The 2012 Prairie Schooner Book Prize Celebration includes past winners of the journal’s Book Prize reading from their works in collaboration with UNL's photography and dance departments.
At 8 p.m., Jan. 31, in Andersen Hall Room 15, three prize-winning authors will read from their works in a collaborative performance. Susan Levine, associate professor and head of UNL’s dance program, along with seven dance majors, will perform a Modern dance piece in response to poems in Shane Book’s "Ceiling of Sticks."
Luis Peón-Casanova, in charge of the Visual Literacy Program of Excellence at UNL’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications, will visually interpret a poem by James Crews using a variety of media.
This free, public event features three recent Prairie Schooner Book Prize winners — Shane Book, 2009 winner in poetry for "Ceiling of Sticks;" Greg Hrbek, 2010 winner in fiction for "Destroy All Monsters;" and James Crews, 2010 winner in poetry for "The Book of What Stays."
On Jan. 30 the public met Book, Hrbek, and Crews and participated in an informative question-and-answer session in the Dudley Bailey Library.
“These arts collaborations are a wonderful way to celebrate the synergy that can come when artists in different disciplines are in some kind of dialogue," Prairie Schooner editor Kwame Dawes said. "I am thrilled about these collaborations because they will be wonderful opportunities to see the work of our book prize winners in different and exciting new ways.”
The two-day event was hosted by Prairie Schooner and the University of Nebraska Press.