February 17, 2006 Source: University of Calgary:
http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/feb06/wordsilo.html Word Silo: U of C English Department hosts audience-interactive series Six-guns, Zsa Zsa Gabor, loser poets, and an investigatory team right out of the TV series CSI may seem an unlikely combination. But all these are topics for discussion at Word Silo, the University of Calgary English Department’s audience-interactive series involving the public and the department’s faculty members. Two afternoon and two evening sessions take place during the month of March. Word Silo kicks off at 2 pm at Memorial Park Library (1221 2nd St. SW) on Saturday, March 4, 2006. In a presentation entitled "Literary CSI: The University of Calgary’s Shakespearean-era Mystery Manuscript Play", Dr. Mary Polito examines the fascinating investigatory tools used by campus researchers to date a rare Shakespearean-era play manuscript discovered amid a collection of rare books. At 7 pm on Wednesday, March 8, 2006 (International Women’s Day) at McNally Robinson Booksellers (120 8th Ave. SW), Dr. Kirsten Pullen looks at women celebrities in her discussion, "Famous for Being Famous: Women Celebrities from Zsa Zsa Gabor to Paris Hilton". Dr. Pullen considers what women - mostly famous for being famous - can tell us about contemporary understandings of women, sexuality, and fame. "The Friendly Gun: Cowboys, Childhood, Guns, and Me" is the title of Dr. Rod McGillis’ presentation at Memorial Park Library at 2 pm on Saturday, March 18, 2006. Dr. McGillis muses on why cowboys and their six-shooters in the B-movies starring Roy Rogers, Gene Autry, and Hopalong Cassidy he watched as a child continue to exert a fascination. And at 7 pm on Thursday, March 23, 2006 at McNally Robinson Booksellers, best-selling, innovative poet Dr. Christian Bök looks at "The Failure of Poetry, or Why are Poets Such Losers? He will initiate a discussion on artistic failure - why and how so many experimental artists, such as poets, endure failure in its many guises. The English Department’s Word Silo series is designed to indicate the breadth and depth of research at a contemporary English Department. March has been declared English Department Month, as on-campus and off-campus activities spotlight the scope and vigor of contemporary English studies at the University of Calgary. For more information, contact Janice Lee at 403.220.8177 or leej@ucalgary.ca.
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