<ong>Professor Deborah Appleman to present her anthology of prison poetry and prose
Deborah Appleman, Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies and Chair of Educational Studies, will present her new book, “From the Inside Out: Letters to Young Men and Other Writings, Poetry and Prose from Prison,” on Tuesday, February 16 at 12:05 p.m. in the Carleton College Gould Library Athenaeum. The book is the culmination of a creative writing course that Appleman taught last year at the Minnesota Correctional Facility (MCF) in Stillwater, a high security facility for men. Appleman will follow her talk with a book signing at 1 p.m., also in the Athenaeum. This event is free and open to the public.
Appleman spent her entire yearlong sabbatical teaching a variety of courses at MCF-Stillwater. When asked what it was like to teach in a high security prison, Appleman replied that it “wasn’t as different as you’d imagine from teaching at Carleton.” As at Carleton, her students were intelligent, insightful, respectful, dedicated and very talented. Yet, there were also some dramatic differences since many of her students at MCF are serving life sentences. These students viewed creative writing as an opportunity to share their stories and reach out to a younger audience. The results, collected in this anthology, are very powerful.
The book has three sections, the first being an assignment to write a letter to a young man. Some inmates wrote to themselves as a younger man, to their sons, or to a young man they knew who might be on the wrong path. The second section is a collection of various writing samples from their portfolios, including short stories and poetry. The third section has color reproductions of artwork done by the inmates, including the cover work that an inmate painted specifically for the anthology.
A portion of the book’s profits will go toward the Restorative Justice Committee at MCF-Stillwater, whose mission is “to hold offenders accountable and offer opportunities for change while restoring justice for victims and contributing to a safer Minnesota,” according to the committee’s website. The Committee serves as an intermediary for dialogue between victims and offenders. It also hosts a bank of apology letters that victims and families can choose to visit.
Deborah Appleman received her doctorate in English Education at the University of Minnesota in 1986. At Carleton, she is the Hollis L. Caswell Professor of Educational Studies and director of Carleton’s Summer Writing Program. Professor Appleman’s primary research interests include multicultural literature, adolescent response to literature, teaching literary theory to secondary students, and adolescent response to poetry. She was a high school English teacher for nine years before teaching at Carleton. She has written numerous book chapters, books and articles on adolescent response to literature. Her book “Critical Encounters in High School English: Teaching Literary Theory to Adolescents” was published jointly by Teachers College Press and the National Council of Teachers of English and is widely used in methods classes across the country.
“From the Inside Out” will be available for purchase at the event and at the Carleton College Bookstore.
Snowshoeing and animal tracking field trip in the Arb
The public is invited to join Carleton College Arboretum Director Nancy Braker and former Arboretum Manager Myles Bakke as they search for the signs and tracks of winter animal activities in the College’s Cowling Arboretum on Sunday, Feb. 14, from 2 to 4 p.m.
While the winter weather may make it difficult for humans to get around, the well-adapted animals in the Carleton Arboretum are quite lively this time of year. From red foxes and eastern cottontail rabbits, to weasels and wild turkeys, the Arboretum is home to many animals leaving their prints in the snow to follow.
Each species has a unique paw print, which can be difficult to identify without some prior experience. This field trip is designed to go over the basics of animal tracking and learn some identification techniques. Participants will become aware of other signs of animal activities, such as remnants of feeding, bark scratches, and burrows that they otherwise might miss.
This will be a two-hour walk through the snow, primarily off-trail. Participants should be sure to dress for the weather. Refreshments will be provided in the Arboretum office following the hike. All ages and levels of snowshoeing expertise are welcome.