Indiana University Press blog

Meet the IU men's basketball team tonight!

Want to meet the 2011-2012 IU men's basketball team that advanced to the Sweet Sixteen this year? You'll have the chance tonight when the IU Varsity Club hosts the Men's Basketball Awards Celebration at Assembly Hall.

Coach Tom Crean and members of the basketball team will be available for autographs from 6 to 7 p.m. with the awards ceremony following. This event is free and open to the public.

In addition, copies of our new IU basketball book This Is INDIANA will be available for purchase at the Varsity Shop during the event.

For more information, visit the IU Athletics website.

IU Libraries to host book launch for 'Herman B Wells' biography April 18

In celebration of the man who made Indiana University what it is today, the IU Libraries will host a reception to introduce a new biography by James H. Capshew, Herman B Wells: The Promise of the American University, published by IU Press.
 
Held April 18 from 5 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the lobby of the Herman B Wells Library, the event will feature remarks by President Michael A. McRobbie and IU Libraries Dean Brenda L. Johnson. Professor Capshew, who is a faculty member in the History and Philosophy of Science Department, will read a selection from the biography. Wells-themed hors d’oeuvres and Wells cake will be served, and copies of the book will be available for purchase.
 
In researching the biography, Capshew relied primarily on the IU Archives, a department of IU Libraries that maintains the university’s historic records. Wells’s papers and other professional and personal items are part of these extensive collections, which document IU’s origins and development. Selected items from the IU Archives will be on display during the event.
 
“We are so pleased that the IU archives could offer such rich material for this biography,” said Dean Johnson. “Professor Capshew spent years poring over the Wells papers, discovering a great deal of illuminating information about Herman B Wells and his influence on the university. It’s been especially fascinating to learn from Capshew about how and why Wells built the university’s Main Library in 1969. That building is now the Herman B Wells Library, where we are honored to host this exciting event. Professor Capshew has done a remarkable job of portraying Wells not only as a visionary but also as a compassionate person whose presence enriched the lives of so many, and this biography offers an opportunity for the IU community to be reintroduced to this extraordinary man.”
 
The culmination of more than a decade of work, Herman B Wells incorporates Capshew’s firsthand knowledge of the IU president and chancellor as his friend and former employee. Capshew worked as a houseboy for Wells in the 1970s, when Capshew was an IU undergraduate and Wells served as university chancellor.
 
“He really changed my life in all kinds of positive ways,” said Capshew. “He did the same for the university. I’ve tried to make this book a comprehensive survey of his life and career, focusing on his main areas of involvement and what he stood for.”
 
Publishing Capshew’s book holds special meaning for IU Press, as it was President Wells’s idea and initiative to establish a press at Indiana University in 1950. “Throughout the years until his death, President Wells remained a mentor to the Press and a prime supporter of its work, recognizing its importance to Indiana University,” said Janet Rabinowitch, Director of IU Press. “We are proud and honored to publish this book.”
 
Capshew will be available to sign copies of the book and answer questions about his research. In addition, a new paperback edition of Wells’s autobiography, Being Lucky: Reminiscences and Reflections, will be available. The event is free and open to the public. For more information on the event, contact Helene O’Leary at IU Libraries.

Rachel Berenson Perry to give talk on "Indiana Art and Artists" tonight

The Venue will host a presentation by Rachel Berenson Perry on "Indiana Art and Artists" today, April 10, at 5:30 p.m.

Rachel is the former Fine Arts Curator of the Indiana State Museum, where she organized and curated all of the art exhibitions from 2003 through 2011. She is the pre-eminent expert on Indiana Art in general, and Brown County Art in particular, and author of many books, including T. C. Steele and the Society of Western Artists 1896-1914.

Refreshments will be provided by The Venue, located at 114 South Grant Street Bloomington, IN. Free parking will be available in the lot on the corner of 4th and Grant.

As always, The Venue's fine selection of paintings, jewelry, ceramics, and other gifts will be on display and available for purchase.

Author event: Mike Homoya to lecture at Anderson Public Library

Mike Homoya will lecture at the Anderson Public Library about his book, Wildflowers and Ferns of Indiana Forests March 17. The lecture runs from 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. and is sponsored by Madison County Master Gardener Association and Madison County Purdue Extension.

March author events for Matthew Tully

Matthew Tully, author of Searching for Hope and award-winning political columnist for the Indianapolis Star, has several events in Indianapolis this month:

March 2

Bookmamas, a new and used bookstore located at 9 S. Johnson Ave., will host a book launch party and signing with Tully from 6 to 9 p.m.

March 13

Tully will attend an event hosted by the Indiana Association of Rehabilitation Facilities to discuss the challenges facing schools at 6 p.m. (Location TBD. Check the events section on Tully's blog for updates.)

March 14

To kick-off SPOKES, a new community outreach group, School on Wheels will host "An Education Conversation with Matthew Tully" at the Ball and Biscuit bar and lounge on Mass Ave.

The event will last from 5 to 8 p.m. with Tully 's remarks at 6:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A session.

Drink specials will be available before and after the talk. A $5 donation is suggested to benefit School on Wheels. All attendees must register for the event.

March 15

Tully will be the guest speaker at the League of Women Voters of Indianapolis annual pitch-in lunch at the North United Methodist Church on Meridian St.

Registration is from 11 to 11:30 a.m. with lunch service beginning at 11:30 a.m. Tully's talk on education and politics will begin at noon.

As this is a pitch-in lunch, please bring a dish to share along with your own serviceware, utensils, and napkins.

For more information:

Please visit Matthew Tully's blog for more news about author and book events.

Also, be sure to check out Tully's Indianpolis Star columns on The Manual Project.

Ivy Tech hosts art exhibit and reception for two IU Press photographers

A current exhibit at the Ivy Tech Gallery of Art & Design in Columbus, IN, features work from two IU Press photographers' books, Darryl Jones's New Harmony Then and Now and Kendall Reeves's A Home of Her Own. Entitled "Harmony and Home," the exhibit runs from now until March 9. The gallery is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. for public visits.

On February 22, the Ivy Tech Gallery will hold an artist reception for Jones and Reeves from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Books will be available for purchase from Viewpoint Books, and the photographers will be on hand to sign them. For more information about the exhibit and the reception, visit Ivy Tech's website or contact Lloyd Brooks at (812) 374-5139 or by email.

Choir featured in 'Searching for Hope' to perform at Carnegie Hall

In 2009, award-winning Indianapolis Star columnist Matthew Tully walked into the halls of Manual High School, a failing school in a rough Indianapolis neighborhood. Without so much as a glance, he had been granted unfiltered access to Manual for an entire school year. Little did he know what would become of it. In a series of columns for the Star, Tully began to tell the complex story of the everyday drama, failures, and triumphs in one of the nation’s many troubled urban public high schools. The community’s reaction was astounding. Newspapers weren’t dead.

On February 20, the Manual High School choir, the ManualAires, will perform during an event at Carnegie Hall, featuring composer Greg Gilpin (a Manual fan) and Clay Aiken, among other performers. The choir is a big portion of Tully’s new book, Searching for Hope: Life at a Failing School in the Heart of America. One of Tully's columns about the choir moved Star readers to mail in nearly $100,000 in donations and afforded the kids the opportunity to accept their invitation to perform. The donations came in increments of $2 to $20,000.

Tully’s book, set to release this month, is not a collection of these columns, but a first-person account of his experience, his time with students, parents, teachers, counselors, police, and administrators, and his assertion that schools like Manual are a national emergency and should be treated as such.

"A gritty, wonderfully honest investigation of life in an urban American high school in the 21st century. The despair, the apathy, the misplaced anger, the frustrations and fights for something better are all there. The school in Indianapolis where Tully spent so much time is close to what I have found in many big cities, but few reporters have gone as deep as Tully has,” said Jay Mathews of the Washington Post.

In this gripping story, Tully walks readers into classrooms, offices, and hallways, painting a vivid picture of the profound academic problems, deep frustrations, and apathy that absorb and often consume those within. Yet this intimate view also reveals the hopes, dreams, and untapped talents of some amazing individuals. Providing insights into the colossal challenges confronting those who seek to improve the quality of America’s schools, and those who do not, Tully argues that school leaders and policy makers must rally communities to heartfelt engagement with their schools if the crippling social and economic threats to cities such as Indianapolis are to be averted.

About the author
Matthew Tully is a political columnist for the Indianapolis Star. His columns on public schools have helped drive debate over education reform in Indiana. Tully’s commentary has appeared in the Wall Street Journal and Education Week, and he has appeared on MSNBC, NPR, and numerous other national media outlets. He was named Indiana Journalist of the Year in 2008 and won the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism in 2010. For more information on the book, visit Tully's blog or listen to an IU Press podcast with him.

Author event: Super Bowl poetry reading with Norbert Krapf and the Airpoets

As a part of the Indianapolis Super Bowl activities, IUP author Norbert Krapf and his fellow Airpoets (Joyce Brinkman, Ruthelen Burns, and Joseph Heithaus) will be reading at TURF Art Pavilion's Café Corner this Saturday, January 28 from 4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Come support Indiana artists and share poetry of your own! Open mic will be held before and after the reading from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to 7 p.m.

For more information, visit the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association's website.

Enjoy a five-course Caribbean dinner with Daniel Orr

FARMbloomington chef and owner Daniel Orr will present a special five-course dinner at the Brown Hotel in Louisville this Thursday, January 26 at 7 p.m. The menu will feature traditional Caribbean recipes from Orr's cookbook Paradise Kitchen, copies of which will be available for signing.

The price to attend is $55 per person, plus tax and gratuity, or $65 including wine. Seating is limited, so please call (502) 736-2996 to make a reservation.

Are you an IU student looking for a career in writing, editing, or publishing?

If you're an IU student who has always dreamed of having a fabulous career in writing, editing, or publishing, then I have the perfect event for you! The IU Career Development Center and the IU Student Alumni Association will host a Writing, Editing, and Publishing Networking Night Tuesday, November 1 from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the DeVault Alumni Center. Students will have the opportunity to hear five panelists discuss their careers and to network with them during the event.

Yours truly is one of the five featured panelists, along with Malcolm Abrams (editor/publisher, Bloom Magazine), Bob Kravitz (columnist, Indianapolis Star), Joel Pierson (editorial services manager, Author Solutions), and Bob Zaltsberg (editor, The Herald-Times). The event is open to all IU students, but registration required through a myIUcareers account. For more information, visit the Career Development Center's website.