"Get Caught Reading Month" ended in May, so we thought it might be appropriate and fun to get caught reading as a staff. Here is a roundup of what we are currently reading, along with a description of the book and how it is affecting us. Enjoy!

Beth Jones, Development and Finance Manager:
Jonathan Franzen, Freedom:  I am absolutely savoring this book. I find myself trying to pace my reading because I don't want it to end. I don't think I can give a full impression before finishing it, but I think if someone can endure the painful relationships described in Franzen's previous novel Corrections, they will enjoy this novel as well.

Kathleen Gardner, Development Director:
Stephen King, 11/22/63:  No more on my bedside table, but on my Nook/android phone is this novel about going back in time and trying to prevent JFK's assassination.  I enjoyed the immersion into the 1960's and its realistic depiction. I'm not a big Stephen King fan, but I relished reading this book.

Jean Cheney, Associate Director:
Tim O'Brien, Going After Cacciato.  Considered the best novel about the Vietnam War, this is a book I had always intended to read but never got around to.  When I saw it on the shelf of a used book store recently, I decided now was the time.  It's a story about the effects of the war on a handful of men.  Against the backdrop of America's ten years of war in the Middle East, it has me thinking about the mental and physical trauma that war causes and the different kinds of courage people summon to endure it.

Deena Pyle, Public Relations Manager:
Dale McGowan, Raising Freethinkers.  Written from a humanist perspective, this is a compendium of insights and strategies for teaching kids how to think critically for themselves, while respecting the perspectives and beliefs of others. It has generated many discussions within our family on crucial topics like ethics, morality, death, and on giving life meaning from a variety of viewpoints.

Michael McLane, Literature Program Officer:
Bhanu Lapil, Schizophrene. A gorgeous, dense, and challenging book of poems dealing with the schizophrenic states that arise in immigrant populations, particularly in the wake of colonialism. Kapil's parents were immigrants to the UK from India, where Kapil was born and later emigrated from. She now lives in Colorado and teaches at the Naropa Institute.

David DeKok, Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy of the Centralia Mine Fire. In 1962, a fire in a nearby garbage dump spread underground into the coal ribbons beneath the small town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. The town and its environs have been burning ever since. Though the town has since been evacuated, the environmental and human costs continue to mount. DeKok traces the bungling and lying that surrounded so many aspects of a tragedy that could have easily been avoided.

Megan van Frank, Program Officer:
Jamie Ford, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. This story of the internment of Japanese-Americans during WWII is told from the perspective of a young boy growing up in Seattle's Chinatown. I love the questions it raises about American identity, self-sacrifice, and changing urban landscapes.

Cynthia Buckingham, Executive Director:
Gary Holthaus, Learning Native Wisdom: What Traditional Cultures Teach Us About Subsistence, Sustainability, and Spirituality. My daughter is studying sustainability, and this book (by a friend and former director of the Alaska Humanities Forum) brings insights into physical and philosophical connections between humans and the earth.

Maria Torres, Grants and Program Manager
Stefan Zweig, Chess Story. The game of chess is a metaphor for the terribly grim game the character played with his Nazi tormentors. During the 1930s, the author was one of the best-selling writers in Europe.

Historical Milieu: Mark Twain Visits Utah   

Mark Twain is known to most of us as the author of such classics as Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn. A well-known humorist, one of Twain's earlier books, called Roughing It contains a wonderful mixture of truth and fiction as he recounts his journey west by stagecoach in 1861. Traveling with his brother, who had been appointed secretary of the newly created Nevada Territory, Mark Twain stopped in Salt Lake City and wrote engagingly of its setting and people.

We dedicated an episode of Beehive Archive to Mark Twain's visit to Utah. Click here to listen to it on our website (scroll down to episode #120).

Take two minutes to get Mark Twain's fascinating take on the place we call home!

Literature Landscape: New Literature Program Officer! 

UHC is happy to announce that Michael McLane has joined the staff as Literature Program Officer.

He brings a passion for the literary arts and community service as well as twelve years of experience in literary nonprofits and education organizations in Utah, Colorado, and Idaho.

He pursued undergraduate studies in English and anthropology at the University of Utah, an MFA in Creative Writing at Colorado State University, and is currently beginning his thesis work for an MS in Environmental Humanities at the University of Utah. Most recently, he worked as a research fellow for the American West Center but has also worked in various capacities with the Utah State Archives, as a composition instructor at Colorado State, and spent six years working in the rare book trade. Michael has served on the board of City Art for ten years, including four years as co-president, and has served on the board of Writers @ Work for six years, including three as the chair of the Young Writers @ Work conference. He spent five years as adjunct faculty for the Sawtooth Writers Conference and worked as the administrative assistant for Literacy Through Poetry, a nonprofit literacy program for K-12 students in Fort Collins, Colorado. He is also a poet who has performed widely in Utah and beyond and whose work has appeared in numerous journals including Denver Quarterly, Interim, Colorado Review, Laurel Review, Sidebrow, and Matter Journal.

Michael will oversee the Utah Center for the Book, including the Utah Humanities Book Festival.

ANNOUNCING UHC'S "CENTRAL ENGINE" CHALLENGE GRANT

The Utah Humanities Council is delighted to announce that we've been given a generous challenge grant to help raise money toward our new "Central Engine."  You might ask what we mean by central engine -- well, you can compare it to an essential motor that helps our organization run. This customized database will help manage all components of the council; from finances to programs, from communications to fundraising, and from volunteers to program partners. It is a highly cost-effective solution. We've worked diligently to implement something that is affordable while it meets our needs. You techies out there surely understand the value of this integrated information system.

This challenge grant requires a match of $7,500 in NEW donations toward the Central Engine
purchase. We hope that you will see the value in this amazing addition, as does our challenge donor, board alumnus Bob Harris. Kindly click the button and give an amount in addition to your regular annual gift to match this challenge.    

If you have questions or would like to talk with someone at our office, please call Kathleen at 801.359.9670, ext. 108. 
 

UHC Awards $41,291 in Competitive Grants and Research Fellowships
UHC is proud to announce the award of $32, 291 in Competitive Grants to 7 organizations and $9,000 in Research Fellowships to 3 individuals.  These grants will fund a documentary and discussion on the Polynesian and football connection in Utah; workshops and lectures on the integration and interweaving of native-born and immigrants in Utah communities; digital storytelling for Title 1 students; lectures on U.S.-Mexico history and relations; research on Sanpete gravestones; research on the founding of the Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, and much more!  You can see the full list of awards here.


Free College Humanities Course
Enroll now in a free, accredited college humanities course, taught by college faculty, in Salt Lake City, Ogden, or Cedar City. The Venture Course in the Humanities is accepting applications now from anyone 18 or over, living on a low income, with a desire to learn more about their world and themselves. Study art history, American history, literature, philosophy, and critical writing and thinking with others eager to expand their minds. A high school diploma is not required for admission. For more information, call Jean Cheney, 801.359.9670.  


Book Buzz Moves to the Utah State Library
For over twenty years, we have proudly served libraries, organizations, and private groups through UHC's Book Buzz: Reading and Discussion program by providing multiple sets of books to encourage community conversations all over the state.  We know that this is a valuable program with far-reaching impact.  We've seen it grow over the years with some of you using our services consistently, others intermittently for relevant local programming, and some of you recently discovering us.
 
We are excited to announce a partnership with the Utah State Library, which (as of April 2012) has taken over circulation of Book Buzz books as one of their contributions to the Utah Center for the Book, an affiliate program of the UHC.  For details, see http://www.utahhumanities.org/UCBUtahCenterForTheBook.htm

The Utah State Library has a similar mission to reach Utahns across the state and is better equipped and experienced to manage a circulation library. Kristen Stehel will be your new contact. She will be sending an email out to you explaining the new process for obtaining books as soon as details are worked out. For now, you may send book group requests via phone, fax, or email. Here is her contact info: (phone) 801.715.6753 or 800.662.9150, (fax) 801.715.6767, (email) kstehel@utah.gov 

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