We now have an official LAF 2016 Facebook page thanks to our social media maven, Reem Filfel. Please visit us and LIKE us. The LAF team will salute you back.
Literature Roundtables: February 24 and March 21
Please attend two important literary events happening at City Tech:
Literature Roundtable: “Why Black Literature Matters”
Tuesday, February 23, 3:30-5 p.m.
Namm Building, Room 119
This event, co-sponsored by the African-American Studies Department and the English Department is part of the college’s celebration of Black History Month.
Then, in conjunction with the Literary Arts Festival:
Literary Arts Festival Literature Roundtable
Monday, March 21, 11:30 a.m.
Atrium Amphitheater
Professors Renata Ferdinand and Ruth Garcia lead a faculty and student discussion of Mary Gaitskill’s works; included will be “Five Questions with Mary Gaitskill.”
Both events are free and open to faculty and students at City Tech.
Literature Round Table: March 21, 11:30-12:45 p.m.
Please join us for the Literature Round Table as students and faculty discuss the works of Mary Gaitskill. Classes throughout City Tech have been reading Gaitskill works including The Mare. “Lost Cat,” “The Other Place,” and “The Arms and Legs of the Lake.” Gaitskill has generously agreed to participate in “Five Questions with Mary Gaitskill.” Students will submit questions in advance. Her answers will be read out loud at the Roundtable. The Roundtable is organized by Professors Renata Ferdinand and Ruth Garcia.
LAF Literature Roundtable
March 21, 11:30-12:45 p.m.
Atrium Amphitheatre
Atrium Building, Ground floor
Free and open to City Tech students, staff, and faculty.
Mary Gaitskill’s The Mare
Mary Gaitskill’s recent novel The Mare, published in November 2005, tells the story of Ginger, a married woman in upstate New York, and Velvet, a Dominican girl from Williamsburg and Crown Heights, Brooklyn, who comes to live with Ginger and Paul intermittently through the Fresh Air Fund. As Ginger and Velvet begin to depend on and find depth through their evolving relationship, the differences between their lives are illuminated and challenged; while an unwieldy horse offers an opportunity for Velvet and Ginger to prove to themselves and others the power of individual determination and of learning how to offer and receive love.The Mare will soon be available in City Tech bookstore.The book has received critical acclaim including:
- Uneasy Rider: Mary Gaitskill’s Fictions of Mastery in The New Yorker.
- Mary Gaitskill’s “The Mare” by Stacey D’Erasmo in The New York Times.
Mary Gaitskill’s Don’t Cry
In her third book of short stories, Don’t Cry, Gaitskill continues her exploration of human failings and confusions in ten short stories. These works take a turn with a deeper exploration of mothering and the bewilderment of violence and its effects. The volume contains the story “The Arms and Legs of the Lake.” Don’t Cry will soon be available in the City Tech bookstore. (Image: Amazon)
Mary Gaitskill’s Bad Behavior
Mary Gaitskill’s first book, Bad Behavior, contains the short stories that drew immediate critical attention to her work when it was published in 1988. Their explorations of sexuality, gender, power plays in relationships, and the fragile foundations of family of friendship are investigated in these stories that set the bar for Gaitskill’s taut and lyrical prose. This volume contains the story “Secretary,” which was made into a movie in 2002 starring Maggie Gyllenhaal and James Spader. This book will soon be available at the City Tech bookstore. Image: Amazon.
Mary Gaitskill’s Veronica
Mary Gaitskill’s second novel tells the story of Alison and her relationship with an older woman with a powerful presence named Veronica. The storyline belongs primarily to Alison, whose life as a teenage runaway selling flowers outside of strip clubs dramatically shifts to the glamorous but tenuous reality as a high fashion model in New York City and Paris. But as her looks and fortune fades, Alison finds herself mired in the daily grind of 1980s as a proofreader in Manhattan where she meets Veronica. Veronica’s illness (she contracts HIV) has a profound affect on Alison, as she tries to manage her ties to family and friends and learn the art of making a living. Veronica was a finalist for a National Book Award in 2005. This book will soon be available in the City Tech bookstore.
Reviews of Veronica include:
Veronica: Two Girls Alive and Dead by Meghan O’Rourke in the New York Times
LAF Team Meeting: February 11th at 1pm
Join the Literary Arts Festival Student Team! As a member of the LAF Team, you will help publicize the event, choose talent for the festival, and aid in organization/ set-up the night of the event, and be instrumental in delivering what is sure to be an epic night of entertainment, inspiration, and school spirit.
I forgot to mention the awesome (and free) LAF t-shirt you will receive as a member of TEAM LAF.
Our first meeting will be Thursday, February 11th at 1pm in Namm 321. All students are welcome!
Mary Gaitskill Featured Artist at Literary Arts Festival 2016
Mary Gaitskill has written three books of short stories and three novels including the widely acclaimed Veronica and Bad Behavior. Her writing is recognized for its exacting prose style and sensitive explorations of human relationships and failings, with an eye toward physical interactions, violence, obsession, and desire. Her new novel, The Mare, explores contemporary class, race, and the complex politics of “giving” through the story of a young Dominican girl from Brooklyn who comes to live with a couple in upstate New York through the controversial Fresh Air Fund and how all of their lives are changed. She’ll read at our Literary Arts Festival on March 24, 2016. For more information on Mary Gaitskill, visit her Wikipedia page.
Writing Competition 2016: Deadline Feb. 25, 2016!
Submit contest entries to CityTechLAF@gmail.com
Indicate in the header of the email the category being entered:
- Adolphus Lee Poetry Award
- Charles Matusik Fiction Award
- Lou Rivers Drama Award
- Graphic Text Award
- Alan Kay Literary Criticism Award
- Judith Walter Personal Essay Award
- Laura Polla Scanlon Award for Best Essay on New York
- Michele Forsten Advocacy Award
- Charles Hirsch Faculty and Staff Award
LAF Writing Competition Postcard 2016
