Alvin Turner's Hanging Men

Alvin O. Turner, emeritus dean of social sciences and humanities and professor of history at East Central University, has just published Hanging Men, a collection of poems based on the 1909 vigilante hangings in Ada.

According to the press release from Mongel Empire Press, Hanging Man  "reveals the human elements—hubris, fear, desire, greed—behind the sensational and sensationalized 1909 vigilante hangings of four men who were slated to stand trial for the murder of a local businessman in Ada, OK. There have been several historical treatments of the hangings and the events that led up to them, but Turner's poetic approach adds rich new layers to the story.

"The collection includes an extensively-researched “Historical Afterward” that contextualizes the events that led up to the hangings, responses to the hangings both contemporaneous and contemporary, and an evaluation of the continuing repercussions of violence in Pontotoc County as related in Robert Mayer's Dreams of Ada and John Grisham's Innocent Man."

Congratulations, Dr. Turner!

Click here for more details.

Publication Opportunity: Essais!

Essais, a new journal published through Utah Valley University for undergraduate literature students, is asking for papers dealing with any subject in literature, rhetoric, theory, or cinema studies. Please send all questions or submissions to essais.uvu@gmail.com

Submission due date is September 16, 2011 for our Fall publication.

Deadline for Spring publication mid-january for our Spring issue.through Utah Valley University.

Click here for more information on Essais.

A Philosopher and an Artist

"Break Time" by Jennifer L. McMahon

Dr. Jennifer McMahon, chair of the Department of English and Languages, will be exhibiting pencil sketches at Skidmore College's Reunion Art Exhibition taking place June 2-5, 2011, a juried exhibition open to graduates of the college in a reunion year (5-year cycles).

Dr. McMahon's work will be displayed in a group along with a piece by Dr. McMahon's mother, Joan Grippin McMahon (see "Apple" below), at Skidmore's Tang Museum and Gallery. The opening reception is Friday, June 3rd.

Skidmore College is a small, private. liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York, where Dr. McMahon completed her coursework for the BA in Philosophy there in 1991. Her  mother, aunt, and grandmother are also graduates of the college.

"Apple" by Joan Grippin McMahon

"Nervous Heifer" by Jennifer L. McMahon

Further information about the exhibit, the college, or the Tang gallery can be found at www.skidmore.edu.