UNL to host Whitman anniversary event March 31-April 2

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln will play host to an international event, the "Leaves of Grass" 150th Anniversary Conference, March 31 through April 2. The conference will draw upon the expertise of more than two dozen distinguished Walt Whitman and American literature experts, writers and musicians.

"The 150th anniversary conference is a major event in Whitman scholarship, bringing together the world's leading experts on the poet and helping to solidify Nebraska's role as a central location for Whitman studies," said Kenneth Price, Hillegass professor of American literature at UNL.

"'Leaves of Grass' is the founding book of American literary democracy," Price said. "Before Whitman, America was politically independent but culturally bound to British fashions and traditions."

For detailed information about the conference, including registration and lodging information, biographical information on conference speakers and presenters and the full schedule of events, visit the conference Web site (www.unl.edu/leavesofgrass).

Directors for the conference in addition to Price are Susan Belasco, professor of English at UNL, and Ed Folsom, Carver professor of English at the University of Iowa and the keynote speaker for the conference.

Following is the schedule of activities for the conference. Nebraska Union rooms will be posted at the information desk of the Nebraska Union, 1400 R St.

Thursday, March 31 -- 3:30 p.m., keynote address by Folsom, Nebraska Union; 7:30, performance by jazz pianist and composer Fred Hersch, Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 N. 12th St.

Friday, April 1 -- 9-10:30 a.m., Whitman Foreground, Nebraska Union; 10:45-11:45, Whitman Disciples, Nebraska Union; 1:30-3 p.m.: Whitman Biography, Nebraska Union; 3:30-5, Whitman Collecting, Love Library, 13th and R Streets; 7, banquet and poetry reading by Galway Kinnell, Embassy Suites, 1040 P St.

Saturday, April 2 -- 9:15-10:45 a.m., Whitman Vision, Nebraska Union; 11-noon, Whitman Cultivations, Nebraska Union; 1:30-3 p.m., Whitman Publishing, Nebraska Union; 3:15-4:15, Whitman Editing, Nebraska Union; 7:30, Ted Kooser, poet laureate of the United States, will read from his works; the UNL Symphony Orchestra and University Singers will perform Paul Hindemith's "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" (Requiem for Those We Love); "Mystic Trumpeter" by composer and conductor Tyler White will be premiered, Kimball Recital Hall, 301 N. 12th St.

Conference Participants:
* Susan Belasco, professor of English at UNL and editor for the "Walt Whitman Archive" Whitman's poems published in periodicals from 1850-1892.
* Lawrence Buell, Powell M. Cabot professor of American literature at Harvard University.
* Matt Cohen, who works in the fields of the history of the book and race, class, gender and reproduction in American literature.
* Betsy Erkkila, Henry Sanborn Noyes professor of literature and former chair of the Department of English at Northwestern University.
* Ed Folsom, Carver professor of English at the University of Iowa, editor of "The Walt Whitman Quarterly Review" and co-director of the "Walt Whitman Archive."
* Tom Gannon, an assistant professor of English at UNL who studies ecocriticism and Native American literature.
* Ted Genoways, author of "Bullroarer," winner of the Samuel French Morse Poetry Prize, the Natalie Ornish Poetry Award, and the Nebraska Book Award.
* Ezra Greenspan, Kahn chair in the humanities and professor of English at Southern Methodist University.
* Jay Grossman, teacher of American literature and culture at Northwestern University.
* Walter Grunzweig, professor of American literature and culture at the University of Dortmund in Germany and adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, the State University of New York at Binghamton and Canisius College.
* Fred Hersch, recognized as among the foremost pianists and composers in jazz and creator of compositions based on Whitman and his works.
* M. Jimmie Killingsworth, professor of English at Texas A&M University.
* Galway Kinnell, a poet who has taught writing at many schools around the world, including universities in France, Australia, and Iran.
* Ted Kooser, poet laureate of the United States and professor of English at UNL.
* Donald D. Kummings, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside.
* Jerome Loving, a distinguished professor of English at Texas A&M University.
* Cristanne Miller, W. M. Keck distinguished service professor and professor of English at Pomona College.
* James E. Miller Jr., Helen A. Regenstein professor of literature emeritus at the University of Chicago.
* Martin G. Murray, founder of the Washington (D.C.) Friends of Walt Whitman.
* Joel Myerson, Carolina distinguished professor of American literature emeritus at the University of South Carolina.
* William Pannapacker, assistant professor of English and Towsley research scholar at Hope College in Holland, Mich..
* Vivian Pollak, author of "The Erotic Whitman" and of articles in "The Mickle Street Review" and "The Walt Whitman Quarterly Review."
* Kenneth M. Price, Hillegass professor of American literature at UNL and co-director of the Walt Whitman Archive.
* Ken Reed, dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and Surgery at Des Moines (Iowa) University and a collector of Walt Whitman's works for the last 25 years.
* David S. Reynolds, distinguished professor of English and American studies at Baruch College and the Graduate Center of the City University of New York.
* Glenn Schaeffer, president and chief financial officer of the Mandalay Resort Group in Las Vegas and a longtime collector of Whitman's works.
* Liu Shusen, professor of American and English literature and translation studies, and deputy dean of the School of Foreign Languages at Peking University, whose research includes Walt Whitman studies, 19th century American literature, and translation studies.
* M. Wynn Thomas, professor of English and director of the Centre for Research into the English Literature and Language of Wales at the University of Wales.
* Alan Trachtenberg, Neil Grey emeritus professor of English and American studies and senior research fellow at Yale University.
* Tyler White, resident conductor of the Lincoln Symphony Orchestra and director of orchestral activities at UNL.

Program sponsors are the Office of the Senior Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Office of Vice Chancellor for Research, the College of Arts and Sciences, University Libraries, the Hixson-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts, the School of Music, the Department of English, and the University of Nebraska Press.

CONTACTS: Susan Belasco, Professor, English, (402) 472-1857
Kenneth Price, Hillegass Professor, English, (402) 472-0293