University of Nebraska Press

This Week in History: June 23-27, 2008

Well bloggers, it’s about that time again. Yep, it’s This Week in History! We’ve got the Battle of Okinawa, the Angora Fire, and Veronica Guerin.  Care to stick around?  I think we’ve got quite a week in front of us…..

June 23, 1945: The Battle of Okinawa ends when the Imperial Japanese Army forces fall apart on Mabuni.
The Battle of Okinawa was significant to WWII, as it was just weeks before the atomic bombings.

If you’re interested in this region of the world, wars aside, than please check out Genealogies of Orientalism: History, Theory, Politics, by Edmund Burke III for a close look.

June 24, 2007: Angora Fire starts near South Lake Tahoe, California destroying over two hundred buildings in the first two days alone.

Wildfire and Americans, by Roger G. Kennedy, is an appeal on behalf of the author to begin looking at natural disasters as possessing more of a human origination. How do we contribute as humans to the new face of wildfire?

June 25, 1966: Congolese basketball star, Dikembe Mutombo is born.

Mutombo won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award four times, and when he was 40 he was the oldest player in the league. To get a closer look on the modern African American basketball player please take a look at Young, Black, Rich, and Famous, by Todd Boyd.

June 26, 1996: Irish Journalist, Veronica Guerin, is shot in her car by drug dealers.

Guerin’s tireless fight against drug dealers in Ireland, ended up in her death, but left a significant mark on the Irish Parliament’s determent and punishment of criminals.  For another book about significant women in history please take a look at Give Me Eighty Men, by Shannon D. Smith

June 27, 1962: Paul Viding, Estonian poet dies today.

Viding was a significant writer who’s work had known influences of T.S. Eliot in it. If poetry is your thing, than you may be interested in Modern Archaist: Selected Poems by Osip Mandelstam  written by Osip Mandelstam.

Ok bloggers, you can find all these books and more at the University of Nebraska Press website. Please join us Tuesday for some more Trivia!

Linking in Lincoln: June 26, 2008

Linking in sibling rivalry!

New this season from the University of Nebraska Press is, Sister Brother: Gertrude and Leo Stein by Brenda Wineapple.  This book chronicling the “devoted, eccentric, and compelling” brother and sister follows them from childhood to adulthood and the events leading to their separation. To celebrate the beloved relationship, this weeks Linking in Lincoln is going to Link all things Sibling!

As always, we must first define what we are investigating. Check out Wikipedia to see what constitutes a sibling.

“Rose is a rose is a rose is a rose” Gertrude Stein was a prolific writer, go here to take a look at some of her work.

In the Boston area? Have a bite to eat at the Sibling Rivalry restaurant for some authentic American Cuisine.

Did you know that 40 states have actually ratified a “Siblings Day”? Go here to check it out.

Volunteering for Big Brothers and Big Sisters is a great way to forge a sibling like relationship without the rivalry. Go to the volunteer website to see how you can make a difference.

Drama is always better than real life. To see Hollywood’s take on siblings check out the Emmy award winning Brothers and Sisters on ABC.

Well bloggers, join us again Friday for This Week in History.

Nearly Easter, but Still Valentine's Day: Continued Praise for Kooser's Valentines

Valentines by Ted Kooser

“Over 22 years, Kooser has discovered a startling variety of ways to invert and enliven the vocabulary of romance, finding tender implications in even the mustiest Valentine’s symbols. . . . When it comes to his beloved(s), Kooser has generous eyes, offering always to keep her young. . . . Kooser’s poems do build a frisson, making the most of small moments of intimacy.” —Emily Nussbaum, New York Times Book Review

To read earlier praise for Valentines, please visit http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2008/01/praise-for-vale.html.

More Praise for Valentines

Valentines by Ted Kooser, illustrated by Robert Hanna

“The writing in this book is classic Kooser: simple images, down-to-earth language, insight, and uncommonly good sense, all of which combine to produce memorable, resonant endings. . . . The artwork, like the verse, is inviting, warm, and unpretentious.”—Elizabeth Lund, The Christian Science Monitor

Read earlier praise for Valentines at http://nebraskapress.typepad.com/university_of_nebraska_pr/2008/01/praise-for-vale.html.

Happy Valentine's Day, Bloggers!

Roses are Red, Violets are Blue, This Post is our Valentine's Day Gift to You

Who needs heart-shaped boxes of chocolate, long-stemmed red roses, and cuddly stuffed teddy bears? Our gift to you this Valentine's Day is much more creative! For your viewing pleasure, we offer you a selection of movie clips featuring Ted Kooser reading selections from his new poetry book, Valentines. Forward the link to this posting to your sweetheart as a truly poetic way to say "I love you" this Valentine's Day.

Download for_you_friend.mov

Download pocket_poem.mov

Download song_of_the_ironing_board.mov

"Valentines from Ted Kooser" a Poetic (and Profitable) Event!

Thank you to everyone who attended Saturday's fundraiser at the Rococo Theater here in Lincoln. The event was a rousing success! If you missed it, you can take a virtual tour of the festivities by viewing the event slideshow below. Enjoy!

Download valentines_from_ted_kooser_event.pdf

Where's Ted?

Or maybe that should be, "where's Ted's Valentines book?" or "Desperately Seeking Valentines". The popularity of Ted Kooser's collection of Valentine poems has depleted our own warehouse stock, so I decided to trek around Lincoln to see where you could still get copies.

“A Few Words of Love for Ted Kooser’s Valentines” by Kate Flaherty

Before I commence lauding Ted Kooser’s collection of poetry, Valentines, out this month from UNP, let me begin by confessing that my credentials for reviewing poetry are suspect. My education in poetry is as haphazard as the patchwork anthology I have on my bookshelf—a few full collections here and there, plus a notebook of Xeroxed and hand-copied poems given to me from friends of their favorite selections from Lisel Mueller or Vladimir Mayakovsky, James Wright or Billy Collins. It’s a big mixed-tape kind of compilation that I can pull out whenever I’m in need of some poetic therapy. Here’s what I do know: when you need a dash of hope, Mary Oliver is the ticket. Angry and jilted? Mary Kerr has been there. Don’t know whether to cry or throw yourself out a window? Laugh at your desperation with John Engman.

So of course I love Ted Kooser’s “American Life in Poetry” column, where he shares one poem a week by a different writer, along with the briefest of introductions for those of us who might need a nudge toward better understanding. Ted is such a friend to those whose quest for poetry, like mine, is both random and timid, and several of his selections have ended up in the notebook on my bookshelf. And of course I love Ted’s own poetry because naturally it is just as careful and just as giving.

Ted’s new book, Valentines is even more generous, since it is a collection of poems that were originally written as gifts. For the past twenty years, every February, Ted would write a Valentine poem and have it printed up on postcards. Then he’d affix a tiny red heart sticker and hand them out or send them to his women friends all over the country (and the introduction to the collection does include a word of thanks to his wife for tolerating the fact that he’s a harmless flirt).

Ted’s Valentine poems are both endearing and eclectic, with poems on everything from celery hearts to hog-nosed snakes. What I love best about the poems is their wistfulness and hint of melancholy, even when Ted is plying his metaphor for humor, like in “The Celery Heart” or “Barn Owl.” While some of the poems are on romantic love or unrequited love, others look at platonic love or just the theory of love itself, masked in the metaphors that Ted is such a master at creating.

The book itself is lovely too, with a simple cover that is reflective of what the original Valentines Ted handed out actually looked like, shiny little red sticker and all. The book’s spare illustrations throughout are by Robert Hanna, who explains that they’re of Ted’s workspace and local landscape (and I suppose that must be Ted’s Collie dog too!), and they complement the poems perfectly and make Valentines a charming and original purchase, whether you’re looking for a Valentine’s gift, or just an addition for your own haphazard bookshelf.

I’ll end this review with a little Valentine to you, gentle blog reader, of my favorite poem from Ted’s wonderful new book. Enjoy.

“Tracks”

Using a cobbler’s shoe last
I found one summer at a yard sale,
and the heavy leather uppers
from cast-off boots, a jigsaw,
some wood, an awl and thread,
and a few evenings sitting alone
thinking of you, I have fashioned
a pair of red valentine shoes
with heart-shaped wooden heels.
Look for my tracks on your doorstep
where I stood with sore feet
through the evening, too timid to knock.

Kate Flaherty is a fiction writer and essayist.

Kooser Radio

"Tune in to Ted"

Can't get enough of Ted Kooser and his newest poetry collection, Valentines? Check out this link to a recent radio interview with the former U.S. poet laureate and winner of the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry on South Dakota Public Radio's "Food for Thought."

http://www.sdpb.org/archives/ProgramDetail.asp?ProgID=6880

Happy listening!

Linking in Lincoln: January 31, 2008

Links to Help You "Feel the Love"...or Not

Well, it’s getting to be that time again. Christmas has come and gone and taken our money with it, and New Year's resolutions have found their way back into the deep recesses of our minds. Perhaps you’re looking for your next holiday fix. If that is the case, then it's time to once again indulge in the emotional cataclysm that we fondly refer to as Valentine's Day. Don't have a Valentine this year? No problem! Let UNP be your date! And in lieu of gushing profession-of-love cards, long-stemmed roses, and chocolate candies, we offer you, dear reader, this simple gift: Ted Kooser. 

New this month from the University of Nebraska Press, Valentines by Ted Kooser is a collection of Valentine poems that have already graced the mailboxes of 2,500 women across the United States. Beginning 22 years ago with only one poem sent to fifty lucky ladies, Kooser has since garnered the reputation that so called “romantic” men all over the country have been vying for. So while we contend that this book is guaranteed to bring a tear to even the most calloused eye, just in case you’re still a bit skeptical of the beloved holiday, here are a few links to help you "open your heart" to the idea of Valentine's Day.

Ever wonder what Valentine's Day is really about? History is always the best place to look! Valentine was a priest who defied a Roman Emperor in the name of love. For all the juicy details, check out "The History of Valentines Day" on History.com.

Sitting at home, curious as to whether everyone is in love but you? Perhaps also fuming over the capitalistic influences making prices on candy, teddy bears, and all things red and heart-shaped skyrocket? Well don’t just wonder, find out on the U.S. Census Bureau Web site.

Not feeling romantic this year? Well it turns out, neither were Al Capone and Bugs Moran on Valentine's Day, 1929. To read more about the Prohibition era St. Valentine's Day Massacre, check out Wikipedia for a quick synopsis.

Looking for that link between love and politics? (We're talking to you, bickering presidential candidates!) Well have no fear because Hallmark has found it!  Check out their Web site to view the new “Political Figures” Valentine's Day cards. They're a fun way to demonstrate your love and patriotism!

Finally, are you curious as to what kind of man sends Valentine's Day poems to women all over the United States? Find out more about the former U.S. poet laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, Ted Kooser at his Web site and get ready to fall in love (with his poetry, that is).

We hope these links have helped you “feel the love” for Valentine’s Day. If not, we’ll try again on St. Patrick’s Day. ;-)

Happy Thursday, bloggers!