Meek's Cutoff and What is a Western? at the Autry Museum of the West

Meek’s Cutoff (2010)

What Is a Western? Film Series: Meek’s Cutoff (2010)
PART OF THE SERIES WHAT IS A WESTERN? FILM SERIES

Saturday, February 18, 2017, 1:30 p.m.

The Autry: Wells Fargo Theater

Admission: Included With Museum Admission / Free for Autry Members
RSVP/Reservations: Space Is Limited / Reservations Recommended

About the Event:

Selected by guest curators Robin Murray and Joseph Heumann, the January/February films consider the importance of water in the arid West. Murray and Heumann are the authors of Gunfight at the Eco-Corral: Western Cinema and the Environment and a number of other studies of ecocinema.

Meek’s Cutoff explores the desperation three pioneer families endure when they find themselves lost and without water in Oregon’s high plains desert. The movie tells the story of a search for fertile land in the West but also highlights alternative perspectives on the environment. Only the lone Native American (Rod Rondeaux) they capture can adapt the hellish desert they traverse into a home.

Directed by Kelly Reichardt | Starring Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, and Paul Dano

A Visit to the Autry Museum of the West

Lions in Winter Literary Festival, January 27-28, 2017

 

Schedule & Craft Talk Descriptions

On January 27 – 28, 2017, the English Department at Eastern Illinois University will host LIONS IN WINTER, an annual literary festival. The 2017 keynote reading will be given by Laura van den Berg. Craft talks and featured readings are by Janice N. Harrington, Dionne Irving, James Davis May, and Erica Wright. Members of the editors’ panel include staff from Bluestem and Guernica.

Registration is required for all events UNLESS noted as “open to the public.” The free and open to the public events include the Friday and Saturday evening readings with all the authors, and the Saturday morning children’s story-hour.

All events will occur in the Doudna Fine Arts Center at Eastern Illinois University. The exception to this is the Saturday morning story hour, which takes place at EIU’s Booth Library.

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SCHEDULE

Friday,  January 27^th
5:00
Lions in Winter Keynote Reading, Featuring Laura van den Berg
Free and Open to the Public [Doudna Lecture Hall]
Book Signing to Follow

7:30
Performance by bluegrass/rap act, Gangstagrass
*Additional ticket required. Call 217-581-3110 for purchase.  [Doudna Concert Hall]

Saturday,  January 28^th
9:30-10:00
Continental Breakfast and Welcome [Doudna Concourse]
*If you have not purchased a breakfast ticket with your registration, you may do so at the registration desk.

9:30-1:30
Bookfair [Doudna Concourse]
Free and Open to the Public

10:00-10:50
Craft Talk with Members of Gangstagrass
“How to Write Rap Lyrics”
[Doudna, Room 1360 (Choral/Jazz Rehearsal Room)]

10:00-10:50
Craft Talk with Fiction Writer Erica Wright
“Where to Hide the Body: Starting a Mystery”
[Doudna, Room 1524]
10:00-10:50
 
Story Hour with Children’s Author Janice Harrington
[Booth Library, Ballenger Teachers Center]
Free and Open to the Public For children ages 3-7 accompanied by an adult.

11:00-11:50
Craft Talk with Keynote Speaker Laura van den Berg
“The Blazing Thing: Imagination in Fiction”
[Doudna, Room 1360 (Choral/Jazz Rehearsal Room)]

12:00-12:50
Lunch [Doudna Concourse]
*If you have not purchased a lunch ticket with your registration, you may do so at the registration desk.

1:00-1:50
Craft Talk with Creative Non-Fiction Writer Dionne Irving
“Personal Anthropology: Researching the Self in Memoir”

1:00-1:50
Craft Talk with Children’s Author Janice Harrington
“At the Risk of Repeating Myself: Repetition and Poetry in Picture Book Texts”
[Doudna, Room 1524]

2:00-2:50
Craft Talk with Poet James Davis May
“Hey, Baby, What’s Your Stanza?’: Mapping the Stanzaic Zodiac”
[Doudna, Room 1360 (Choral/Jazz Rehearsal Room)]

3:00-3:50
Editors’ Panel Discussion
Hear the editors of Bluestem, Guernica and other featured journals talk about the submission process, literary citizenship, and helpful do’s and don’ts.
[Doudna Lecture Hall]

3:00-3:50
Undergraduate Reading
Students from nearby universities are coming together to present their creative work.
Free and Open to the Public [Doudna’s Red Room]

6:00
Visiting Writers Reading Featuring James Davis May, Dionne Irving, and Erica Wright
Free and Open to the Public [Doudna Lecture Hall]
Book Signing and Reception to Follow

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Spring 2017 First Week of Classes

I grew so busy this weekend that I forgot to complete my blog. I even stopped completing my list journal, just getting to it tonight after a week. I'm trying and failing to fill in the facts. I know I went to Carter's Furniture on Saturday to buy a couch and consider a Scandinavian chair with an ottoman. I know I made bread and frittatas for the week that night and may have played Freecell.

As usual, I began each day with a workout on my exercise bike, ab work, and yoga before checking email in front of the TV. Each day I also walked the dog at least three times and (for the most part) went to Jazzercise for my aerobic workout.

Mostly, though, I prepared for class, setting up grades and the first week of a calendar and news for my classes in D2L (Desire to Learn), our online classroom here at EIU. With detailed syllabi and calendars to guide me, I've been able to easily share the daily classwork with students.

Now I'm tired and look forward to sleeping in a few days this weekend. Although I will memorialize Martin Luther King on Monday, events don't begin until later in the day, so I can sleep in on that day off, as well.

Another given each day is a movie, so here's a list of the films I watched this week:

Rainbow Time
A River Between Us
The Story of Aardman
A Grand Night In
Battle of Sevastopol
Norm of the North
Louder than Bombs
Headwinds
Dog Eat Dog
various silent shorts for class
The Plow that Broke the Plains for class

I also read before bed each night and finished re-reading The Silver Star and started Vinegar Girl.

Now I'm really tired!

Films Viewed in 2016, the Final Entry: October, November, and December's New Coming of Age Stories

October

Honeytrap (Dir. Rebecca Johnson, 2016): In Brixton, London, fifteen-year-old Layla gets 

sucked into gang activity.

From Rotten Tomatoes: HONEYTRAP is the harrowing rite-of-passage drama inspired by a 

real-life crime of love, betrayal and murder in 2009. Featuring an international cast, the 

movie stars Jessica Sula (Skins, ABC Family's Recovery Road) Lucien Laviscount 

(Fox's Scream Queens), Naomi Ryan (GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY) and 

Ntonga Mwanza (LEAVE TO REMAIN). Girlhood and gang culture collide in 

HONEYTRAP as 15-year old Layla (Sula) contends with bullying at a new school 

by transforming herself inside and out. The teen's compulsive journey for love and 

acceptance soon becomes fatal in this cautionary tale based on headline news 

adapted by writer/director Rebecca Johnson.

The Confirmation (Dir. Bob Nelson, 2016): A divorced father (Clive Owen) and his 

eight-year-old son (Spencer Drever) spend a rather predictable weekend together, but 

when a valuable toolbox gets stolen, the search for the thieves will turn into a true family bonding. 

Mark Dujsik from RogerEbert.com: “This is a smart, effective coming-of-age tale about a 

boy figuring out that there are gray areas to life's moral choices.” 

November 

Morris From America (Dir. Chad Hartigan, 2016): The romantic and coming-of-age misadventures 

of a 13-year-old American living in Germany. 

From Rotten Tomatoes: Critics Consensus: Morris from America adds some novel narrative twists 

to its father-son story -- and gains added resonance thanks to a powerful performance 

from Craig Robinson.

December 

Moonlight (Dir. Barry Jenkins, 2016): A timeless story of human self-discovery and connection, 

Moonlight chronicles the life of a young black man from childhood to adulthood as he struggles 

to find his place in the world while growing up in a rough neighborhood of Miami. 

From Rotten Tomatoes: Critics Consensus: Moonlight uses one man's story to offer a remarkable 

and brilliantly crafted look at lives too rarely seen in cinema.