HOUGHTON, MI – Michigan Technological University is hosting the 4th Annual Writing Across the Peninsula (WAP) Conference this Thursday evening and Friday. This year’s theme is “Revolutionary ‘Riting: Working-class Perspectives and the 1913-14 Michigan Copper Strike.”
The Upper Peninsula has a storied working-class heritage and has been the setting for numerous passionate clashes between workers and management. One of the most significant of these conflicts was the nine-month long 1913-14 Michigan Copper Strike. As Michigan’s Copper Country pauses to reflect on the centennial of this labor action, the fourth annual WAP Conference will consider one of the most important expressions of working-class heritage: writing.
Organizers of the conference say that the effect of “class” on writers is significant. The 2013 WAP Conference will reflect on and add to the local, regional, national and international examinations of the intersections between writing and the working class.
The conference kicks off Thursday evening in the Memorial Union Isle Royale Ballroom with a reception from 6 to 7 p.m., followed by a concert of working-class songs performed by local bands Thimbleberry and the 1913 Singers. At 8 p.m., the film 1913 Massacre will be shown. Filmmakers Ken Ross and Louis Galdieri will introduce the film and take questions after the screening.
Friday’s events kick off with a 9 a.m. keynote address on “Writing about the Working Class in We ARE the Union: Dissent in the Ranks of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers,” by Dana L. Cloud of the University of Texas-Austin. A day of concurrent sessions and plenary talks follow, with session topics ranging from the copper strike to Carl Sandburg to the Occupy Wall Street Movement.
See the website for the full conference schedule: http://writingacrossthepeninsula2013.weebly.com/
For more information, contact Karla Kitalong, Michigan Tech Department of Humanities, at kitalong@mtu.edu or 487-3254.
Click To Submit Press Releases, News, Calendar Items, and Community Events to mediaBrew radio stations WFXD, WKQS, WRUP, GTO, Fox Sport Marquette, and 106.1 The Sound
Marquette, Michigan Calendar; Ishpeming Calendar; Negaunee Calendar; Gwinn Calendar; Negaunee Calendar and Events; Upper Peninsula Calendar of Events; Escanaba Events and Calendar