软妹社

Jonathan Galassi

Jonathan Galassi attended Phillips Exeter Academy, Harvard College and Cambridge University, where he earned an M.A. in 1973. Mr. Galassi became an editor in the trade division of Houghton Mifflin Company in 1973. He was a senior editor at Random House from 1981 to 1986, when he joined Farrar, Straus and Giroux as vice-president and executive editor. He was named editor-in-chief of FSG in 1988, executive vice-president in 1993, publisher in 1999, and president of the firm in January 2002. Mr. Galassi has published two books of poems: Morning Run (Paris Review Editions, 1988) and North Street (HarperCollins, 2000). He has also translated several volumes of the work of the Italian poet Eugenio Montale.

Nathaniel Millett, Ph.D. 

Nathaniel Millett is a historian of the early modern and 19th-century Atlantic World. He is particularly interested in the experience of indigenous and African people in southeastern North America and the Caribbean. His work is comparative, trans-regional, and interdisciplinary. His published works include "The Maroons of Prospect Bluff and Their Quest for Freedom in the Atlantic World" (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2013) and numerous compelling journal articles. Millet has also published on the history and memory of slavery at 软妹社. 

Dillon Brown, Ph.D.

Dillon Brown has a Ph.D. in English Literature from the University of Pennsylvania and is currently an associate professor of English at Washington University in St. Louis. His research focuses more centrally on Anglophone Caribbean literature, though it ranges across several other areas, including Black and Asian British literature, world literature, global modernisms, diaspora, migration, hemispheric American literature, and Anglophone postcolonial literature. His first monograph, "Migrant Modernism: London and the Postwar West Indian Novel" (University of Virginia Press, 2013), examines the interrelations between the foundational postwar novels written by Anglophone Caribbean authors and the British modernist tradition. He has also co-edited a collection of essays, and his works have appeared in a number of scholarly periodicals. He was awarded the Maxwell C. Weiner Humanities Research Grant in 2015 and the J. William Fulbright Research Grant in 2004-2005. 

Ian Frazier

Ian Frazier has contributed to The New Yorker since 1974, when he published his first piece in The Talk of the Town. A year later, the magazine ran his first short story, 鈥淭he Bloomsbury Group Live at the Apollo.鈥� Since then, he has published numerous short stories, as well as nonfiction, Shouts & Murmurs, and Talk of the Town pieces, in the magazine. In 2012, he revived the annual Christmas poem, 鈥淕reetings, Friends!,鈥� originated by Frank Sullivan in 1933. Frazier鈥檚 13 books include 鈥淕reat Plains鈥� (which ran as a three-part series in the magazine), 鈥淔amily,鈥� 鈥淥n the Rez,鈥� and 鈥淭ravels in Siberia.鈥� He has twice won the Thurber Prize for American Humor, for his collections, 鈥淒ating Your Mom鈥� (1985) and 鈥淟amentations of the Father鈥� (2008). His most recent book is 鈥淐ranial Fracking鈥� (2021), another humor collection. Most of the pieces in those three books also appeared in The New Yorker. 

鈥淐atch a Falling Star and Put It In Your Pocket: 鈥淪tardust in Context鈥�

Tara Prescott-Johnson: A continuing lecturer in writing programs and a distinguished teacher at UCLA, this presentation will provide a brief overview of the background and publication history of Stardust as well as close analyses of the genre, style, and key scenes in this deeply beloved novel. Prescott-Johnson is the author of 鈥淣eil Gaiman in the 21st Century鈥� (McFarland) and co-editor of Feminism in the Worlds of Neil Gaiman (McFarland). She has also served as a consultant for 鈥淣eil Gaiman Teaches the Art of Storytelling鈥� for MasterClass and wrote 鈥淒iving into the Ocean鈥� for the official program for the National Theatre鈥檚 stage adaptation of Gaiman鈥檚 The Ocean at the End of the Lake. 

American Dreams - The History of Comics and Neil Gaiman鈥檚 鈥淓nter Sandman鈥� by Martin Casas and Drew Kupsky

Martin Casas, owner of Apotheosis Comics, and Drew Kupsky, 软妹社 Digital Resources Librarian, will walk attendees through the history and themes of comics as they parallel American history. The discussion will trace the origins of comics through the decades and how they speak for each generation therein. Culminating in the late 1980's as young comics writer Neil Gaiman enters the genre and redefines comics for the decades to follow. This discussion will provide comic artwork from important works and take questions from the audience. Martin Cases is the co-owner of Apotheosis Comics & Lounge, which is Missouri鈥檚 only comic book store lounge. Drew Kupsky is the head of the digital services at Pius Library. He has an M.S. in Applied Analytics from 软妹社 and an M.L.S. in Library and Information Sciences from the University of Missouri-Columbia. 

Memory, Nostalgia and Memetic Children鈥檚 Literature in 鈥淭he Graveyard Book鈥� - Shiraz Biggie

Hosted by Shiraz Biggie, a Ph.D. candidate in Theatre and Performance at the Graduate Center, City University of New York, this presentation will look at folklore and children鈥檚 literature. Biggie currently teaches classes in Children鈥檚 Literature at Brooklyn College and Theatre 
History at New York University. Her wide-ranging research interests are broadly linked by ideas of cultural memory and production. Her dissertation research looks at Jewish and Irish theatre, touring, diaspora, and the use of folklore for national identity. She has published in Studies in Musical Theatre and The Palgrave Handbook of Musical Theatre Producers and presented at many conferences including the Children鈥檚 Literary Association, the Association of Theatre in Higher Education and the American Conference for Irish Studies. In her first of many seasons in the production department of New York鈥檚 New Victory Theatre, she worked with the National Theatre of Scotland鈥檚 production of Neil Gaiman and Dave McKean鈥檚 鈥淭he Wolves in the Walls.鈥� 

"A Tale Told, and Retold, and Told Again: Stardust as Neil Gaiman鈥檚 Traditional English Faerie Story鈥� - Joe Sommers 

Hosted by Joseph Michael Sommers, Ph.D., a professor of English at Central Michigan University where he teaches coursework in children鈥檚 and young adult literature, popular culture, and comics, this talk will discuss Gaiman鈥檚 love of faerie stories past and how these faerie stories might and can continue. Sommers has published essays, article and miscellaneous other things on topics in YACL literature and culture, comics, movies, video games, and on Neil Gaiman. The author, curator, and/or editor of seven books, he has published three titles on Gaiman thus far: 鈥淐ritical Insights on Neil Gaiman,鈥� 鈥淐onversations with Neil Gaiman,鈥� and 鈥淭he Artistry of Neil Gaiman.鈥� His new biography of Gaiman and his seminal work 鈥淭he Sandman鈥� is due in 2023 from the University Press of Mississippi, and it is tentatively titled 鈥淏iographix: Neil Gaiman and The Sandman.鈥� He is the editor of the academic journal Children鈥檚 Literature Quarterly and an Editorial Board member of the comics journal, INKS. 

鈥淎 Teen and Teacher Talk: Neil Gaiman鈥檚 Graveyard Book鈥� - Tara Prescott-Johnson 

This presentation will be a lively and engaging conversation between Naomi Farkas, a high school student in Los Angeles, and Tara Prescott-Johnson, Ph.D., a lecturer in Writing Programs at UCLA, about 鈥淭he Graveyard Book鈥� and its impact on young and seasoned readers alike. Prescott-Johnson has a Ph.D. in English, specializing in twentieth-century American literature, from Claremont Graduate University, and a M.A. from The Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. She is the author of 鈥淧oetic Salvage: Reading Mina Loy,鈥� editor of 鈥淣eil Gaiman in the 21st Century,鈥� and co-editor of 鈥淕ender and the Superhero Narrative鈥� and 鈥淔eminism in the Worlds of Neil Gaiman.鈥� She performed 鈥淗ike Your Own Hike鈥� for TEDxUCLA. Naomi Farkas (15, she/they) is a high school sophomore and a book enthusiast. Their poetry has been published in The Los Angeles Press, Stone Soup, Young Poets 2021, Unum e Pluribus, and Gaia Lit. She鈥檚 served as a guest speaker in Honors 87W: The Worlds of Neil Gaiman at UCLA and deeply enjoys spending time in cemeteries. 

Composer Ilan Eshkeri 

London-based composer Ilan Eshkeri, composer of the music for 鈥淪tardust,鈥� will speak about working with Gaiman. Eshkeri is an award-winning composer, artist, songwriter, producer and creator whose work is performed in concert, theatre, film, television and video games. 

Neil Gaiman鈥檚 鈥淒reaming鈥� - Olivia Badoi

Hosted by Olivia Badoi, Ph.D., associate professor of English at 软妹社, Madrid, this talk considers how Neil Gaiman鈥檚 stories (particularly his fairytales) encourage readers to envision models of knowing and meaning-making that depart from the standard analytic, reason-based or empirical models we are encouraged to apply in our day-to-day lives. Badoi is currently working on her first book, 鈥淎rboreal Modernism and the Woodcut Novel,鈥� an eco-critical examination of the 
woodcut novel, a type of wordless book that was widely popular in both Europe and the United States throughout the first half of the twentieth century. 

A Child Adopted by a Graveyard Might Grow Up Slightly Spooky: Neil Gaiman鈥檚 鈥淭he Graveyard Book鈥� - Joseph Michael Sommers 

Hosted by Joseph Michael Sommers, Ph.D., a professor of English at Central Michigan University where he teaches coursework in children鈥檚 and young adult literature, popular culture, and comics, this talk will focus on Gaiman鈥檚 reorientation of the scary and the filial and how a nobody becomes a somebody and at what cost. 

An Evening with World Renowned Illustrator, P. Craig Russell 

The acclaimed illustrator and painter will discuss his career as well as his long collaboration with writer Neil Gaiman. Russell is the Award-winning illustrator of graphic novels and comics including Coraline, The Graveyard Book, The Giver, Nevermore, American Gods, Various issues of The Sandman, Star Wars, and Batman among many others. P. Craig Russell is a Harvey and Eisner award-winning illustrator of graphic novels and comics including Coraline, The Graveyard Book, The Giver, Nevermore, American Gods, various issues of The Sandman, Star Wars, and Batman among many others. He is considered one of comic art鈥檚 most well respected and pioneering artists, known for bringing to life fantasy and magic. 

Alex Tickell 

Dr. Alex Tickell's talk examines Arundhati Roy's experimental use of form in her two novels to date: The God of Small Things 
(1997) and The Ministry of Utmost Happiness (2017). Tracing Roy's approach to literary form back to her undergraduate training as an architect and drawing on her later interviews in activism, Tickell underlines the importance of design aesthetics, urban planning, and architectonics in her fiction. Tickell suggests that the politics of Roy's work is intrinsic to the often striking and unsettling design choices of her writing and Tickell goes on to comment on the environmentalism and infrastructure as key aspects of her work. 

How to Liberate the Language - Amitava Kumar 

There are very few contemporary writers who have dedicated themselves to the cause of freedom with as much courage as Arundhati Roy. In her defense of democratic rights, what is immediately noticeable, particularly to a fellow writer, is the huge extent to which Roy finds freedom in her use of language. In both her fiction and non-fiction, it is in her style itself that she proclaims her dissent loudly and flamboyantly. There is so much to admire about this aspect of Roy's writing, the silk wrapped around the sharp edge of steel. 

Thursday, Feb. 24 - 7 p.m., Sunita Parikh, Washington University in St. Louis 

Thursday, April 14 - 9 a.m., Brinda Bose, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 

Thursday, April 7 - 7 p.m. Priya Sirohi, Ithaca College & Cornell University, New York 

The Best Captain in Starfleet: Chabon, Easter Eggs, & the Evolution of Picard鈥� by Ken Haller 

This discussion is led by 软妹社 School of Medicine Professor of Pediatrics, Dr. Ken Haller. Dr. Haller will discuss how Chabon has taken this already rich, complex character and added further shading, employing the entire history of one of the most storied franchises in filmed fiction. In 1987, Jean-Luc Picard became the captain of the USS Enterprise-D on 鈥淪tar Trek The Next Generation.鈥� Through 178 television episodes and four feature films, Picard became, arguably, the most popular character in the Star Trek Universe. Eighteen years after Picard鈥檚 last on-screen appearance, Michael Chabon has brought him back in the CBS All Access series 鈥淪tar Trek Picard.鈥�