Langdon Review Weekend September 9

Langdon Review Weekend

September 9–12, 2015

Dora Lee Langdon Cultural & Educational Center

Granbury, Texas

Tarleton State University

Stephenville, Texas

Co-Editors: Marilyn Robitaille and Moumin Quazi

Editorial Advisory Board

Phyllis Allen

Judy Alter

Betsy Berry

Alice Cushman

Robert L. Flynn

Todd Frazier

Don Graham

Dominique Inge

Charles Inge

James Hoggard

Lynn Hoggard

James Ward Lee

Natrelle Long

Jill Patterson

Punch Shaw

Thea Temple

Cheryl Vogel

Donna Walker-Nixon

Betty Wiesepape

2015 Contributors

Rob Bosquez

Christopher Carmona

Hal C. Clark

Chip Dameron

Peggy Hooks Knoop DeLaVergne

Zenetta S. Drew

Scott Gentling

Stuart Gentling

James Harris

Katherine Hoerth

Skip Hollandsworth

Paul Juhasz

Meron Langsner

Steven Alan McGaw

Atlee Marie Phillips

Matthew Pitt

Diana Synatzske

Carmen Tafolla

Wanda Wade

Teresa LaBarbera Whites

pecial thanks:

The Inge Foundation

City of Granbury

Granbury Wine Walk

Tarleton State University

Dept. of Communication Studies

Janice Horak

President Dominic Dottavio

Dan Malone

Joel Back

James Lehr

Jeri Martin

Alyson Chapman

Bobby Yocum

Chelsea Barnard

Arbor House Bed & Breakfast

Heavenhill Guesthouse

General Information

REGISTRATION: The registration desk in the Gordon House at the Dora Lee

Langdon Center will open Thursday morning at 8:30 a.m. and continue throughout

the Langdon Review Weekend.

VENUE: All events, with the exception of the film screening and the Picnic with

the Poet Laureate, take place at the Langdon Center. The Rock House and the

Concert Hall are both within shouting distance of the Gordon House where

registration is taking place.

EXHIBITS: Writers have been invited to display their books at a table in the

Gordon House. Feel free to browse and ultimately purchase books.

RECORDING OF SESSIONS: This year, we have partnered up with Dan

Malone and the students of the Tarleton Communication Studies Department to

record some sessions, for future broadcast.

BREAK AREA: From 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m., help yourself to the snacks

provided, on the Gordon House back porch.

RESTROOMS: Restrooms are located in the building behind the Concert Hall.

SOCIAL, CULTURAL, AND INTELLECTUAL PROGRAM:

All the events from Thursday morning’s readings onward–the publication

reception, readings, guest speakers’ programs, Picnic with the Poet Laureate, and

the Saturday Morning Brunch–are all included in the registration fee, as is a copy

of this year’s journal. Movie tickets may be purchased at ShowBiz Cinema 6. Sign

up and pay for extra picnic and brunch tickets (if additional ones are available)

either online or at the registration desk.

THE BOOK: We’re celebrating the twelfth edition of Langdon Review of the Arts

in Texas, available for purchase at the Gordon House and online.

IMPORTANT NOTE: Please respect the room capacity numbers posted at each

venue.

If you need anything, please don’t hesitate to ask Co-Directors Moumin Quazi and

Marilyn Robitaille or Langdon Center Specialist Joel Back.

DAY ONE, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2015

7 – 9 p.m.

Special Opening Session: Featuring the editors and some contributors

of Her Texas: Story, Image, Poem & Song (Concert Hall)

Postcards from Texas: A Celebration of Her Texas.

Moderated by Donna Walker-Nixon, Cassy Burleson, Rachel Crawford,

and Anne McCrady

Followed by LANGDON LAUNCH PARTY & RECEPTION

(Gordon House) Sponsored by Wings Press. Special thanks to

Bryce Milligan, Publisher, Editor and Book Designer of Wings

Press since 1995.

Introductory Remarks:

Bryce Milligan is the author of a dozen books for adults and children. His latest book of poetry is Lost &

Certain of It (London: Aark Arts, 2006). Recent poems have appeared in Southwest Review, Cutthroat,

Clover, Texas Observer, Asheville Poetry Review and Anglican Theological Review. Bryce is the

publisher/editor/designer of Wings Press -- www.wingspress.com -- in San Antonio, now celebrating its

40th anniversary. You can learn (and hear) more about Bryce at www.brycemilligan.com.

Charles A. Rodenberger was the husband of Dr. Lou Rodenberger for 59 years until her death from

ovarian cancer in 2009. He is Professor Emeritus, Aerospace Engineering, Texas A&M University. After

retirement from A&M he consulted for General Dynamics Fort Worth. Since 1988 he has written the

column “The Cowboy and The Computer” for Livestock Weekly. Currently retired, he is married to Nancy

Johnston and lives in Granbury, Texas.

Words from the Editors: Donna Walker-Nixon, Rachel Crawford, and Cassy Burleson

Postcard 1:

Donna Walker-Nixon’s five primary professional achievements have been 1) founding Windhover: A

Journal of Christian Literature in 1997; 2) co-editing the New Texas series with her friend and mentor

James Ward Lee; 3) co-founding Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas; 4) publishing her novel Canaan's

Oothoon; and 5) the editing of Her Texas, which has jettisoned her faith that the voices of women writers

and artists truly mean something to both men and women.

Sarah Cortez is a Councilor of the Texas Institute of Letters and has won the PEN Texas Literary Award

in Poetry. Her Cold Blue Steel was a finalist in the Writers’ League of Texas awards. She edited Our Lost

Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence, winning a Southwest Book Award and an International

Latino Book Award. Her latest anthology is Goodbye, Mexico: Poems of Remembrance. Sarah was a

finalist for Texas Poet Laureate and Houston Poet Laureate.

Susie Kelly Flatau is an author and abstract artist whose paintings are installed all over the United States.

Her published books include CounterCulture Texas, From My Mother’s Hands, Red Boots & Attitude,

Quotable Texas Women, and Reaching Out to Today’s Kids. After leaving Texas in 2008 for a seven-year

stint in Western New York, Susie has happily returned to her Lone Star roots. She currently lives in

Georgetown, Texas, with her husband Jack

Postcard 2:

Rachel Crawford has worked as a waitress, guitar teacher, childbirth educator, bail bondswoman, high

school and college English teacher, editor, and writer. Her poetry appears in publications, such as

Mudlark, RiverSedge (forthcoming), and Red River Review. She is a contributing co-editor of Her Texas:

Story, Image, Poem & Song, and she is currently at work as a co-editor of an anthology called A Shared

Truth. She lives in central Texas with her husband and daughter.

Loretta Diane Walker is a multiple Pushcart nominee. She has published two collections of poetry; her

manuscript In This House is forthcoming in 2015. Loretta was recently named “Statesman in the Arts” by

the Heritage Council of Odessa. Her manuscript Word Ghetto won the 2011 Bluelight Press Book Award.

She teaches music in Odessa, Texas. Loretta received a B.M.E. from Texas Tech University and earned

an M.A. from the University of Texas—Permian Basin.

Sobia Khan is English and Creative Writing faculty at Richland College, Dallas. She earned her PhD in

2014 from University of Texas-Dallas. She has published translations of Urdu poetry and short stories in

literary journals. She was a VONA/Voices fellow in Junot Diaz’s fiction workshop in Summer 2015. At

the moment, she is completing her first novel, which focuses on two women from two generations and

countries on very different journeys of self-discovery.

Postcard 3:

Rachel Crawford will moderate this postcard.

Jan Seale, 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, resides on the Texas-Mexico border. Her latest book of nonfiction

is Nature Nurture Neither: A Family’s Journey in Creativity (Angelina River Press). Jan’s ninth book of

poetry is The Parkinson Poems (Lamar UP). Her South Texas recipes are featured in a new cookbook,

Cooking with the Texas Poets Laureate (Texas Review Press). She remains curious about plants, animals,

the writing process, and mortality.

Sherry Craven retired from teaching college English and lives in Jasper, Texas. She has published in

periodicals, such as descant, Langdon Review, RiverSedge, Quotable Texas Women, and Writing on the

Wind. She won the Conference of College Teachers of English 2005 poetry award. Her poetry collection,

Standing by the Window, was published by Virtual Artists Collection. She has poems coming out in

Southern Anthology: Texas, VIII and Stone Renga.

Postcard 4:

Cassy Burleson is from Groesbeck. During 50 years, she’s published in Whetstone, Stone Drum, Green

Fuse, Beall House of Poetry, Langdon Review, American Studies Journal, and co-edited Her Texas. She’s

been as a reporter, magazine writer, editor, photographer, designer, PR practitioner, fundraiser,

consortium director, curriculum editor, securities fraud investigator, and taught at the high school,

community college and university levels. She is a senior lecturer of Journalism, PR & New Media at

Baylor University.

Karla K. Morton, 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, will be reading selections from her tenth book out this year

titled Constant State of Leaping. It was first runner up for the National Eric Hoffer Book Award in Poetry

and a finalist for the Montaigne Medal, and won the North Texas Book Festival Award for Poetry.

Charlotte Renk has published in journals, such as Kalliope, Concho River Review, Sow’s Ear, Southwest

Review, and Langdon Review, plus in anthologies such as Southern Poetry Review. She has published

three books of poetry, These Holy Hungers: Secret Yearnings from an Empty Cup (Eakin Press

Manuscript Award), Solidago, An Altar to Weeds (Poetry in the Arts), and The Tenderest Petal Hears (co-

winner, 2014 Blue Horse Press Award, sponsored by San Pedro River Review).

Conclusion:

Anne McCrady's award-winning poems have been set to music as art song and used in wedding

ceremonies, memorial services and worship settings. Through her company, InSpiritry, Anne presents

literary and inspirational programs, edits and publishes a yearly peace poetry collection and directs an

annual regional student poetry contest. Her newest endeavor is Poet with a Press Pass, a weekly blog of

original poems in response to global news. Her website is InSpiritry.com.

June Zaner, retired free-lance artist, began publishing with the 1955 gifted high school writer’s journal,

and poetry in the University of Houston’s Harvest, in 1958. Visual arts was her career, however, until

retirement, when she began writing again. Some recent publications include 11 poems and photographs in

Langdon Review, 2008-2009, New Texas, EXplore, Her Texas: Story, Image, Poem & Song (ink drawings

and poems). She has a poem forthcoming in Southern Anthology of Poetry.

Susan White Norman is a fiction writer and instructor at Southern Methodist University. Her stories

have appeared in several journals online and in print. Her most recent work is forthcoming in The Literary

Review, Winter 2015.

Other Contributors in Attendance:

Jeanne Bennett launched Calliope Press in 1969 and has since published more than 25 books. She served

as editor of Granbury Showcase Magazine, and is Vice-President of the Fort Worth Writers. As a

bookbinder/artist, her works have been exhibited throughout the United States. Her latest book, Hidden

Treasures: the History and Technique of Fore-edge Painting, was published in 2012. Jeanne loves to read

and is presently doing research for an upcoming non-fiction book.

Helen Kwiatkowski received her B.A. in Fine Arts from Upsala College and an M.F.A. in Painting and

Mixed Media from East Texas State University. She teaches art at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor.

Her primary medium is painting. She has exhibited her work both regionally and nationally, including

solo exhibitions at Central Texas College, and The Art Center of the Ozarks. Helen’s work was included

in the Texas Biennial: An Independent Survey of Contemporary Texas Art.

Marilyn Robitaille co-founded Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas and writes a weekly movie review

for the Stephenville Empire Tribune. She co-edited the inaugural volume of Writing Texas.

About Wings Press: Currently celebrating its 40th year, Wings Press evolved during the small press movement

of the late 1960s and early 1970s. It was founded by Joanie Whitebird and Joe Lomax, who published their first

book in 1975. Authors published from 1975 to 1993 included such notables as Judson Crews, Vassar Miller, Naomi

Shihab Nye, Robert Phillips, and singer/songwriter Townes Van Zandt. During those years, Wings Press published

approximately 50 works by 42 authors, almost all hand-sewn chapbooks. Bryce Milligan purchased the press in

1994, becoming its publisher/editor/designer. The press has published over 225 books since that time, ranging from

handmade chapbooks to 600-page hardbacks. Over half its titles are poetry. Current Wings Press authors (147

active) hail from 26 states and 14 foreign countries. Not including some 300+ authors included only in anthologies,

57% are Latina/o, Black, Asian, and Native American, 43% are Anglo; 54% are women, 46% are men. They include

the poets laureate of the United States, Delaware, Louisiana, Nebraska, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, as well as San

Antonio and Tucson. In 2004, Wings Press published the definitive edition of John Howard Griffin’s Black Like Me,

which remains the best-selling title for the press. Wings Press went on to publish Griffin’s entire canon. Except for

chapbooks and some children’s titles, Wings Press has published the complete works of several authors, including

Cecile Pineda, Carmen Tafolla, and Pamela Uschuk. Wings Press has published six anthologies, the latest of which

is Her Texas.

DAY TWO, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2015

MORNING SESSIONS

8:30 a.m. – Registration

Gordon House, Langdon Center, Granbury, Texas

Thursday, September 10

Morning Session I

9:00 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

2 concurrent sessions

1. Poetry (Concert Hall)

a. Carolyn Luke Reding, “Brazos River Lure and Undertow.” In 2009, Carolyn was

nominated for Texas Poet Laureate and honored as a top-ten finalist. Her poetry leadership

includes participation in the Austin International Poetry Festival as a board member, assistant

editor of di-verse-city and co-chair of the festival. She served as president of the Austin

Poetry Society, and was the Dallas Poets Community July feature poet and continues to share

her teaching style of spontaneous drawing and poetic reflection.

b. James Hoggard is the author of numerous books, including collections of poems, stories,

personal essays, literary translations and novels. Seven of his plays have also been produced,

two of them in New York. He recently retired from Midwestern State University after a long

career there as The Perkins-Prothro Distinguished Professor of English.

c. Jerry Craven, director of Lamar University Literary Press and Ink Brush Press, has

published 25 books including fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. He has taught for five

universities in three countries and has lived for extended periods of time in South America,

Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. He will read “Waiting for Cardinal Dawn” and

other poems. His website is www.jerrycraven.com.

d. Lynn Hoggard, translator and poet, has published five books and hundreds of articles,

poems, and reviews. Her translation of Nelida by Marie d’Agoult won the 2003 Soeurette

Diehl Fraser Award for Best Translation given by the Texas Institute of Letters. Her most

recent book is Motherland, Stories and Poems from Louisiana (Lamar UP, May 2014). Her

presentation is, “Places Known and Unknown.” You may learn more about Lynn at

www.lynnhoggard.com and https://facebook.com/lynnhoggardwriter.

2. Mixed Genre (Rock House)

a. Jules Gates is an Associate Professor of English at Angelo State University where she has

coordinated the English Education program for the past 14 years, and was the Chair of the

ASU Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton. She is published in several Texas

periodicals, including Blue Bonnet Review, Carcinogenic Poetry, and Concho River Review.

She will present her creative nonfiction poem “From His Coy Mistress” at the upcoming

SCMLA Conference.

b. Fil Peach is an engineer in the semiconductor industry, now living in the Benbrook area

of Fort Worth, Texas. He is the current Chancellor and immediate past president of the

New Mexico State Poetry Society, and has been a frequent reader at and a 2013-2014

contributor to the Langdon Review. His presentation is called, “Transformations.”

c. Dick Zaner, retired Stahlman Professor Emeritus at Vanderbilt, will present a narrative,

“Take that machine and shove it!” the story of a man born with spina bifida whose life

becomes a hopeless mess and decides to chuck it all and die. Dick is the author of twelve

original books, two of them collections of clinical narratives, and a novel

(unpublished). An issue of a professional journal, and a Festschrift are devoted to his

writings.

d. Sandi Horton is passionate for the performing arts. She performs her poetry at the

Austin International Poetry Festival, the Baylor University House of Poetry, as a feature

poet at the Waco Word Gallery and many other conferences/venues. Sandi is published in

numerous journals and anthologies. She and her husband perform instrumental music as

The Horton Duo. Their five CDs are Celtic, jazz love songs, Christmas Classics, Native

American Music, and World Music.

Thursday, September 10

Morning Session II

10:30 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.

2 concurrent sessions

1. Mixed Genre (Concert Hall)

a. June Zaner, retired free-lance artist, began publishing with the 1955 gifted high school

writer’s journal, and poetry in the University of Houston’s Harvest, in 1958. Visual arts

was her career, however, until retirement, when she began writing again. Some recent

publications include 11 poems and photographs in Langdon Review, 2008-2009, New

Texas, EXplore, Her Texas: Story, Image, Poem & Song (ink drawings and poems). She

has a poem forthcoming in Southern Anthology of Poetry.

b. Cassy Burleson is from Groesbeck. During 50 years, she’s published in Whetstone,

Stone Drum, Green Fuse, Beall House of Poetry, Langdon Review, American Studies

Journal, and co-edited Her Texas. She’s been as a reporter, magazine writer, editor,

photographer, designer, PR practitioner, fundraiser, consortium director, curriculum

editor, securities fraud investigator, and taught at the high school, community college and

university levels. She is a senior lecturer of Journalism, PR & New Media at Baylor

University.

c. Rachel Crawford has worked as a waitress, guitar teacher, childbirth educator, bail

bondswoman, high school and college English teacher, editor, and writer. Her poetry

appears in publications, such as Mudlark, RiverSedge (forthcoming), and Red River

Review. She is a contributing co-editor of Her Texas: Story, Image, Poem & Song, and

she is currently at work as a co-editor of an anthology called A Shared Truth. She lives in

central Texas with her husband and daughter.

d. Anne McCrady's award-winning poems have been set to music as art song and used in

wedding ceremonies, memorial services and worship settings. Through her company,

InSpiritry, Anne presents literary and inspirational programs, edits and publishes a yearly

peace poetry collection and directs an annual regional student poetry contest. Her newest

endeavor is Poet with a Press Pass, a weekly blog of original poems in response to global

news. Her website is InSpiritry.com.

2. Mixed Genre (Rock House)

a. Thomas “Tom” Murphy grew up in California. Tom first published in 1986 and was the

winner of the Charles Gordone award in both fiction and poetry in 2000 and 2001. Tom

has had work published in several periodicals, including Red River Review and Voices de

la Luna. His chapbook Horizon to Horizon was published in 2015. He lives with his wife

and daughters, and teaches at Texas A&M University—Corpus Christi. His presentation

is, “Horizon to Horizon.”

b. Chip Dameron is the author of a travel book and seven collections of poetry, including

Waiting for an Etcher (Lamar UP, 2015) and Drinking from the River: New and Selected

Poems, 1975-2015 (Wings Press, 2015). His poems and essays on contemporary writers

have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies in the U.S. and abroad. A two-time

nominee for the Pushcart Prize in poetry and a member of the Texas Institute of Letters,

he lives and writes in Brownsville, Texas.

c. Larry D. Thomas, 2008 Texas Poet Laureate, will be reading selections from his poetry

collection, As If Light Actually Matters: New & Selected Poems, recently released. He

promises that this is his most definitive poetry collection to date, containing selections

from all nine of his poetry books, in addition to forty new poems not yet published in

book form.

d. Jeffrey DeLotto is Professor of English at Texas Wesleyan University. His work has

appeared in numerous publications, including a chapbook entitled Voices at the Door,

Days of a Chameleon: Collected Poems, and Voices Writ in Sand: Dramatic Monologues

and Other Poems, from Lamar UP. His presentation comes from his first novel, a Caddo

story ca. 1824, which is scheduled for completion by early 2016, after which he will turn

his attention to the mutinous crew of the family sailboat.

Thursday, September 10

11:45 a.m. – 1 p.m. Lunch on your own

Thursday, September 10

Afternoon Session I

1:15 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.

2 concurrent sessions

1. Poetry (Concert Hall)

a. Dorothy Alexander is a poet, storyteller and editor/publisher of a small independent

press. Author of four poetry collections, and a memoir in prose and poetry, Dorothy is

a founding member of the Woody Guthrie Poetry Readings in Okemah, Oklahoma.

Inspired by the agrarian literary tradition and the populist political movements in the

rural United States, she embraces primarily the narrative form, what she calls

“narcissistic” narrative, and “selfie” poetry. Her presentation is called, “Stumbling

Around in the Dark.”

b. Julie Chappell is Professor of English at Tarleton State, an editor, translator, and

creative writer. She has five academic books with another in progress. Her poetry

collection, Faultlines, was released by Village Books Press in 2013. She is an editor

for Lamar University Press and Ink Brush Press. Her creative writing has appeared in

Revival: Spoken Word from Lollapalooza 94; Agave: A Celebration of Tequila;

Writing Texas, and Red River Review. Her presentation is, “Tears of a One-eyed

Woman.”

c. Jane Holwerda is Professor of English and Division Chair of Humanities at Dodge

City Community College in Kansas. Her work has been published in such periodicals

as Hurricane Review, Illya’s Honey, Red River Review, and Sou’wester, as well as in

anthologies such as Guilty Pleasures and Elegant Rage. Holwerda earned her Masters

in English and her doctorate in American Studies from Saint Louis University where

she also edited for Boulevard. Her presentation is called, “Handyman.”

d. Hank Jones is an Assistant Professor at Tarleton State where he has taught English

composition and literature for the past fourteen years along with a stint as Assistant

Director of International Programs. He has read his poetry at a number of venues

including Scissortail Creative Writing Festival, and Southwest Popular and American

Culture Association. His work has been published in Cybersoleil: A Literary Journal.

His presentation is, “If You Put the Words Together Just Right.”

2. Mixed Genre (Rock House)

a. Charlotte Renk has published three books of poetry, including These Holy Hungers:

Secret Yearnings from an Empty Cup, which won the Eakin Press Manuscript Award.

She has won numerous awards, including Southwest’s Story Teller Award, Teacher

of the Year, and Innovator of the Year Award. Currently, she lectures and conducts

writing workshops, lectures, and continues to love living in her small cabin nestled in

East Texas woods where she walks and writes.

b. Loueva Smith is the 2015 winner of the Robert Phillips Chapbook Prize given by the

Texas Review Press. Her poetry has been anthologized in Goodbye, Mexico,

TimeSlice, and The Weight of Addition. Her plays, The Wounded Woman Fashion

Show, Bruna Bunny and Baby Girl and Tenderina have been performed at the

Frenetic Theater in Houston, Texas.

c. Dan Williams is the Director of TCU Press and the Honors Professor of Humanities

in the TCU Honors College. He has published five books, around fifty articles and

essays, and a handful of poems. Among his most recent publications was The Lords

of Leftovers, a novel published by Ink Brush Press in 2013. He is reading from The

Lords of Absence, a forthcoming novel.

d. Germaine Welch lives in Houston, Texas. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from

Rice University where she studied the use of metaphor in the development of a small

group culture. Her poem “Texas Oil Man Missing” was published in The Lineup:

Poems on Crime. “1946: The War is Over” appears in Goodbye, Mexico: Poems of

Remembrance.

Thursday, September 10

Afternoon Session II

2:45 p.m. – 3:45 p.m.

2 concurrent sessions

1. Poetry (Concert Hall)

a. Katherine Hoerth is the author of two poetry books, Goddess Wears Cowboy Boots

(Lamar UP, 2014) and The Garden Uprooted (Slough Press, 2012). The Texas Institute

of Letters awarded her the Helen C. Smith Award for the best book of poetry in 2015.

She teaches English at the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley and serves as poetry

editor of Amarillo Bay. Katherine’s presentation is from her collection of revisionist

myths in blank verse about Pecos Bill's infamous girlfriend, Slue Foot Sue.

b. Carol Coffee Reposa’s poems, reviews, and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in

The Atlanta Review, The Texas Observer, and other journals and anthologies. She has

received three Pushcart Prize nominations, along with three Fulbright-Hays Fellowships

for study in Russia, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico and twice has made the short list for

Texas Poet Laureate. A professor emeritus of English at San Antonio College, she now

serves as poetry editor of Voices de la Luna.

c. Michelle Hartman’s work appears in Slipstream, Plainsongs, Carve, Crannog, Poetry

Quarterly, The Pedestal Magazine, Raleigh Review, San Pedro River Review, Concho

River Review, Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas, and RiverSedge. Her poetry books,

Disenchanted and Disgruntled and Irony and Irreverence, from Lamar University Press,

are available from Amazon. She is the editor of, Red River Review and holds a BS in

Political Science from Texas Wesleyan University.

2. Open (Rock House)

a. Joe R. Christopher, Professor emeritus of English at Tarleton State University,

member of the Brite Divinity School Board of Visitors (three-year term), and author

of Ars Poetica (Mellen Poetry Press, 2012) and other books, will read “Inside the

Slan Shack” (a narrative poem, the first of an intended series). “Slan shack” is old

science-fiction slang for a fan club house; here it is used for a meeting place of

graphic-novel and comic-book fans.

b. Laurence Musgrove teaches at Angelo State University. His poetry has appeared in

descant, New Texas, and Elephant Journal. He blogs at theillustratedprofessor.com

and cartoons at texosophy.com. He and Terry Dalrymple are currently accepting

submissions to a new project, Texas Weather, an anthology of fiction, non-fiction,

and poetry also to be published by Lamar UP. He is going to read selections from his

latest collection of poetry, Local Bird, just published by Lamar UP.

c. David Bowles has lived most of his life in the Río Grande Valley. Recipient of

awards from the Texas Institute of Letters and Texas Associated Press, he has written

several books, most recently Border Lore. Additionally, his work has been published

in venues such as Rattle, Axolotl, Red River Review, and Huizache. In his

presentation, David mines Mexican myths and south Texas legends, reading from his

two latest books The Smoking Mirror and Border Lore.

Thursday, September 10

Concurrent Afternoon Session III

4 p.m. – 5 p.m.

2 concurrent sessions

1. Poetry (Rock House)

a. Alan Birkelbach's presentation comes from his tenth book of poetry, Meridienne

Verte. In keeping with the spirit of his earlier work Rogue Waves Alan explores the

existential nature of life, questioning continuously if this is indeed the best of all possible

worlds. Using geographical and historical references in a narrative tone, Alan explores

the mundane to the miraculous. Alan was 2005 Texas Poet Laureate.

b. Ann Howells, Aerial Navigation. Ann’s poetry appears in Borderlands, Concho River

Review, and Spillway among others. She serves on Dallas Poets Community's board (501-

c-3) and edits Illya’s Honey, recently going digital (www.IllyasHoney.com) and

alternating issues with a new co-editor. Ann’s chapbooks are, Black Crow in

Flight (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2007) and the Rosebud Diaries (Willet Press, 2012).

She has been read on NPR, interviewed on Writers around Annapolis television, and

nominated for four Pushcarts.

c. Bryce Milligan is the author of a dozen books for adults and children. His latest book of

poetry is Lost & Certain of It (London: Aark Arts, 2006). Recent poems have appeared in

Southwest Review, Cutthroat, Clover, Texas Observer, Asheville Poetry Review and

Anglican Theological Review. Bryce is the publisher/editor/designer of Wings Press.

2. Poetry (Concert Hall)

a. Brady Peterson lives near Belton, Texas, where for much of the past twenty-nine years

he worked building homes and teaching rhetoric. His poems have appeared in New Texas,

Windhover, Journal of Military Experience, Texas Poetry Calendar, Blue Hole, The

Good Men Project and San Antonio Express-News. He has published a chapbook, Glued

to the Earth, and a full length volume of poetry, Between Stations. He will be reading

poems from his latest book—Dust.

b. Alan Berecka is a reference librarian at Del Mar College in Corpus Christi. His poetry

has appeared in American Literary Review and The Texas Review, and anthologies such

as St. Peter’s B-List (Ava Maria Press). His latest collection of poetry is, With Our

Baggage, by Lamar UP, 2013. His second book, Remembering the Body, won an

honorable mention for poetry from the Eric Hoffer Award. His presentation is called, “Of

Suffering and Idiots.”

c. Travis Blair’s presentation comes from his third poetry book, Hazy Red and Diesel

Grey. These poems paint pictures of friends, family, and his own adventures throughout

urban Texas. His other two books are Train to Chihuahua and Little Sandwiches. Blair is

former President of the Dallas Poets Community and is published in many literary

journals. After a lengthy career in the movie business, he now teaches ESL to adult

immigrants. His presentation is called, “Poems of Urban Texas.”

Thursday, September 10

Book Fair/Book Signing: 5 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.

All are welcome. Come to the Gordon House Living Room.

NOTES:

Thursday, September 10

RECEPTION, with heavy hors d’oeuvres

5:45 p.m. – 7:15 p.m.

Gallery 206

206 East Pearl Street, Granbury, TX 76048 — http://mapq.st/qhvi1R

Featuring the music of Pasticcio with Harris Kirby on mandolin & Jim Toler on guitar

Volume 12 Publication Reception

Sponsored by the Office of the President, Tarleton State University

and

Supported by the Cynthia Brants Trust

The Cynthia Brants Trust is charged with disseminating, through sales, the works of art from the

estate of Cynthia Brants. Proceeds from those sales are distributed to non-profit organizations

as designated by Cynthia Brants. The Trust is able to accomplish that goal by promoting the

legacy of Cynthia Brants through exhibitions, presentations, and sales events.

2015-2016 Contributors

Rob Bosquez

Christopher Carmona

Hal C. Clark

Chip Dameron

Peggy Hooks Knoop DeLaVergne

Zenetta S. Drew

Scott Gentling

Stuart Gentling

James Harris

Katherine Hoerth

Skip Hollandsworth

Paul Juhasz

Meron Langsner

Steven Alan McGaw

Atlee Marie Phillips

Matthew Pitt

Diana Synatzske

Carmen Tafolla

Wanda Wade

Teresa LaBarbera Whites

THURSDAY EVENING SESSION, September 10

7:30-8:00 p.m.

Writer-in-Residence, Christopher Carmona

Writer-in-Residence, sponsored by the Granbury Wine Walk

Christopher Carmona was a nominee for the Alfredo Cisneros

del Moral Foundation Award for Writers in 2011 and a Pushcart

Prize nominee in 2013. His story, “Strange Leaves,” was the

third finalist in the Texas Observer Short Story Contest of 2014.

He has been published in numerous journals and magazines

including Trickster Literary Journal, Interstice, vandal,

Bordersenses, and Sagebrush Review. His first collection of

poetry called beat was published by Slough Press in 2011 and

his second book, I Have Always Been Here was published by

Otras Voces Press in 2014. He has edited The Beatest State in

The Union: An Anthology of Beat Texas Writings with Chuck

Taylor and Rob Johnson, and was one of the authors for Nuev@s Voces Poeticas: A Dialogue

about New Chican@ Identities with Isaac Chavarría, Gabriel Sanchez, & Rossy Lima. Currently,

he is editing an anthology called Outrage: A Protest Anthology about Injustice in a Post 9/11

World, to be published by Slough Press in 2015, and is working on his first collection of short

stories entitled, The Road to Llorona Park, to be published by Stephen F. Austin UP in 2016. He

is also the organizer of the Annual Beat Poetry and Arts Festival and the Artistic Director of the

Coalition of New Chican@ Artists (C.O.N.C.A.).

Brief intermission

SceneShop Readers’ Theatre 8:15-8:45

Since 1996, SceneShop has produced over 100 new

works—scenes and monologues—and presented

them in an intimate, minimalist style, focusing on

the essential communication between the

playwright, the producing ensemble and the

audience.

“SceneShop is an evolving collective of artists

dedicated to the strength and entertainment value of

new works, presented simply and performed well.”

Visit www.fwsceneshop.com for more information.

DAY THREE, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 11

MORNING SESSIONS

Registration: 8:30 a.m. –

Gordon House

Plenary Morning Session I

9 a.m. – 10:15 a.m.

1. Prose (Concert Hall)

a. Jim Harris is a retired internist and rancher from Marshall, Texas, with diverse

interests and talents. At Langdon, he has presented a poignant account of a cardiac

death, a funeral totally disrupted by a squirrel dog, and, last year, an overview

regarding Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy and tackle football. This year’s

presentation, “Older than Love,” concerns a young white boy working in the woods

with several black men in the 1950’s. He may also read a poem.

b. Michael Dooley (aka Woodstok Farley) is an Assistant Professor at Tarleton State

where he has taught for fourteen years. Having submitted regularly to faculty

chapbooks, Michael has branched out and been presenting at such venues as the

South Central Modern Language Association and Southwest Popular and American

Culture Association. This year, his first short story, “As the Wave Rose,” was

published in Cybersoleil: A Literary Journal. His presentation is, “Surf, Swamp, and

Stone, Part III.”

c. Tui Snider, author, photographer, podcast host, speaker and Twitter master, is out to

prove that “Even home is a travel destination.” Snider’s bestselling books inspired by

the Lone Star state include Paranormal Texas, The Lynching of the Santa Claus Bank

Robber, and the 2015 First Place Winner for Adult Nonfiction, Unexpected Texas.

Snider enjoys creating interest in regional history and travel through her books, blog,

photography, speaking engagements, and social media. (More info:

www.TuiSnider.com)

d. D. Brian Anderson teaches English at the College of the Mainland, where he was

recently appointed chair of the Humanities Department. His short stories, essays, and

poetry have appeared in Langdon Review of the Arts in Texas, Hawai’i Review, Rio

Grande Review, the Houston Chronicle, and the Journal of New Jersey Poets. He also

has two poems forthcoming in War, Literature & the Arts. His essay presentation is

“Forty Degrees below Zero in Georgetown: Measuring Alzheimer’s.”

Friday, September 11

Plenary Morning Session II

10:30 a.m. – noon

1. Mixed Genre (Concert Hall)

a. Dede Fox will read from Postcards Home, her 2014 poetry collection published by

Ink Brush Press. Her debut collection Confessions of a Jewish Texan came out in

May, 2013. TCU Press published her Young Adult novel and Highlights Magazine

non-fiction articles. Dede serves on the board of the Montgomery County Literary

Arts Council and received the 2015 Montie Award for the Literary Arts. Mutabilis

Press and Wings Press will include her work in upcoming anthologies.

b. Hal C. Clark is a retired fourth grade teacher and a graduate of Texas A&M

University. He enjoys reading, writing, and travelling with his wife, Anne. He has

been writing poetry for about 12 years and has been published in several magazines

and anthologies such as Red River Review, di-verse-city, Hunger for Peace, and

Elegant Rage. His first book of poetry was published last year, titled All Of Me. His

presentation is called “Ribbon Tree.”

c. Terry Dalrymple’s books of fiction include Texas 5X5: Twenty-Five Stories by Five

Texas Writers, Salvation (stories), and Fishing for Trouble (novel for middle readers),

as well as a book of stories he edited, Texas Soundtrack: Texas Stories Inspired by

Texas Music. His stories have also been published in dozens of journals and

anthologies. He teaches literature and fiction writing at Angelo State University. His

presentation is called, “Memory Photos”: A Reading from Love Stories (Sort Of).

d. Steve Sherwood directs the center for writing at TCU, where he has taught since

1988. In addition to short stories, memoirs, and essays, he has published five books,

including the St. Martin’s Sourcebook for Writing Tutors, Field Guide: Essays and

Stories (Angelina River Press 2014) and two novels, Hardwater (2005) and No

Asylum (Texas Review Press 2014). He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the uses of

humor as an instrument of pedagogy and persuasion.

e. Paul Juhasz earned an M.A. in English from Illinois State before settling down in

Texas. He taught composition and literature at Tarleton State for seven years before

moving to Allentown, Pennsylvania where he left academia and worked at an

Amazon Fulfillment Center. His experiences there during a seven-month stay have

been turned into a mock journal, Fulfillment: Diary of an Amazonian Picker. He

currently is riding a truck for 1-800-GOT-JUNK, gathering material for his next

project.

Friday, September 11

Noon – 1:30 p.m.

Picnic with the Poet Laureate

Brazos House Gardens

(across the street from the Gordon House)

Picnic with the 2015 Texas Poet Laureate

Carmen Tafolla

Carmen Tafolla, Ph.D., is the author of

more than twenty books, and is an

Associate Professor at UT-San Antonio.

Carmen’s work has been published in

English, Spanish, German, French, and

Bengali, and has been recognized by the

National Association for Chicano

Studies for “giving voice to the peoples

and cultures of this land.” She has

received many recognitions, including

the Americas Award, five International

Latino Book Awards and the Art of

Peace.

Special thanks to hosts Dominique and Charles Inge

Brazos House Gardens, Granbury, Texas

Friday, September 11

Plenary Afternoon Session I

1:45 p.m. – 3:15 p.m.

Celebrating writers who are in Goodbye, Mexico, moderated by Sarah Cortez (Concert Hall)

a. Sarah Cortez is a Councilor of the Texas Institute of Letters and has won the PEN Texas

Literary Award in Poetry. Her Cold Blue Steel was a finalist in the Writers’ League of Texas

awards. She edited Our Lost Border: Essays on Life amid the Narco-Violence, winning a

Southwest Book Award and an International Latino Book Award. Her latest anthology is

Goodbye, Mexico: Poems of Remembrance. Sarah was a finalist for Texas Poet Laureate and

Houston Poet Laureate.

b. Sherry Craven retired from teaching college English and lives in Jasper, Texas. She has

published in periodicals, such as descant, Langdon Review, RiverSedge, Quotable Texas

Women, and Writing on the Wind. She won the Conference of College Teachers of English

2005 poetry award. Her poetry collection, Standing by the Window, was published by Virtual

Artists Collection. She has poems coming out in Southern Anthology: Texas, VIII and Stone

Renga. Her presentation is called, “Finishing the Conversation.”

c. Jan Seale, 2012 Texas Poet Laureate, resides on the Texas-Mexico border. Her latest book

of nonfiction is Nature Nurture Neither: A Family’s Journey in Creativity (Angelina River

Press). Jan’s ninth book of poetry is The Parkinson Poems (Lamar UP). Her South Texas

recipes are featured in a new cookbook, Cooking with the Texas Poets Laureate (Texas

Review Press). She remains curious about plants, animals, the writing process, and mortality.

Her presentation is “Care-giving and Creativity.”

d. Alan Birkelbach, 2005 Poet Laureate of Texas, has published in several journals and

anthologies. He has received a Fellowship Grant from the Writer’s League of Texas, was

nominated for a Wrangler and Pushcart Prizes, is a member of both the Texas Institute of

Letters and The Academy of American Poets, and is the winner of the 2015 Spur Award for

Best Western Poem, from the Western Writers of America.

e. Ann Howells, Aerial Navigation. Ann’s poetry appears in Borderlands, Concho River

Review, and Spillway among others. She serves on Dallas Poets Community's board (501-c-

3) and edits Illya’s Honey, recently going digital (www.IllyasHoney.com) and alternating

issues with a new co-editor. Ann’s chapbooks are, Black Crow in Flight (Main Street Rag

Publishing, 2007) and the Rosebud Diaries (Willet Press, 2012). She has been read on NPR,

interviewed on Writers around Annapolis television, and nominated for four Pushcarts.

f. Carol Coffee Reposa’s poems, reviews, and essays have appeared or are forthcoming in The

Atlanta Review, The Texas Observer, and other journals and anthologies. She has received

three Pushcart Prize nominations, along with three Fulbright-Hays Fellowships for study in

Russia, Peru, Ecuador, and Mexico and twice has made the short list for Texas Poet

Laureate. A professor emeritus of English at San Antonio College, she now serves as poetry

editor of Voices de la Luna.

Friday, September 11

Plenary Afternoon Session II

3:30 p.m. – 5 p.m.

Celebrating writers who are in Goodbye, Mexico, moderated by Sarah Cortez (Concert Hall)

a. David Bowles has lived most of his life in the Río Grande Valley. Recipient of awards

from the Texas Institute of Letters and Texas Associated Press, he has written several

books, most recently Border Lore. Additionally, his work has been published in venues

such as Rattle, Axolotl, Red River Review, and Huizache. In his presentation, David mines

Mexican myths and south Texas legends, reading from his two latest books The Smoking

Mirror and Border Lore.

b. Germaine Welch lives in Houston, Texas. She has a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Rice

University where she studied the use of metaphor in the development of a small group

culture. Her poem “Texas Oil Man Missing” was published in The Lineup: Poems on

Crime. “1946: The War is Over” appears in Goodbye, Mexico: Poems of Remembrance.

c. Loueva Smith is the 2015 winner of the Robert Phillips Chapbook Prize given by the

Texas Review Press. Her poetry has been anthologized in Goodbye, Mexico, TimeSlice,

and The Weight of Addition. Her plays, The Wounded Woman Fashion Show, Bruna

Bunny and Baby Girl and Tenderina have been performed at the Frenetic Theater in

Houston, Texas.

d. Larry D. Thomas, 2008 Texas Poet Laureate, will be reading selections from his poetry

collection, As If Light Actually Matters: New & Selected Poems, recently released. He

promises that this is his most definitive poetry collection to date, containing selections

from all nine of his poetry books, in addition to forty new poems not yet published in

book form.

e. James Hoggard is the author of numerous books, including collections of poems, stories,

personal essays, literary translations and novels. Seven of his plays have also been

produced, two of them in New York. He recently retired from Midwestern State

University after a long career there as The Perkins-Prothro Distinguished Professor of

English.

f. Karla K. Morton, 2010 Texas Poet Laureate, will read her poems from Goodbye,

Mexico, as well as from her tenth book of poetry Constant State of Leaping (Texas

Review Press), which was first runner-up in poetry for the 2015 Eric Hoffer Book Award,

a Finalist for the 2015 Montaigne Medal, and winner of the North Texas Book Festival

Award, and features the delicious cover art by famed Texas painter Donna Howell-

Sickles.

Dinner on your own

5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.

EVENING SESSION, Friday, September 11

Movie Screening: Bernie

Friday, September 11

7:30 p.m. – 9:30 p.m.

Showbiz Cinema

Tickets $7.50 at the door (no pre-sales)

Released in 2011, directed by Richard Linklater, Bernie features

Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine, and Matthew McConaughey.

Screening followed by a Q&A with Screenwriter

Skip Hollandsworth

Before becoming Executive Editor of Texas

Monthly in 1989, Skip Hollandsworth was a

reporter, a columnist in Dallas, a television

producer, and documentary filmmaker. He has

won numerous awards including a National

Headliners Award, the national John Hancock

Award for Excellence in Business and Financial

Journalism, the City and Regional Magazine gold

award for feature writing, and the Texas Institute

of Letters O. Henry Award for magazine writing.

A four-time finalist for the National Magazine

Award previously, in 2010 Hollandsworth won the

honor for “Still Life,” a piece about a young man

who was paralyzed in a high school football

injury. With Richard Linklater, Hollandsworth co-

wrote the screenplay for the 2011 hit move Bernie, which is based on his article, “Midnight in

the Garden of East Texas.”

ShowBiz Cinema 6. Location for Friday night’s movie screening:

1201 Water’s Edge Drive, Granbury, TX 76048

(located behind WalMart, one block off Highway 377 and across from Chili's

Restaurant)

DAY FOUR, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2015

9:30 a.m. – Noon

Langdon Center Lawn Tent & Concert Hall

Saturday Morning Brunch

featuring

Teresa LaBarbera Whites

Artist Advocate, Executive Producer, and Independent A&R Woman

Teresa LaBarbera Whites is ranked one of the top

music industry executives in the world with over two

decades of experience. She is directly responsible for

the discovery and development of Beyoncé, Destiny’s

Child, and Jessica Simpson and continues to work side

by side with Beyoncé on all of the superstar’s music.

Teresa is consistently brought in to work closely with

top artists on their recording projects including Britney

Spears and her critically acclaimed Blackout & Circus

albums, Pink, The Backstreet Boys, and Katharine

McPhee to name a few. Teresa’s projects have sold

more than eighty million records, and her creative

executive role spans from A&R to Executive Producer.

In addition to all of her A&R credits, Teresa was an

Executive Producer on Britney Spears’s Circus album.

Her most recent signing, MKTO, have quickly risen to

the top of the charts with a multi-platinum single and

debut album.

Teresa is expanding her reach with a new venture, the

Music Moxie Roadshow, in which she will embark on

a first-of-its kind tour across the United States to

discover new talent. She will also be sharing her vast knowledge of the entertainment industry

with aspiring performers, songwriters, producers, rising entertainment executives, not to mention

parents that are proactive in their children’s decisions to pursue a music career. The creator and

CEO of her newly formed BellaSonic Records, Teresa’s focus is the Artist and their creativity as

it relates to today’s commercial market. She is currently in the studio developing several new

projects, in addition to mentoring new producers and songwriters.

She also frequently hosts Songwriting Retreats at The Arbor House Bed & Breakfast, which she

owns, in Granbury, Texas. She brings recording artists, producers and songwriters in from

around the world to work on projects. The quaint historical town has proven to be the perfect

creative get-away for such artists as Katharine McPhee, along with Martie Maguire & Emily

Robinson from the Dixie Chicks/Courtyard Hounds, to name a few.

ANNOUNCING the Langdon Review Writer-in-Residence Program, 2017!