School of Writing, Literature, and Film

Stone Award Recap: Lynda Barry Fifth to Receive Prestigious Stone Award

By Brianna O’Malley

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Established by Patrick (’74) and Vicki Stone, the Stone Award is a $20,000 honorarium awarded to an American author who “has created a body of critically acclaimed literary work that has been― in the tradition of creative writing at OSU― a dedicated mentor to succeeding generations of young writers.” 

Since the establishment of the award in 2012, there have been five winners. The first recipient was Joyce Carol Oates, followed by Tobias Wolff in 2014, Rita Dove in 2016 and Colson Whitehead in 2019. This year’s winner is the celebrated cartoonist Lynda Barry. Barry has been publishing since 1988 and is an associate professor of interdisciplinary creativity and the Chazen Family Distinguished Chair in Art at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. During the virtual ceremony, Barry emanated the qualities which earned her the award by offering heartfelt encouragement to attendees interested in making art. “I don't really imagine anything unless I'm drawing― unless I'm doing it,” said Barry. “That is the best piece of advice I can give any writer or any artist. Do not think about your book, or what you're working on, unless you have something in your hand.” 

Barry is a colorful, kind, intelligent, and creative person who found herself through her art and writing. She has published several critically acclaimed graphics novels from "The Good Times Are Killing Me" to "Syllabus" to "Cruddy." Arguably her most famous work is her long running comic strip "Ernie Pook’s Comeek." Her work finds the humor in serious situations, part of what has made her so popular with readers. Among her many awards is the Inkpot Award—which she won in 1988 — two Eisner Awards, and a MacArthur Genius Grant. “Selecting Lynda Barry for this award, we celebrate not only her work,” said Dean of the College of Liberal Arts Larry Rodgers during the live-streamed ceremony, “but also the expanding boundaries of what constitutes fiction and nonfiction, and how narrative can convey the multiplicities of American lives.” Even more, there are very few in the world who, after finding themselves and engaging in their passions so deeply, make it such a clear priority to encourage and educate others on how to do the same. 

The Stone Award honors those who have gone above and beyond when it comes to guiding and advising future creators. Barry’s approach to educating authors and artists of all ages is to pair them together. “I started a program for grad students where they have co-researchers, who happen to be also four years old, to help them loosen up the way they think,” Barry said of her workshops at UW-Madison during her keynote address. She included a series of images from her workshops, including one image of a three-year-old’s hand, calling it the “Original Digital Device.” Barry went on to explain her process of creativity, centering on the concept of her relationship with the world. She elaborated that her creative process is not planned― the images and plot form as she goes along—and shared several exercises she uses to bridge the gap between drawing and writing. For the duration of the ceremony, Barry’s generous approach to teaching and mentorship was made clear to viewers alongside her commitment to inspiring up-and-coming storytellers to embrace their unique capabilities as artists―all qualities that make her a perfect fit for the Stone Award.

When asked about Barry’s influence on the OSU community, Dean Rodgers said “She is a very inspiring writer because she makes writing seem like something accessible to everyone if they put in the hard work… it’s something that everyone has if they put in the effort.”

“I feel that the most beneficial part of visiting authors consists of improving writing confidence and making creativity accessible,” said Chelsea Woods, an English and creative writing major in SWLF. “There are a lot of hoops and struggles to jump through while becoming an author and it is always helpful to hear from a successful individual within that field.” 

Sydney Caleen, a senior who helped facilitate the Q&A during Barry’s well-attended live-streamed ceremony, shared that “a big thing that I took away is how images and words are so connected. She is a comics artist, so all of her stories incorporate images. Even in her workshops, she has students draw pictures as feedback rather than writing it out. It’s a conversation between writing and art, which is really brilliant.” Caleen was moved by how Barry “prides herself on her immaturity as something that isn’t a fallback. People like Barry really embrace that side of themselves and inspire us to be more open about it― that’s where the creativity comes from.”

For more on Barry’s visit and past Stone Award winners, click here.

New Faculty Profile: Sarah Perrault

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We’re mixing things up this year and profiling Dr. Sarah Perrault, our new hire in rhetoric and writing, in podcast form! Click through to listen in to a conversation between Sarah and OSU undergraduate student Dasan Bankston, who produced the podcast.

The SWLF YouTube Channel: Celebrating Inaugural Poet Amanda Gorman and Planning for the Future

Inaugural poet Amanda Gorman electrified the nation when she read her poem “The Hill We Climb” at President Biden’s inauguration earlier this year. Here in SWLF, it seemed like a perfect moment to record reactions from faculty and students for our growing YouTube channel. The video has over 25,000 views. 

“Just like everybody else, we were blown away by Gorman's Inauguration poem, which was a brilliant illustration of the power of poetry to help to shape national conversations in the public sphere,” says Associate Professor Ray Malewitz, who manages the channel. “We were as delighted by the commentary that the poem immediately generated and wanted to join the conversation, showing how our faculty and students responded to such an important cultural (and historical) moment.” Poetry faculty members Karen Holmberg and Jennifer Richter shared their analyses, as did academic advisor Liddy Detar, undergraduate English major Samarra Watson and M.F.A. student Chris Smith. 

“I felt very honored and seen by the SWLF community when I was asked to be a part of the video,” says Watson. “It was empowering, gratifying, and spectacular to see members of my community share their individual moments and I am just thankful that that space was created in response to such a poignant and powerful piece of art.” 

The video joins a robust and growing collection on our channel—there are 70 videos and counting—covering topics from literary terms to grammar to interdisciplinary book making. “The central mission of the SWLF channel is public outreach--sharing basic lessons on literary analysis, language structure, and contemporary culture with communities within and beyond OSU,” says Malewitz. “It is sort of like the OSU Extension Service, only for subjects directly related to SWLF, providing resources for high school and college students and teachers to enrich their classrooms and reading and writing experiences.” 

Looking ahead, there are plans to expand our offerings in ways that continue to align with and support our land-grant mission. “Along with the popularity of our literary terms series,” says Malewitz, “we're developing a few other projects on grammar, diversity, and current cultural events that will be rolling out over the summer. We also plan on creating similar flash panels on comparable literary and cultural events as they arise.” 

If you’d like to follow along, please like and subscribe here.

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SWLF and SHPR Welcome Their Fourth Annual Undergraduate Humanities Conference

By Adriana Gutierrez

With cameras on and presentations ready, 16 students in the School of Writing, Literature and Film and the School of History, Philosophy and Religion presented their major-focused research at OSU’s annual SWLF/SHPR Undergraduate Humanities Conference.

The conference was held on Friday, May 7 from early morning until mid-afternoon, allowing for five different themed symposiums. Each lasted approximately an hour, designed so that three students could share a 15 minute presentation followed by a Q&A from attendees. 

The mid-day symposium was titled “Constructing Racial Identities” and contained the only event in which more than one student presented on the same literary text. For Serena Giunchigliani, English major and second presentation in the lineup, extensive preparation and previous experience helped her get ready for the event. 

“I pretty much typed up an entire script for the presentation (even writing in when to look up at the camera, as Assistant Professor Trina Hogg had suggested in her workshop), then printed that out,” Giunchigliani said. “I tried to practice reading it aloud once or twice, but I probably should have done that a few more times. I think it definitely would have helped if I'd read it to some friends once or twice too.”

Despite her nervousness, Giunchigliani was greeted with applause from attendees and a slew of questions about her presentation followed. Amongst the questions was one from SWLF Professor Megan Ward, who had worked with not only Giunchigliani on the setup of her presentations, but also with Joshua Stickrod, the other SWLF English major whose research was based on the same text Giunchigliani chose. 

“They also answered questions like pros,” Ward said when reflecting on the outcome of the symposium. Both Giunchigliani and Stickrod were students in her winter course ENG311: Studies in British Prose.

Giunchigliani mentioned her hesitancy going into the Q&A section, but answered each question presented by attendees with poise and connection back to her original presentation. 

“I was also kind of nervous about answering audience questions because, other than a few ideas that Professor Ward had posited on what kinds of questions we might be asked, I didn't really know what to expect,” Giunchigliani reflected. “I was worried that my mind would just go blank and I wouldn't be able to come up with a clear or intelligent answer.”

Nonetheless, Giunchigliani’s presentation went off without a hitch and all three presentations—including an earlier presentation by SHPR general studies major Lance Lilly—were met with a second round of applause.

Other symposiums followed suit, including 9:00 a.m.’s “Disease in Social Pursuit”, 10:00 a.m.’s “Alternative Arts,” 1:00 p.m.’s “Humanism and Human Ethics” and 2:00 p.m.’s “Reimagining the Past in the Wake of the Twenty-First Century.”

For Ray Malewitz, SWLF associate professor and co-organizer of this year’s conference, he said proudly that the conference demonstrated the point of a college education and the value of undergraduate research at OSU. As far as preparation went, due to the conference running in its fourth year, more focus was on the selection of panelists rather than technical aspects of the setup. 

With more than 30 applicants to be panelists and only 16 slots available, Malewitz described the extensive selection process leading up to the final selection. 

“Our four-person committee (Dr. Lauer, myself, and one additional faculty member each from SHPR and SWLF read the abstracts, ranked them, and met for a fairly extensive Zoom meeting to determine who our top choices would be,” Malewitz said. 

From there, the themes of each separate event were determined. This was surprisingly not as difficult as Malewitz had imagined it would be. 

“Who knew that a paper about Hollywood, another paper about Shakespeare, and another paper about Thomas Jefferson would work so well together,” Malewitz said, reflecting on the outcome. “The thing that I am most proud of about the conference was the consistently high quality of the students' arguments. A number of faculty during and after the conference remarked to me that it was the best one that they had seen, and that is certainly a testament to the hard work of each participant.”

This appears to be the consensus all around, whether from student presenters, advisors or instructional faculty. 

“[This conference] validates all the hard work that students put in during the term,” Ward said. “It blows me away that these students produced such high quality research and writing during remote learning, and I’m excited to have an opportunity to share and celebrate it.”

For Giunchigliani, her favorite part was hearing from her peers and seeing what kind of scholarship they were doing. 

“It was especially interesting to see how diverse the topics were, but to see at the same time how much the topics and ideas could intersect too,” she said.

The conference is set to continue in the academic year to come, with hopes of expansion. Malewitz said he’d like for it to be possible to have one symposium in the fall, and one in the spring. After the overwhelmingly positive outcome of this year’s conference—even in the midst of a pandemic—it is definitely plausible.

Journalism in SWLF: Past, Present, and Future

Big things are happening with journalism at OSU. As featured in a previous newsletter, our applied journalism minor—launched in 2018 and spearheaded by senior instructor II Jillian St. Jacques—is a popular offering that, alongside other exciting initiatives, represents a revival of OSU’s journalistic tradition. Through the following three stories, each of which features a connection to journalism at OSU, we hope to showcase how our journalism courses have served our graduates, how one particular graduate was moved to give back and how another donor is making a selfless investment in our program’s bright future. 

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Megan Mackenzie graduated from OSU with a degree in technical journalism in 1987. She is the Founder and CEO of Mackenzie Worldwide, a marketing and public relations company that works with a wide range of clients, from Microsoft to DocuSign. While an undergraduate, she was heavily involved in various journalism-related extracurricular activities including The Daily Barometer, KBVR-FM and KBVR-TV. “I was immediately able to put what I learned in my journalism and photography classes at OSU to work in a real-life scenario,” Mackenzie says. She “learned about the discipline needed for research, the overall concepts of story arcs, the rules of copyediting and many other things.”

Those skills came in handy to Mackenzie while covering the Rajneeshees at the Rajneeshpuram intentional community in Antelope, Oregon for the Barometer, and for more lighthearted endeavors. Mackenzie recalls an intense rivalry with the University of Oregon’s student newspaper The Daily Emerald and an annual April Fool’s Day prank that involved distributing parody newspapers to one another’s campuses. 

Now a CEO, Mackenzie values the qualities students gain in our writing classes when hiring. “Excellent writing and storytelling top my list of skills that I look for in a potential hire,” she says. When asked what advice she has for students hoping to follow in her footsteps, she said: “Get involved in all of the fantastic and fun hands-on learning opportunities and clubs in journalism, marketing, and broadcast on campus. Seize the day, make your own future! Honestly, it’s about the energy and teamwork that you bring to the party and create that will make the program strong. I get excited just thinking about the possibilities!”

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Robert “Bob” Goldstein, also a graduate of our technical journalism program, has had some fascinating adventures over the years, from the newsroom of the Walla-Walla Union-Bulletin where he worked as a reporter to the wilds of Finland which he traversed on a folding bicycle. He has published three nonfiction travel books and is at work on a fourth. Goldstein recently arranged an estate gift which will establish the Robert M. Goldstein Endowed Scholarship Fund which will be used to support our students so that, as he puts it, “they can have an experience similar to what I had.” 

Goldstein describes OSU as “the perfect place for me at the right time.” He remembers the feeling of “fitting in really well” and enjoying extracurricular activities, from serving as editor of The Daily Barometer to cheering on the Beavers at Gill Coliseum. Among the many stories he reported for the Barometer, getting a chance to interview Pulitzer Prize winning author and former OSU writing instructor Bernard Malamud stands out. 

After retiring from a career in public administration, Goldstein wanted to make “a donation of significance” to OSU—and SWLF in particular—in honor of his time here and in response to the rising costs of a college education. “OSU formed the basis for who I am as an adult and set me on my way,” he says. “I’m forever grateful.” 

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While Robert “Bob” Galvin didn’t attend OSU, he has generously arranged a gift of $100,000 in his estate plan to support OSU Journalism students. The gift will create the Robert Galvin Endowed Student Success Fund for Journalism which will provide scholarships and support experiential learning opportunities. To Galvin, a college education is “preparation for the wonderful journey of life,” one that, in his case, has taken many serendipitous turns. He has worked for Danner Boots, the Benchmade Knife Company and Intel, among other companies—all jobs that required him to utilize the writing skills he honed as a journalism student at the University of Oregon. Along the way, a friend encouraged him to open his own PR consulting firm, a move he refers to as “the ultimate bungee jump for me.” Now retired, Galvin was inspired to give by the vision of the new journalism program. 

To Galvin, the fact that the program is so new was part of the draw. He hopes his gift will serve as “coal for the engine,” from supporting faculty recruitment to developing new courses to helping students facing financial hardship. “Everybody who wants [an education] should have it,” he says. “The sky’s the limit as far as what you can do with that foundation.”