Baylor Celebrates Literature, Music and Film with Texas Flair

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Baylor University Libraries will host "A Celebration of Texas: Literature, Music & Film" to honor Texas writers of all genres. The traveling "Texas Writers" exhibit will be on display from March 28 to the end of May in the Goodpasture Concourse of Moody Memorial Library, 1312 S. Third St. Baylor's special libraries will feature complementary displays of Texas writing, including some first editions.
The celebration also offers free workshops and events for the public. Among the events is "A Celebration of Texas Poets: Featuring 2012 Texas Poet Laureate Jan Epton Seale," a workshop about writing poetry using a personal retrospective approach, at 1 p.m. Wednesday, March 28, in Baylor's Armstrong Browning Library, 710 Speight Ave.
"A Celebration of Texas Music: Getting in the 'Swing' of Things" presents Dick Gimble and his band. The Baylor Swing Dance Society will dance to the band's Texas Swing music, and Jean Ann Boyd, Ph.D., professor of musicology at Baylor and an expert in Western Swing, will offer an overview and be available to sign her latest book, "Dance All Night: Those Other Southwestern Swing Bands: Past and Present."
Texas children's author Mary Brooke Casad, along with her puppet "Bluebonnet," will engage third graders in Casad's stories while exploring the importance of reading, writing and the imagination during "A Celebration of Texas Writers: Engaging the Imaginative World of Children." Children also will learn about Texas landmarks such as the Alamo, the State Fair of Texas, Dinosaur Valley State Park, Johnson Space Center, the Texas Capitol and others. The event will take place Tuesday, April 3, at the Moody Memorial Library Children's Collection in the Garden Level East Commons. For more information about times, contact Special Collections Librarian Kathy Hillman.
"A Celebration of Texas Writers: Exploring Women of the American West with Judy Alter" will feature novelist and author of fiction and non-fiction for adult and young reader, Judy Alter, as she discusses her books as well as the creative writing process. Known for her books about women and girls of the American West, Alter will also be celebrated for her career as an outstanding Texas woman, writer, professor and director of a Texas university press at 4 p.m. Monday, April 16, in Room 101 of Carroll Science Building, 1401 S. Fifth St.
The final activity is "A Celebration of Texas Film: The Cultural Impact of 'Giant' (1956) on the Idea of Texas." The event will offer a screening of "Giant," which was inspired by the rise of oil and Texas's economic shift from ranching to oil. A discussion will explore the impact of "Giant," and will be led by 1974 Baylor graduate Kirby Warnock who created the award-winning documentary "Return to Giant." The screening and discussion will take place at 7 p.m. Thursday, April 26, in the den of the Bill Daniel Student Center, 1311 S. Fifth St.
About Baylor University
Baylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having "high research activity" by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions.
About the Baylor University Libraries
The Baylor University Libraries connect people with ideas in support of teaching, learning, scholarship and academic distinction through its Central Libraries and special collections libraries - Armstrong Browning Library, the Electronic Library, The Texas Collection and the W.R. Poage Legislative Library.
For more information, visit the Baylor University Libraries or call (254) 710-3679.
by Carmen Galvan, student newswriter, (254) 710-6805