Local News
EKU English, theatre departments busy with book publications
For Eastern Kentucky University’s Department of English and Theatre, it has been a busy, perhaps unprecedented, year for academic research and creative works.
During the past year, faculty in the department have produced 14 books, five chapters in books, 17 refereed journal articles, 24 refereed creative works, two published refereed proceedings, 17 non-refereed journal articles, 30 presentations at professional meetings and workshops, and 22 performances, exhibits and productions.
“This remarkable period of success is from a faculty who teach four classes a term and perform a great deal of service,” said Dr. James Keller, chair of the department. “The books that have been released this year are indicative of the broad scope of faculty endeavors, encompassing traditional literary scholarship, history, creative writing and editing. When one includes the multiple scholarly articles, poems and short stories that were also released over the past year, the full scope of the Department’s productiveness becomes apparent.
“The Department of English and Theatre at EKU is populated by an exceptional group of scholar/teachers … and I look forward to another year of teaching and research excellence as well as even more publications.”
The second novel by Derek Nikitas, “The Long Division,” is slated for release this fall, fresh on the heels of “Pyres,” which earned critical raves nationwide upon its release late last year and the screenplay of which is in production as a major motion picture. “Pyres” was recently released in Japanese and is forthcoming in German and French. Nikitas teaches in the University’s brief-residency MFA program in creative writing.
In “Conjoined Twins in Black and White: The Lives of Millie-Christine McCoy and Daisy and Violet Hilton,” Linda Frost, who also heads EKU’s Honors Program, examines the social and literary significance of historic texts describing the lives of two sets of conjoined twins.
Leading the publication list with four books in the past year is Keven McQueen, whose latest book is a collection of outlandish tales from the Hoosier State. McQueen’s books also include “Forgotten Tales of Kentucky,” a fascinating collection of bizarre Bluegrass history.
In a more modern academic vein, “Transcending the New Woman: Multiethnic Narratives in the Progressive Era,” authored by Charlotte Rich, focuses on the shift of Victorian attitudes toward women as domestics to a new era of social, political and economic autonomy at the turn of the 20th century.
Other books include “Cruelly Murdered” and “Kentucky Book of the Dead” by McQueen; “Journey’s Home: An Anthology of Contemporary African Diasporic Experience” edited by Salome Nnoromele and Lisa Day-Lindsey; “The Deep End of South Park: Critical Essays on TV’s Shocking Cartoon Series,” edited by Keller and Leslie Stratyner; “Road to Pleasant Hill,” “48 Hours” and “The Lost Dispatch” by Mason Smith and Marie Mitchell; “Backing into Mountains” by Dorothy Sutton, and “Looking Westward: Poetry, Landscape and Politics in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight,” by Ordelle Hill.
EKU’s Department of English and Theatre has 47 full-time and more than 60 part-time faculty members.
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Berea men arrested for robbery
Berea police arrested two men in connection with a March 8 robbery at a check-cashing business, a spokesman said Monday.
Shawn Burns, 32, was charged with first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, while Bradley Lamb, 21, was charged with complicity to first-degree robbery and misdemeanor receiving stolen property, said Capt. Ken Clark, Berea Police Department spokesman. -
City seeks proposals for Gibson Bay Cafe
The operation lease for Gibson Bay Cafe expires at the end of May, and the City of Richmond will be accepting bids for the operation of the restaurant from the public until Friday, March 26.
Gibson Bay Cafe, which is located at Lake Reba Recreational Complex on the Gibson Bay Golf Course, is owned by city commissioner Bill Strong and his wife Jeanie Strong. -
Reports of home burglaries keep Richmond police busy
The new owner of a mobile home on Bradbury Pointe reported to Richmond police Friday that appliances had been stolen from the home.
A stainless steel refrigerator, a white stove, a white microwave and a three-ton Trane heating and air conditioning unit were discovered to be missing from the home on March 7, said Chief Larry Brock. -
Parents upset about test scores, deficiencies
The frustration was evident in the voices of a number of Berea Community School parents who spent more than an hour Monday night addressing the Berea Independent Board of Education.
The parents spent most of the evening talking directly to middle school/high school principal John Masters about a lack of communication with school personnel and asking for answers about how the district intends to correct a number of deficiencies identified by the state in a December audit. -
Time to stand up, be counted
Madison County households will be receiving questionnaires in the mail today through Wednesday from the U.S. Census Bureau which is carrying out it constitutional mandate to count all U.S. citizens every 10 years.
Letters were mailed last week advising household to be watching for the census questionnaire, according to J.C. Barbour, the bureau’s media specialist for Kentucky. -
‘Sunshine Boys’ dedicated to Kerby’s memory
The late Dr. Clifford Kerby, former mayor of Berea, was a longtime supporter and often an actor in community theater.
One of his favorite plays, in which he played one of the two lead roles for the old Berea Community Theater back in 1977, was “The Sunshine Boys,” said his wife Diane. -
Two chances to meet, hear candidates
“You can’t tell the players without a program,” vendors at old minor league baseball games used to yell.
With so many local candidates in the running for election this year, voters may know too little about them to make an informed choice, some observers have remarked.
However, two Madison County organizations have scheduled events for Thursday evening to help clarify who the candidates are and what they stand for. -
Local group to meet on skate park on Tuesday
A local group seeking to build a public skateboard park in Richmond will conduct a public meeting next week in downtown Richmond.
Skate Richmond, KY is a non-profit group founded in 2007, according to group member and local attorney Wesley Browne, and is interested in constructing a public skateboard park in downtown Richmond. -
Lots of ‘energy’ at expo Saturday
Gloomy weather and college basketball did not keep people away from Saturday’s Madison County Home Energy Expo at the Perkins Building on Eastern Kentucky University’s campus.
The second-annual event, hosted by Madison County’s University of Kentucky Cooperative Extension office, moved to the EKU campus this year after last year’s event was conducted at Glenn Marshall Elementary School. -
Kentucky Blood Center collection Tuesday in Berea
Kentucky Blood Center will conduct a blood drive on Tuesday from 11 a.m. until 5 p.m. at Union Church in the Community Room, 200 Prospect St., Berea.
Every volunteer who presents to donate blood with the Kentucky Blood Center (KBC) will have a chance to win a trip to the 2010 NCAA Men’s Basketball Final Four games. One winner will receive a package for two that includes hotel stay April 2-6 and tickets to the Final Four (April 3) and Championship Games (April 5) in Indianapolis. The drawing will be conducted on April 1. - More Local News Headlines
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Berea men arrested for robbery
