Dear Percy-L:
In celebration of the centenary of Percy's birth in 2016, this
Walker Percy Project/Percy-L post outlines the plethora of
public gatherings, online discussion opportunities,
publications, academic conferences, and available research
collections related to Percy that are currently available or
upcoming this year. Including wherever Percy's works are being
read in schools, reading groups, churches, and
by individuals, we can be assured interest in Walker Percy
remains strong.
Please re-post and share this compiled list of 20 noteworthy
opportunities with others you know and invite them to join our
listserv community. Please also respond to Percy-L with any
additional items of community interest you may be aware of that
are not listed.
What would Percy himself say of all the fuss? Your guess is
as good as mine...
Enjoy and best Percy wishes!
Henry Mills
—
Director, Editor, & Percy-L Administrator
The Walker Percy Project
<http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy>
(Website)
<http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l>
(Join Percy-L)
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TABLE OF CONTENTS -- 2016 WALKER PERCY CENTENNIAL LISTING OF
OPPORTUNITIES
A. PUBLIC GATHERINGS
RELATED TO WALKER PERCY
B. ONLINE DISCUSSION
OPPORTUNITIES
C. FORTHCOMING PERCY-RELATED
PUBLICATIONS (2016-2017)
D. ACADEMIC GATHERINGS RELATED
TO WALKER PERCY (2016)
E. RESEARCH COLLECTIONS
OPPORTUNITIES - WITH A FOCUS ON ARCHIVES HELD AT LOYOLA
UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS
F. WALKER PERCY EDUCATIONAL
PROJECT WEBSITE
G. GENERAL MEDIA AND TOPICAL
ARTICLE POSTS TO THE PERCY-L COMMUNITY
H. OPEN CALL FOR PERCY NEWS /
INVITATION TO HELP BUILD OUR ONLINE DISCUSSION COMMUNITY
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A. PUBLIC GATHERINGS RELATED TO WALKER PERCY
(For All Percy-interested Individuals)
1) - The Walker
Percy Center For Writing and Publishing (Loyola University,
New Orleans)
(Stages ongoing activities)
Community creative writing
classes, a summer high school writing program, and publication
projects are offered as ongoing activities at the "Walker
Percy Center for Writing and Publishing" at Loyola University,
New Orleans. Read more on the Center's website: <http://www.loyno.edu/wpc/>.
2) - The Walker Percy
Weekend (St. Francisville, La.)
(To be held June 3-5, 2016)
"The Walker Percy Weekend" is
planning its 3rd year of events to be held in June 2016. The
Weekend features discussion panels, a crawfish boil, and other
Percyesque activities in celebration of the man and his work.
Read more at <http://www.walkerpercyweekend.org>.
3) - The Walker Percy
Serenity Circle Garden and Bronze Statue (St. Tammany
Library, Madisonville, La.)
(Forthcoming Installation
ceremony, May 12, 2016)
The recently opened St.
Tammany Parish Branch Library, Madisonville, recognizes Percy
through its Percy Reading Room and its outdoor Serenity Circle
Garden. A life-size bronze statue of Percy will be installed
in the garden in May 2016. To view a photograph of the Garden,
including pictures of the statue in progress, see <http://www.sttammanylibraryfoundation.org/buy-paver/>.
For details about the installation ceremony on May 12, see: <http://www.sttammanylibraryfoundation.org/>.
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B. ONLINE DISCUSSION OPPORTUNITIES
(For All Readers of Percy)
4) - Percy-L
Opportunities (Ongoing)
Percy-L is an e-mail based
discussion group dedicated to exploring topics related to the
work and thought of Walker Percy. Students, general readers,
and scholars are all welcome. In recent past, Percy-L had a
vibrant slow reading discussion (chapter by chapter) of "Love
in the Ruins." Open proposals by members for another slow
reading discussion of a Percy book for summer 2016 are welcome
for distribution through the listserv.
Join Percy-L at: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l>
Submit Posts (members only):
<percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Archives: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l>
Search Percy-L: To search
the Percy-L archives, enter the following search scheme in
the Google search field:
site:lists.ibiblio.org/pipermail/percy-l/ "your-search-term"
(**NOTE: be sure to include
a space before "your-search-term" and the hyperlink and also
remove the quote marks used in this example)
5) - Public Mentions of
Walker Percy on Facebook
(Facebook membership may be
required)
All Public
Posts: to view all current public posts that Facebook members
have made on their individual homepages that mention Percy
(including a few misplaced references, including "Johnnie
Walker Whiskey," "Percy Sledge," and "Percy Walker," click on
the following link: <https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=walker%20percy>
OpenRoadMedia page: a second
Facebook page specifically covering Percy as a topic is
offered by the e-book publisher OpenRoadMedia: <https://www.facebook.com/WalkerPercy/?fref=ts>
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C. FORTHCOMING PERCY-RELATED PUBLICATIONS (2016-2017)
(Scholarly Books, Journal, and Photograph Collection)
6) - "Walker
Percy's 'The Moviegoer' at Fifty: New Takes on an Iconic
American Novel" (LSU Press, April 2016)
A collection of 12 new essays
on "The Moviegoer," this volume is co-edited by Jennifer
Levasseur and Mary A. McCay. The book's description is
viewable at: <http://lsupress.org/books/detail/walker-percys-the-moviegoer-at-fifty>.
7) - "Zygon: Journal of
Religion and Science" (Early to mid-2016)
"Zygon Journal" will publish
during the first half of 2016 a compilation of Percy-related
essays treating the relationship of science and religion in
Percy's works, edited by Leslie Marsh. Information about the
journal is viewable at: <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(ISSN)1467-9744>.
8) - "Walker Percy:
Daylight and Dark" (Photograph collection slated for
publication in 2016)
This one-of-a-kind photograph
collection documenting Percy by photographer Christopher
Harris will be published in 2016 in recognition of the
centenary of Percy's birth. For future availability, contact
Christopher Harris directly via: <chris.harris AT mtsu.edu>
or through the website <http://www.christopherrharris.com/contact.cfm>.
9) - "Walker Percy as
Philosopher" (as book thematic topic) (LSU Press, 2017)
Forthcoming in 2017, LSU Press
will publish a new collection of essays focusing strictly on
Percy-as-philosopher from a variety of scholars, as edited by
Leslie Marsh. As a special component, the book will feature
George Rodrigue's 1982 portrait of Percy. Watch the LSU Press
website for future details: <http://lsupress.org>.
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D. ACADEMIC GATHERINGS RELATED TO WALKER PERCY (2016)
(Of Primary Interest to Percy Scholars)
10) - 2016
Southeast Christianity & Literature Conference on Walker
Percy
(Montreat College, NC) (April
28-30, 2016)
The conference will be
dedicated to Percy's literature as held on the campus of
Montreat College, NC. More information is available at: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/2015-August/002040.html>,
or for the most current information, contact Pr. Rich Gray,
organizer, directly at <rgray AT montreat.edu>.
11) - Call for Papers:
Walker Percy Society, 2016 American Literature Association
Conference
(San Francisco, May 26-29,
2016)
The Walker Percy Society
invites paper proposals for its session at the 27th Annual ALA
Conference. More details are available at <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l/2016-January/002071.html>,
or for the most current information, contact Pr. Benjamin B.
Alexander, WP Society contact, directly at <balexander AT franciscan.edu>.
12) - Recap: Recent
2015 Academic Sessions
For those interested, recent
past academic sessions on Percy include:
- The American Literature
Association (ALA) held a "Place and Race in Percy and Welty"
session at its 2015 Symposium conference in New Orleans (Sept.
10-12).
- The South Atlantic Modern
Language Association (SAMLA) held a Walker Percy session at
its 2015 conference in Durham, NC (November 13-15).
**NOTE: attendees
of conferences featuring Percy sessions are always welcome
to post recap summaries to Percy-L following a conference.
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E. RESEARCH COLLECTIONS OPPORTUNITIES - WITH A FOCUS ON
ARCHIVES HELD AT LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS
(For Scholars and Others Who Have Interest)
The Special Collections Library at Monroe Library, Loyola
University, New Orleans, offers several new and existing
collections related to Percy that are ripe for biographical and
literary discovery about him for existing and upcoming
scholars. Full collection descriptions are available through
the below links or through the search form on the department's
main website: <http://library.loyno.edu/research/speccoll/>.
**NOTE: A permanent
descriptive listing of Percy-related collections and links to
them, including those at UNC-Chapel Hill and UT-Austin, is
available on the Walker Percy Educational Project website at <http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/collections/collections.html>.
LOYOLA UNIVERSITY, NEW ORLEANS, COLLECTIONS INCLUDE:
(If needed, cut and paste each link in your browser)
13) - "Walker
Percy Collection" (Donated by Percy family)
The Special Collections
Library contains a sizable cache of resources donated by the
Percy family following the death of Mary Townsend "Bunt"
Percy, Percy's wife, in 2012. The materials comprise 10 boxes
covering the period 1945-2000. The collection description is
located at:
https://loyno.louislibraries.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=857228{CKEY}&searchfield1=GENERAL^SUBJECT^GENERAL^^&user_id=WEBSERVER
14) - "Patrick Samway,
S.J. Collection"
This Loyola, NO, collection includes the
research materials Patrick Samway, S.J., gathered for the
writing of his Percy biography, among materials related to
other writers of the South. The 2014 announcement of the
collection is viewable at <http://library.loyno.edu/blog/?p=3528>.
The announcement includes a photograph of Samway and Percy
at their first meeting in 1978 at the Percy home. To read
the Samway collection description, visit: <https://loyno.louislibraries.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/5/3?searchdata1=857097{CKEY}&searchfield1=GENERAL^SUBJECT^GENERAL^^&user_id=WEBSERVER>.
15) -
Correspondence Collections & Other Materials Related to
Percy (John Kennedy Toole)
The Special Collections
Library at Loyola also houses numerous and varied
correspondence collections involving Percy, as well as the
"John Kennedy Toole Manuscript." The catalog listings of these
collections and their descriptions are located at:
https://loyno.louislibraries.org/uhtbin/cgisirsi/x/0/0/57/5?searchdata1=Percy%20and%20(^h21)&srchfield1=^^^^&searchoper1=&thesaurus1=&search_entries1=&search_type1=&special_proc1=&library=ALL&match_on=KEYWORD&user_id=WEBSERVER
16) - Permanent
Descriptive Listings of All Percy-related Collections (from
multiple universities)
As noted above, bookmark the
Walker Percy Educational Project at the following page for a
permanent, central listing of all Percy-related collections: <http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy/collections/collections.html>.
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F. WALKER PERCY EDUCATIONAL PROJECT WEBSITE
(For Students, General Readers, and Scholars)
17) - The Walker
Percy Project Website Redesign and Expansion
The Project website is
undergoing a redesign as a central, organized online
collection of Percy resources for all readers of Percy,
students, general readers, and scholars. New essays, book
descriptions, and media resources will be included. Please
support our volunteer-based project by purchasing your Percy
books (for yourself or as gifts for others) through the
Project's bookstore link on the homepage: <http://www.ibiblio.org/wpercy#bookstore>.
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G. GENERAL MEDIA AND TOPICAL ARTICLE POSTS TO THE PERCY-L
COMMUNITY
(For Students, General Readers, and Scholars)
18) - Submit
General Media Articles Information and Comments for Listserv
Discussion
Percy-L members are encouraged
to submit information and commentary about general media or
topical articles involving Percy that they encounter for the
benefit of the community, alongside those periodically
distributed by the list administrator.
Article of Note: one article
of note that was not earlier posted to the community observes
the passing of Bunt Percy on September 6, 2012 as printed in
The Times-Picayune: "Mary Townsend Percy, widow of writer
Walker Percy, dies at 90". The article is available at: <http://www.nola.com/books/index.ssf/2012/09/mary_townsend_percy_widow_of_w.html>.
Join Percy-L at: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l>
Submit Posts (members only):
<percy-l AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Archives: <https://lists.ibiblio.org/sympa/arc/percy-l>
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H. OPEN CALL FOR PERCY NEWS / INVITATION TO HELP BUILD OUR
ONLINE DISCUSSION COMMUNITY
(For All Members of Percy-L)
19) - Submit
Percy News
All Percy-L members (and any
wishing to join our listserv community) are invited to share
Percy news and opportunities with the list on a rolling basis.
News you wish to have distributed may also be submitted to <wppdirector AT gmail.com>.
(Please contact the list administrator first if you have a
Percy-related marketing post.)
20) - Encourage New
Percy-L Membership
Please forward information
about Percy-L, if not all of the above activities, to all you
know who may be interested and invite them to join the Percy-L
community to contribute to our Percy discussion. New members
may join at: <http://lists.ibiblio.org/mailman/listinfo/percy-l>.
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SPECIAL FINAL NOTE OF THANKS TO THE IBIBLIO NETWORK OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA AT CHAPEL HILL
*****The Walker Percy Educational Project would like to
acknowledge and express thanks to the Ibiblio Network at the
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill for hosting Percy-L
and the Project's website. Thank you, Ibiblio! *****
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