Book Reading
Live readings from two of the English department’s spunkiest
professors, tables of desserts and, oh yes, an open bar, were some
of the amenities that snared a large crowd at the Colorado Review
Benefit last Friday. The benefit, which successfully raised over
$4,300 for CSU’s premiere literary journal, The Colorado Review,
saw a huge turnout as CSU staff and students as well as Fort
Collins residents attended the fundraiser.
English Professors Bill Tremblay and Leslee Becker read excerpts
from literary powerhouses, Jack Kerouac and Flannery O’Conner.
Tremblay read from Kerouac’s books “On the Road,” “The Dharma Bums”
and “The Subterraneans” accompanied by the bongos. Tremblay read
the potent prose of Kerouac in the rhythmically poetic style that
became the trademark of the beat generation.
“He read a section from ‘Dharma Bums’ in the form of a rap. To
see crazy Tremblay perform a beat rap was worth my $25,” said Jason
Adams, a senior English major. “I didn’t think the readings could
get any better but Professor Becker’s reading of the one-legged
woman and the bible salesman was hilarious. Everyone laughed so
hard and it wasn’t just because of the free alcohol.”
Leslee Becker’s reading of Flannery O’Conner’s “Good Country
People” differed from Tremblay’s in that she read the humorous
story in a methodical manner that accentuated the absurdity of the
story, which was about a one-legged woman who is seduced by a bible
salesman named Manely Pointer.
Professor of English Robert Henze attended the event and said,
“I especially liked the contrast between Bill Tremblay’s and Tony
Vandaver’s language-ecstatic, bongo-beat, ‘rent a hippie’ rendition
of Jack Kerouac and Leslee Becker’s nearly ruminative reading of
Flannery O’Conner’s southern gothic comic satire as existential
parody.”
The Colorado Review is a literary publication that has published
works from some of the most famous authors and poets in the United
States including E.E. Cummings, Langston Hughes and William Carlos
Williams.
According to Tremblay, The Colorado Review has seen a wealth of
prestigious authors, “Pulitzer Prize winners, National Book Award
winners … just about every prize in the book.”
Stephanie G’schwindt, editor for The Colorado Review added that
literary journals serve as an important venue for new and
established writers alike to publish their works. Many of today’s
most noted writers realized a substantial career boost after being
published in journals.
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