Monthly Archives: April 2015

by | April 3, 2015 · 6:49 pm

2015 SOKY Book Fest

sokybookfest2

More than 150 authors and illustrators are expected to be in attendance for the Southern Kentucky Book Fest weekend of April 17-18, including New York Times bestselling author Diana Gabaldon, well known for her Outlander series.

“We are very pleased with the number and quality of authors and illustrators we will have with us this year,” said Kristie Lowry, Literary Outreach Coordinator for WKU Libraries and Book Fest organizer. “In addition to the headliner, who has a very loyal following, there are many wonderful authors for readers of all ages.”

Book Fest weekend is full of author presentations, panel discussions, and book signings as well as the Kentucky Writers Conference featuring writing workshops on Friday, April 17 presented by several authors who will be at the main Book Fest event on Saturday. Friday also includes Children’s Day with hundreds of school-aged children visiting presentations and getting book signed by favorite and newly discovered authors. A new program this year is a Writers Workshop for Teens geared toward youth in grades 9 through 12. For more information on that or to register, go to sokybookfest.org and click on Children’s Day.

Jamie Ford, Terry Brooks, and Chloe Neill are a few well-known authors who will be on hand at SOKY Book Fest. Bestselling picture book author Doreen Cronin, known for Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type and Duck for President, will be attending both days along with illustrator Mark Crilley who has his work featured in USA Today, Entertainment Weekly, and CNN Headline News and Comcast on Demand.

SOKY Book Fest is a partnership project of WKU Libraries, Warren County Public Library, and Barnes and Noble Booksellers. For more information, visit the website at sokybookfest.org or contact Book Fest organizer Kristie Lowry at WKU Libraries at (270) 745-4502.

Comments Off on 2015 SOKY Book Fest

Filed under Events, Latest News, New Stuff

by | April 2, 2015 · 1:29 pm

Scott Greene, SVP, Corporate Strategy & Business Development of Fruit of the Loom Speaking for Kentucky Live!

Scott Greene, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy & Business Development for Fruit of the Loom, Inc., gave a talk on the evening of Thursday, April 9, 2015 at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Bowling Green, KY for the WKU Libraries-sponsored “Kentucky Live!” speaker series. He talked about Fruit of the Loom as one of the nation’s oldest brands.

According to Mr. Greene, Warren Buffet acquired Fruit of the Loom for $835 million as a Berkshire Hathaway Company in 2002, and since then has acquired various brands including Activewear, Jerzees® Activewear, Vanity Fair®, Bestform®, Lily of France, Lou® Paris, Curvation, Spalding, Dudley® Sports, American Athletic, Inc., Bike, and Russell Athletic.

Photo Album | Sound File | Podcast RSS

Continue reading →

Comments Off on Scott Greene, SVP, Corporate Strategy & Business Development of Fruit of the Loom Speaking for Kentucky Live!

Filed under Uncategorized

by | · 8:55 am

Easter Greetings

Easter cards customarily combine a religious message of hope and renewal with images of a kinder and gentler season.  Whether adorned with Easter eggs or Easter lilies, they celebrate the promise of brighter days ahead.

Easter card of artist Mazie Lee Thomas

Easter card of artist Mazie Lee Thomas

Homemade Easter cards are included in some of the Manuscripts & Folklife Archives holdings of WKU’s Department of Library Special Collections.  One is from Mazie Lee Thomas, a largely self-taught African-American folk artist who resided in Adairville, Kentucky.  Perhaps the most unusual card is one created by Mary Alice Kimbrough in 1944.  Made with tiny, hand-cut pieces of postage stamps, the colorful greeting was sent to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and was undoubtedly a unique addition to his beloved stamp collection.

Click on the links to access finding aids for these collections.  For other Easter materials in the Department of Library Special Collections, search TopSCHOLAR and KenCat.

Mary Alice Kimbrough's card (with detail)

Mary Alice Kimbrough’s card (with detail)

 

Comments Off on Easter Greetings

Filed under Manuscripts & Folklife Archives

Tagged as , ,

by | April 1, 2015 · 9:05 pm

Tracing the Unexplored: An Ecuadorian Tapestry

WKU Libraries is one of several sponsors of this two week series of visiting speakers and documentary films. On Tuesday, March 17 at 4 p.m. at GRH 1074 Professor Luz Maria de la Torre, an indigenous activist and scholar from Otavalo, Ecuador  talked about the role of indigenous women in changing ethnic relations in Ecuador.  She’s currently a visiting professor and instructor of Quechua at UCLA.  A reception followed.  She also spoke to classes on campus.

On Wednesday, March 18 in MMTH 166, With My Heart in Yambo, an award winning documentary film directed by Maria Fernandez Restrepo was shown. The film describes how her two brothers were abducted by the police and later murdered more than 25 years ago. The documentary was introduced by Professor Sonia Lenk who had once met the Restrepos at their Quito store prior to the murders.

On Tuesday, March 24 at 4 p.m. at GRH 1074 Xavier Bonilla (aka Bonil), Ecuador’s most famous and controversial political cartoonist, spoke about “Political Humor/Cartoons in an Ecuadorian Context: A Free Press or Censorship.” He does cartoons for numerous periodicals and magazines in Ecuador including El Universo, Ecuador’s largest newspaper. Professor Melissa Stewart provided the translation, which was created by her Spanish Translation class.  A reception followed.  Bonilla also spoke to classes on campus and did media interviews with English and Spanish language press.

On Tuesday, March 31 at 5 p.m.  in MMTH 166, Cesar’s Grill a 2013 documentary film directed by Dario Aguirre was shown. It describes how a vegetarian artist’s son living in Germany gets called back to Ecuador to help his father Cesar with his failing grill restaurant. It was recently nominated as the best documentary film at the Santa Barbara Film Festival.  The director prepared a special video introduction especially for this showing at WKU. Professor Fabian Alvarez served as moderator.  The film opened in Ecuadorian theaters in April and has awards at several film festivals.

De la Torre Photo Album | Bonilla Photo Album | De La Torre Podcast | Bonilla Podcast 

Comments Off on Tracing the Unexplored: An Ecuadorian Tapestry

Filed under Flickr Photos, General, Latest News, New Stuff, Past Events, People, Podcasts, Stuff, Uncategorized