My favorite YSU event is going on right now–the YSU English Festival. This year’s is the 30th, and while I’m not on campus today, I’m conducting workshops tomorrow and Friday. And I plan to spend much of Friday morning being a festival groupie and autograph seeker (the perks of being an insider).
Just for fun, I took out the Wrinkle In Time trilogy that I won at the first English Festival I attended (back in 1981–which makes me 40 for those who are doing the math). Inside the cover of each book is a little bookplate that reads “Presented to Kris Harrington by the English Department of Youngstown State University 5-1-81.” I’m able to, at least for a little while, transport myself back to when the YSU English Department still seemed so esteemed and imposing to me (before I hung a Harry Potter poster in office #132).
The 1981 book list was rich: Margaret Craven’s I Heard the Owl Call My Name, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonsong, Robert O’Brien’s Z for Zachariah. I had forgotten how much I loved Craven’s book, but Dragonsong remains a favorite.
It’s also interesting that I won these books on May 1st–May Day. Twenty-two years later, I gave birth to my second child, Gillian, on May 1st. So for me, there were two births on that day. I’ve always felt earning a prize at my first English Festival helped set my life course. It was the first time I can remember feeling like I’d found something I did well. I spent so much of my childhood off on my own reading books; I’d even climb into trees in the summer time as a way to find some quiet space away from the noisy street games of my neighborhood.
The English Festival was the first event of its kind nationwide, and interest in the festival has never waned. Sometimes, the book choices have invited controversy, but the festival continues to progress and continues to add more diversity to its book list. In addition to many thought-provoking novels, this year’s selections include poetry from Middle East and an insider look at the fast food industry.
This makes me feel so hopeful and nostalgic all at once. At the risk of sounding horrifyingly dorky Im so proud to be your loved one.
Kris
I’m with you on this post. I loved attending the YSU festival and you brought back so many memories with this post.
Wendy