Something Which Fires the Imagination Podcast

This lecture was presented as a Big Read Event & a Women’s History Month Event on Tuesday March 23, 2010 at the Olean Public Library. The presenter was Dr. Jeff Slagle of St. Bonaventure University.

The west is often mythologized as a place of men and of masculine pursuits, but Willa Cather’s My Ántonia depicts a west populated and animated by women. This talk examines Cather’s western women in the context of Cather’s own western immigrant experience and the imaginative possibilities for a narrative of western settlement in which women play a significant, even a central, role.

Dr. Jeff Slagle is an Assistant Professor of English at St. Bonaventure University, where he teaches courses in American literature, literary theory, and composition. His research explores the development of western narratives in text, film, photography, and live performance.

Download Something Which Fires the Imagination.mp3 from FileFactory.com (Scroll down past the advertisement to find the download link.)

Something Which Fires The Imagination by Dr Jeff Slagle is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

2010 Short Story Contest Guidelines

The Friends of the Olean Public Library are sponsoring a short story contest for students in grades 6 through 10.  Below are the rules:

1. Entries must feature, in an imaginative way, ALL of the following items: a library computer, a bird, and a teacher’s voice.
2. Permissible length is 350 words or less.  Please note: We do reject stories for excessive length or because they do not feature all three items listed in number 1.
3. This contest is open to students enrolled in grades 6 through 10.  Participants are limited to one entry and are expected to do their own work.
4. Entries must be typed on 8 1/2 x 11 paper.  Please choose a font that is easily readable, like Arial and a type size no smaller than 11 pt.  Students without other access to a word processing program are welcome to use the computers at the Olean Public Library.
5. Mechanical correctness — spelling, punctuation and grammar — is an important factor in the judging.
6. Entrant’s name, grade, school, and TEACHER’S NAME must be printed – legibly! – in the lower right corner of each page.  Home-schooled students are welcome; use the name of the person doing most of the teaching as your teacher’s name.
7. All entries must be received at the Olean Public Library by Friday, April 16, 2010.  Whether mailed or delivered in person, envelopes should be addressed to Friends Short Story Contest.  Mailed entries should be sent in care of the Olean Public Library, 134 N. Second St., Olean, NY 14760.
8. Winners will be notified through their English teacher after April 27th.  Awards will be presented the following week at the Olean Public Library.

Thanks for your participation.  And good luck!