Monthly Archives: May 2009

saints, witches, madwomen

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I’m taking a super cool course for the pre-session, Saints, Witches, Madwomen. So far the readings are very good. And it’s nice to reread some of the texts I’ve read in other courses or in other contexts.

Brown, Immodest Acts
Buccola, Conjuring
Freud, Dora
Gilman, The Yellow Wall Paper
Kingston, The Woman Warrior
Sharpe, Witchcraft in Early Modern England
Shakespeare, Macbeth
Shaw, Saint Joan
Wilson, Medieval Women Writers

I mention the class here because: 1) the professor Carole Levin is a wonderful teacher; 2) she’s a prolific author: 3) she’s c0-curated the current exhibition at the Folger Shakespeare Library, “To Sleep Perchance to Dream.” When I visited DC a year or so ago, I did get a chance to explore the library led by a docent. Too cool. But more cool, is the current exhibit has a virtual tour online with audio, images, and texts. You can even hear my teacher explain certain aspects of the exhibit.


summer residency

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If anyone is in the area in late July, it’d be great to see you…

Artists Selected for 2009 Residency Program at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site

WEST BRANCH, IOWA— Writer Laura Madeline Wiseman and painter Patricia Rottino Cummins will be this year’s Artists-in-Residence at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. During their residencies Ms. Wiseman and Ms. Cummins will be available to interact with park visitors while they work. Each will also present a public program.

Laura Madeline Wiseman is a PhD student in English at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ms. Wiseman’s great-great-great-grandmother, an Iowa native who lectured across the Midwest in the 19th century, inspires her current research and writing project. “These poems capture not only her life and work,” said Ms. Wiseman, “but also the natural landscape of the American West, where she was born and where she lived most of her life.” Ms. Wiseman will be the Artist-in-Residence from July 14 through August 2.

Patricia Rottino Cummins of Miami, Florida, has been an art educator for over thirty years in the Miami Dade Public Schools. Her works of art are inspired by local landscapes, as well as by the vistas she has seen and photographed during her many travels and National Park residencies. “Lately I find myself closely concentrating on each landscape,” said Ms. Cummins, “and discovering that unique element that interprets the moment, feeling, and importance of the subject.” Ms. Cummins will be the Artist-in-Residence during the week of October 19.

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum are in West Branch, Iowa at exit 254 off I-80. Both are open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. Parking is limited so please allow extra time to find a parking space.

my little red book on rachael ray

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This is a bit late to post, but the editor of my little red book was interviewed on Rachael Ray Show.Wow. New York Times Best Seller’s list the first week it arrived, now Rachael Ray. There’s also an interview with the editor in The New Yorker and a discussion on feministing. Clearly, a lot of women have something to say about periods. You can submit your period story to my little red book’s online anthology.