important, and the book still has a crucial role.

Terribly lonely? Tired of wandering chat rooms, social networks, and dating sites? Desperate for a quick relationship? Well, if speed dating isn’t to your taste, perhaps speed editing is what you need. Literary editors from several local publications, specializing in various fields, will be on hand and at your disposal. Upon meeting one of the editors, your work will be read, analyzed, and critiqued – all in 7 minutes. So come out; get feedback; what else could you be doing on a Wednesday afternoon? Bring in fiction, poetry, creative non-fiction, feature articles, op-ed, academic writing—all genres are welcome!

Participating Editors include, but are not limited to:

Mark Drew is the assistant editor of the Gettysburg Review and a former editor of the Black Warrior Review. A recipient of an Academy of American Poets Prize, he has had poems published in the Gettysburg Review, Lament, the Mankato Poetry Review, and elsewhere, as well as in a limited-edition, letterpress chapbook, Uncertainties.

Paula Marantz Cohen, Distinguished Professor of English at Drexel University, is the author of four nonfiction books: The Daughter’s Dilemma: Family Process and the Nineteenth-Century British Novel and The Daughter as Reader: Encounters Between Literature and Life, both from University of Michigan Press, Alfred Hitchcock: The Legacy of Victorianism from U. Press of Kentucky, and Silent Film and the Triumph of the American Myth from Oxford University Press, a Choice Outstanding Academic Book. She is also the author of three novels: Jane Austen in Boca, Much Ado About Jessie Kaplan, and Jane Austen in Scarsdale or Love, Death, and the SATs, Book of the Month Club and Doubleday Book Club selections—all from St. Martin’s Press. Her essays, stories, and reviews appear regularly in The Yale Review, The American Scholar, The Times Literary Supplement, The Smart Set, and other publications. She is a co-editor of jml: Journal of Modern Literature.

Susan Muaddi Darraj is Associate Professor of English at Harford Community College in Bel Air, Maryland, the Managing Editor of The Baltimore Review. Her fiction has appeared or is forthcoming in New York Stories, The Orchid Literary Review, Mizna, and other venues. Her articles, essays, and reviews have appeared in The Christian Science Monitor, City Paper, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Al-Jadid and many other other sources. She also has contributed book chapters to many anthologies and collections.

John Timpane is a media editor and writer at The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he was also op-ed editor for 11 years. Before that, he was a college English teacher for 17 years. Among other books, he has written (with Nancy H., Packer) Writing Worth Reading (NY: Bedford, 1994).

Steve Volk has covered cops, crime, courts, the illegal drug market and turducken (really) for Rolling Stone, Men’s Health, Men’s Journal and Philadelphia Weekly. He is currently a staff writer at Philadelphia Magazine. He has a book due out from HarperCollins in Spring, 2011.

Maya, Drexel’s own undergraduate literary magazine, continues the reading series in the Mandell Theater Lobby. This event, however, is hosted by you. All Drexel students are invited to participate by sharing their work. Reading slots tend to fill up quickly, so please email dsomaya@drexel.edu if you are interested in reading.

Pennoni Honors College and Saturnalia Books welcome Timothy Liu and Sebastian Agudelo.

Timothy Liu is the author of six collections of poetry, most recently Polytheogamy (Saturnalia Books, 2009). An Associate Professor of English at William Paterson University and a member of the Core Faculty in Bennington College’s Graduate Writing Seminars, Liu lives in Manhattan.

Sebastian Agudelo is the author of To the Bone, winner of the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize, selected by Mark Doty. Born in Mexico City, Sebastian Agudelo earned his MA from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale and currently teaches literature and writing at University of the Arts and Temple University. He has worked extensively in restaurants in Philadelphia, where he presently lives with his wife and daughter.

The panel will look at journal writing in the areas of medicine, psychology, and criminal justice. Panelists will discuss how journal writing can help practitioners prepare them for their professional work, and how it can also help their clients/patients gain balance and self-understanding. Panelists include:

Julia Hall, Ph.D., Professor and Coordinator of the Criminal Justice Program, Drexel University. Dr. Hall’s research and pro bono activities concern criminal justice system reforms especially regarding juveniles, women and the elderly. She has facilitated Restorative Justice Programs in the State Correctional prisons and trained corrections and probation and parole administrators, staff and officers.

Jacqueline D. Kloss, Ph.D., Associate Professor in the Department of Psychology at Drexel University. She is also a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Director of the Insomnia Program at the Drexel Sleep Center, DUCOM. Dr. Kloss’ research focuses on how psychological factors influence insomnia, and health-promoting applications of written emotional expression.

Dr. Emilie S. Passow, the Director of the Certificate Program in Medical Humanities, a faculty member in English as well as the Judaic Studies Program at Drexel. Through grants, she most previously taught Medical Humanities at Thomas Jefferson Medical College, and also has given Grand Rounds in most of the Medical institutions in the Philadelphia area. She also writes and lectures widely on Biblical Narrative and American Jewish Writers, and has been a Research Associate for the Transcending Trauma Project at the Penn Council for Relationships as well.

Pamela Superville is the Program Manager of Philly ReNew at the Pennsylvania Prison Society. She was integrally involved in the planning of Philly ReNew, an innovative reentry project. She collaborated with its Life Skills Educator to create the concept of the Philly ReNew Black Box Journal where participants engage in the regular practice of creative journaling as a therapeutic and intellectual exercise. Superville is a Reentry In-Service training instructor. She’s also a presenter on former-offender/reentry issues.

Dr. Piety has articles in the book Reasons for War: Global Media Opposition and Support for the War in Iraq as well as in periodicals such as The Journal of Business Ethics and the Times Literary Supplement. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Greater Philadelphia Philosophy Consortium and a Drexel Representative for the Greater Philadelphia Human Studies Council. She is also a member of the Steering Committee of the Kierkegaard for the Religion and Culture group of the American Academy of Religion.

As the late, great humorist and humanist Kurt Vonnegut once said, “Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.” Comedy is a need we all share. It’s quite a task to be able to make a lot of people laugh. Comedic writers and artists have their work cut out for them, as everyone’s sense of humor varies. Yet, there are still a few things that are universally funny. This afternoon of comedy may include a panel of writers – playwrights, screenwriters, essayists, or novelists whose focus is on humor.

Bobbi Block has been performing, teaching, producing and directing Improvisational Theatre in the Philadelphia area for the past 16 years. She is the Founder/Artistic Director and performs with the reality-based longform improv company, Tongue & Groove. In 2007 Bobbi conceived and directed LEAP: The Actors’ Improv Experiment, for the Philadelphia Live Arts Festival. Bobbi was the Co-Producer and Education Director of the Barrymore Award-winning improvisational theatre company, ComedySportz Philadelphia, for 15 years, and was Artistic Director of the company for 2 years. In addition, Bobbi has been performing longform improv for 11 years with LunchLady Doris, and performed with the interdisciplinary improvisational theatre company, Playback Philadelphia, for four years. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Bobbi got her Masters degree in Theatre from Villanova University, and has since trained with master improvisers in Chicago, NYC and LA. Bobbi has taught improv at the University of the Arts, University of Pennsylvania, Villanova University, Bucks County Community College, the Wilma Theatre, the Walnut Street Theatre, Philadelphia Young Playwrights, ComedySportz, Philly Improv Theater (PHIT) and private classes. She currently teaches Improv at Temple University. As a Communications Skills Consultant, Bobbi travels the world using acting, improv and theatre techniques to train corporate executives in leadership and team development skills.

Jennifer Childs is the Artistic Director of 1812 Productions for whom she has written and directed The Big Time, Another Big Time, Like Crazy Like Wow, Something Wonderful Right Away, Always A Lady, Double Down, This Is The Week That Is, and most recently the original musical Cherry Bomb. In addition to her work at 1812 she has performed and/or directed for the Wilma Theater, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Walnut Street Theatre, Arden Theatre Company, Prince Music Theatre, Mum Puppettheatre, Act II Playhouse, Lenape Regional Performing Arts Center, Lantern Theatre Company, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival and ComedySportz. She is a two-time Barrymore award winner including the 1999 F. Otto Haas Award for an Emerging Theatre Artist. Earlier this year she was awarded an Independence Foundation Fellowship in the Arts grant to write and develop a solo performance piece entitled Why I’m Scared of Dance By Jen Childs.

Sandy Hingston is a senior editor at Philadelphia magazine. She began writing her parenting column, “Loco Parentis,” in 2000; it’s frequently received the gold award for regular column from the City and Regional Magazine Association, and last year received the Clarion Award from the Association of Women in Communications. Her work has appeared in Women’s Health, Self, Prevention and More magazines, among other publications, and her essays were included in the recent books Mommy Wars: Stay-at-Home and Career Moms Face Off on Their Choices, Their Lives, Their Families and Choice: True Stories of Birth,Contraception, Infertility, Adoption, Single Parenthood and Abortion, both of which are much more fun than they sound. A graduate of Duke University, she lives outside Philadelphia with her husband and two kids.

Scott Stein is the author of the novels Lost and Mean Martin Manning and the editor of When Falls the Coliseum: a journal of American culture (or lack thereof). He has been reviewed and interviewed by such publications as Reason Magazine, The American Spectator, Liberty, The Philadelphia Inquirer, Philadelphia City Paper, BookSense.com, and New York Magazine. He teaches in Drexel’s Department of English and Philosophy — the book Drexel University Off the Record (the unauthorized guide for prospective students) named “Scott Stein’s Humor & Comedy Writing class” one of the “Ten Best Things About Drexel.

The Humor Writing panel will be followed by an improvisational humor event, including a workshop with improvisers from various professional companies in the Philadelphia area as well as members of Drexel’s undergraduate improv comedy group, The Drexel Football Team. Attendance to the preceding Humor Writing panel is not required to participate, but encouraged.