2013 Conference Program

The 19th Annual Robinson Jeffers Association Conference

February 15-17, 2013, School of the  Arts / Academic Magnet High School, Charleston, SC

“Integrity is Wholeness: The Moral, Social and Aesthetic Implications of Jeffers’ Worldview”

Friday, February 15

5:00 PM: Reception: Holiday Inn Charleston Airport and Convention Center

7:30 PM:  “An Evening with Nikky Finney and Friends,” Rose Maree Myers Theater for the Performing Arts, 5109 W. Enterprise St. North Charleston, SC

  • The 2011 National Book Award Winner and South Carolina native will be joined by South Carolina Poet Laureate, Marjory Wentworth; Charleston poet Brian Penberthy; the School of the Arts Jazz Band; and Urban-Jazz violinist and 2007 School of the Arts graduate Daniel D.

Saturday, February 16

8:00 – 8:45 RJA Business Meeting

9:00 – 9:15: President’s Welcome

  • Ron Olowin, Saint Mary’s College of California

9:15 – 10:00: Keynote Address

  • Nikky Finney, University of Kentucky, 2011 National Book Award Winner, Poetry

10:15 – 11:00 Panel: “I Can Tell Lies in Prose”: The Poet as Truth-Seeker” Chair: Rob Kafka

  • “Robinson Jeffers Poet & Prophet,”  Ugo Gervasoni, Liceo Scientifico Lorenzo Mascheroni, Bergamo, Itlay
  • “Robinson Jeffers and the Horns of Truth,” Robert Zaller, Drexel University

11:15 -12:00 Panel: The Poet’s “Inevitable Place” Chair: John Cusatis

  • John Lane, Wofford College
  • Marjory Wentworth, Poet Laureate of South Carolina
  • Brian Penberthy, poet

12:15 – 1:00   “Jeffers’ Women,” Lili Bita, poet, actor, musician

1:00 Lunch (on your own)

3:00 PM  Charleston Harbor Cruise aboard the Explorer

5:00 PM Dinner (on your own)

7:30 PM:“The Astonishing Beauty of Things”: A Celebration of Robinson Jeffers through the Arts. Rose Maree Myers Theater for the Performing Arts

Featuring the Following Student Performances:

  • A performance from Medea;
  • A reading of “Evening Ebb” with a response in verse and dance;
  • A Jeffers-themed performance by SOA’s improvisational troupe, The Fighting Gnomes;
  • A reading of “Divinely Superfluous Beauty” in American Sign Language;
  • A reading of “The Beauty of Things” in French and English accompanied by visual artists’ paintings;
  • A dance performance choreographed by guest choreographer Kathryn Roszak.
  • The debut of “Evening Ebb,” composed by senior vocal major Nicholas Bentz for eight-part harmony, piano, and percussion.

Sunday, February 17

9:00-10:15 Panel:  A Planet in Peril, Chair: John Cusatis

  • “Spengler and Jeffers in the 21st Century,” Jim Baird, University of North Texas
  • “The Elegiac Ecology of Hungerfield,” Zachariah Buck, University of California, Santa Cruz
  • “On the Eco Theology of Robinson Jeffers: The Polar Icecaps are Melting,” Ron Olowin, Saint Mary’s College of California

10:30-11:00 Panel: Jeffers and Buddhism, Chair: Ugo Gervasoni

  • Gene Kafka, Illinois Institute of Technology & Fermilab
  • Rob Kafka, UCLA Extension
  • Stuart Nobel-Goodman, University of Redlands

11:15-11:55  Winner and 1st Runner-up,  RJA Essay Contest

12:00 – 1:30 Lunch (on your own)

1:35 – 1:55 La Poesia di Jeffers in Italiano: Italian Translations Read by the Translators

  • Massimo Maggiari, College of Charleston
  • Ugo Gervasoni, Liceo Scientifico Lorenzo Mascheroni, Bergamo, Italy

  2:00- 2:30  Panel: Jeffers, A Younger Perspective

  • Discussion among SOA and AMHS Students

2:45- 3:30 Panel: “Integrity is Wholeness” Chair: Jim Baird

  • “A Natural View of an Italian Reader,” Massimo Maggiari, College of Charleston
  • “The Best Life for a Man: The Personal Integrity of Robinson Jeffers,” John Cusatis, RJA Executive Director, School of the Arts, Charleston, SC

5:00  Reception: Poet’s House, Ashley & Bull St. Downtown Charleston.