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The Written Word

GAMBIER, Ohio (October 28, 2011)

In a celebration of the written word, the Kenyon Review Literary Festival returns to Kenyon College on Friday and Saturday, November 4-5.

The festival features a range of free activities including a book sale, poetry readings, panel discussions led by Kenyon professors, and tours of the new Graham Gund Gallery and its inaugural exhibition, "Seeing/Knowing."

The festival's keynote speaker, author Simon Schama, will receive the 2011 Kenyon Review Award for Literary Achievement at a gala dinner in New York City on Thursday, November 3, and then travel to Gambier. Schama-a critic, essayist and professor of art history and history at Columbia University-is a significant figure in contemporary literature and criticism said David Lynn, editor of The Kenyon Review and Kenyon professor of English.

"Schama is peerless in the sheer beauty of his prose and the breadth of expertise in art, art history, history, and literature," Lynn said. Schama's work covers a breadth of topics. Schama is the author of fifteen books, including Scribble, Scribble, Scribble: Writing on Politics, Ice Cream, Churchill & My Mother, which was the selection for Knox Reads! - reading and discussion events throughout the community that began in September.

"Schama's essays collected in Scribble, Scribble, Scribble lend themselves to wonderful, short samplings of his work," Lynn said. "From delightful musing about the joys of ice cream, to illuminating travel essays from Amsterdam to New York, to brilliant insights into Rembrandt's art, these pieces manifest the great arc of his wit and wisdom."

The festival, Lynn said, has become a significant part of literary life in Knox County. "We are very excited that the Kenyon Review Literary Festival has established itself as an eagerly anticipated tradition in central Ohio," Lynn said. "More people are attending public events, book discussions, and other activities than ever before, not to mention the big day itself of panels, readings and book and magazine sales."

Free events at the literary festival on Friday, November 4, include:
  • Empty Bowls dinner, organized by the Kenyon College Craft Center, raises money for Food for the Hungry and takes place at the Alumni Dining Hall in Peirce Hall, 201 College-Park St. Hand-crafted ceramic bowls will be auctioned. 5:00 p.m.
  • Peter Fallon, Irish poet, editor and publisher, will read from his work in the Peirce Hall Lounge. Fallon is an adjunct professor of English at Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland. 7:00 p.m.
Free events at the literary festival on Saturday, November 5, include:
  • The Council of Literary Magazines and Presses Midwest Literary Magazine Fair, with a range of books and literary magazines for sale, at the Kenyon College Bookstore, 106 Gaskin Ave. Literary magazines are $2; books are $4. 10:00 a.m.-11:00 p.m.
  • Campus tour with Tom Stamp, Kenyon historian. The tour will leave from the north door of the Church of the Holy Spirit, 102 College-Park St. 10:00 a.m.
  • "The 'Story' in History: A Discussion of Fiction and Historical Analysis" is the subject of a panel discussion with Sylvie Coulibaly, assistant professor of history; Andrew Ross, visiting assistant professor of history; Peter Rutkoff, professor of American studies; and Wendy Singer, Roy T. Wortman Professor of History, in the Gund Gallery, Community Foundation Theater, 101½ College Dr. 11:00 a.m.
  • " Art/History and Memory" is the topic of discussion for Robert Colby, Gund Gallery curator of academic and interpretive programs; Eugene Dwyer, professor of art history; Karen Snouffer, associate professor of art; and Patricia Vigderman, assistant professor of English, in the Gund Gallery, Community Foundation Theater. 1:00 p.m.
  • Gund Gallery guided tours. 2:00 p.m., 2:20 p.m., and 2:40 p.m.
  • Poet Jennifer Clarvoe, professor of English, will read from her work in the Cheever Room, Finn House, 102 W. Wiggin St. 2:10 p.m.
  • Jeni Britton Bauer, Columbus-based ice cream entrepreneur, will discuss her work, offer samples of her ice cream, and sign her cookbook, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, in the College Bookstore. 3:00 p.m.
  • "The Cicada at the Gate: a Talk on the Buddhist 'Oxherding' Parable" with Lewis Hyde, Richard L. Thomas Professor of Creative Writing, in the Gund Gallery. 4:00 p.m. "The Denham Sutcliffe Memorial Lecture: An Evening with Simon Schama" will be followed by a book signing in Rosse Hall, 105 College Dr. 8:00 p.m.

    Sponsors and supporters include the Denham Sutcliffe Memorial Lecture Series, Jim and Susan Finn, Community Foundation of Mount Vernon and Knox County, First-Knox National Bank, Ohio Arts Council, Peoples Bank, Mount Vernon News, HarperCollins, Public Library of Mount Vernon and Knox County, Kenyon College Library, Kenyon College Bookstore, Kenyon College Craft Center, Kenyon Academic Partnership, Paragraphs Bookstore, Knox County Art League.