We read books, out here on the prairie


I always notice these things at the last minute, and I should pay more attention to all the excitement that goes on around Morris. I just learned that the Prairie Gate Literary Festival starts tomorrow.

We hope you will be able to join us for the 5th Annual Prairie Gate Literary Festival this weekend, October 23-24. Events start on Friday night in Briggs Library with a reading by Hugo and Nebula award nominee Emma Bull at 7pm. Saturday morning sign up for a writing workshop with one or two of the writers and then stick around for lunch with them (included in the registration fee). Saturday afternoon starts with a panel discussion/Q&A session with the authors and is followed by a reading from YA writer Eric Smith at 2:30pm, Translator Ebba Segerberg will share her work at 4:15pm. After dinner stop by at 8pm for a reading by Minnesota Book Award nominee John Hildebrand and poet Vandana Khanna. All readings are free and will be held in Briggs Library.

Whoa, Emma Bull is going to be in town? I know where I’ll be on Friday evening.

Comments

  1. Ariaflame, BSc, BF, PhD says

    War for the Oaks is good.

    Personally my favourite book that has her as an author is one she co-wrote with Steven Brust called Freedom & Necessity which is an epistolary novel that takes a little time to get into but has become one of my comfort books. (My only frustration is that there doesn’t appear to be an ebook version of it yet (legal anyway) and my paperback, which is not a slim volume, is falling apart… Shut up and take my money!! Given that writing isn’t as lucrative a profession as a lot of people think I refuse to pirate books.) Set in 1850s UK, containing intrigue, secret societies, intelligent characters, and philosophy among other things. I can’t really describe it in the terms it deserves.

  2. yazikus says

    of that shitheel Garrison Keillor.

    So, I probably live under a rock, but I’ve never heard anything but nice things about him? Is that not an accurate picture?

  3. rabbitbrush says

    yazikus @6 – Talk with any young woman who has had to fend off his roving hands. For instance. Ugh. He’s a self-important creep. Although, I have to admit, sometimes he is quite funny. Also tiresome.

  4. Azkyroth, B*Cos[F(u)]==Y says

    Isn’t reading supposed to be classist or elitist or something like that?

  5. Drew McIntosh says

    Hey guys, I KNOW this isn’t the right thread for this, but the last thunderdome thread I could find was from much earlier and it doesn’t go beyond 2013 (I went through the last 10 pages of Pharyngula posts and couldn’t find one so I don’t know if they exist anymore…Maybe I’m just bad at interneting though).

    I recently posted a little feminist vid on my facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/NowThisNews/videos/931055516984573/?fref=nf). It spawned a wildly ridiculous wall’o’text from some random person. I’ve got the responses they posted below. I’ve got a court case coming up (stupidly from growing a little bit of pot in my house) and I don’t have the time to go through and debunk each point individually while I’m preparing for my case, but I don’t want to leave the ridiculousness without a response (I know each point is mind-numbingly stupid and has already been refuted many many times, it’s just a case of sourcing my rebuttals, so as not to have the same “this is my opinion and it is true” status he has of his comments). I was just wondering if I could outsource it to the Horde? If not, that’s totally cool, I know you guys have lives outside of this bullshit, but it would be nice to at least be able to counter this guy with some good sources without having to spend the next day or two researching shit (my court case is in three days, so it collides with my SJW activity online for probably at least the next week). These are all unanswered by me so far.

    First comment (Wall Of Stupid Fucking Text Inc):
    “To start with, about 35 seconds into the video everything is ok until the visual text use of women being above men. Feminism as a whole focus’ solely on female rights and does not have any form of diverse representation in any other facet. This point in itself destroys the “definition” meaning that is used right after it (which is in fact also not correct). I do agree that hating men is not connected to being a feminist however this point is made moot by the creators previous inability to correctly define feminism. One sex does not have a lot more power than the other and I would require a more thorough explanation on the meaning of this statement to argue it further; broad brushstrokes make it easy to make general baseless statements. Women in western culture are not systematically oppressed either (although they once were (you know back when feminism was actually required) and one could argue the point of unrealistic body image and cultural standpoint etc but the fact of the matter is is that men suffer from the same sort of thing in completely different ways. Stick thin barbie? Lean Muscular Ken doll. Women being seen as the maternal gender? Men get sent in droves to die in wars. The comparison can go on and on and on. So no its not a fact. Reproductive rights is an interesting point that I havent thought on a whole lot because I have no interest in children or reproduction, but to me it does make sense to be a womens right issue (not a feminist one, a egalitarian one). The pay gap is a myth, stop using it, seriously. Dont waste my time asking me to rebut it because if you sincerely believe in it then you havent done your research and you arent worth having a discussion with. Seeing diverse bodies? What the fuck is this? How is this a feminist issue? To begin with this is a human race issue about PERSONAL (not gender) insecurities. Further more…. there are more diverse bodies in main stream culture; the plus [mode]sized industry is booming and has been for years. And you know Tyra Banks, yeah shes black and shes considered like 3 sizes bigger than the average model. God damn I could go on for hours about how dumb that point is. And look there is another broad brushtroke for the feminist agenda; yes there are women suffering complete injustice due to their gender…. In other parts of the world. THEY need feminism or something close to its kin. Sexual violence, because men dont get raped (see Amy Schumer debacle), they dont have safe houses, theyre appeals arent taken seriously oh and look, even if they do win any form of court case, the female offender will get half the sentence. There are women in government, there are female CEO’s (the richest person in Australia is a woman). SURPRISE, you support a club that has no use in the western world. Both genders have a plethora of issues, but having a cute little club that lashes out aggressively against the opposite sex (even when (falsely) claiming to be all about equality) isnt helping anything. Then again we wouldn’t want to tell feminists what they’re doing may be counterproductive that might damage their frail, PC little egos and constructed patriarchy.”

    Second comment:
    Milo Yiannopoulus Hates Feminism

    Third comment:
    “Here’s a very general overview of some very important points about the feminist delusion, although if you want more thorough discussion on specific points or require evidence you may have to dig deeper; although Milo is a great place to start. I personally don’t enjoy taking part in online debates because it bores me and its a waste of time (you aren’t going to change anyone’s mind). But honestly dude, don’t become another 3rd waver. We’ve got a lot of mutual friends who have told me you are a smart outward/cognizant thinker, put you’re mind to work on something other than this regressive, hypocritical tripe.”

    I don’t really need the third comment to be debunked, it’s easily done without the help of the Horde or sources in general (just including it for completeness sake)…Again, sorry for polluting a thread with bullshit, it’s just hard to find the appropriate place for it. If it needs to go somewhere else, I’m very happy to relocate with the suggestion of a commenter.

  6. says

    Thunderdome no longer exists — too often it got sidetracked into petty meanness.

    There are now a set of threads on broad topics. Look on the sidebar for a series of “Discuss…” titles — there’s one dedicated to feminism. That’s probably where your comment belongs.