Say happy birthday to James Alexander Thom and Dark Rain Thom at our IDADA First Friday event June 7
Two beloved Indiana authors will mark their birthdays at the IDADA First Friday Gallery Tour on June 7 at the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library: James Alexander Thom, 80, and his wife, Dark Rain, 71.
The Thoms have supported the Vonnegut Library since its inception, and Jim Thom was a longtime friend of Kurt Vonnegut. Join us in wishing them well!
Those who can’t attend can give a gift to the Vonnegut
Library to a new fund, “In Honor of James Alexander Thom.”
Bonus: Live music by Jeff Bowen!
Admission is free. The event is June 7, 2013, from 6 to 9 p.m.
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Literary, artistic submissions now being accepted
We’re accepting submissions for our second annual edition of So It Goes: The Literary Journal of the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library, to be released Nov. 9, 2013.
This year’s theme is humor. We want your whimsy, levity, dark satire, political parody, topical tomfoolery, sarcastic spoofs, and wit. Keep in mind that we are looking for your unique voice and not just an imitation of Vonnegut’s trademark humorous humanism.
- We accept new and previously published work.
- Simultaneous submissions are allowed with notification.
- Submissions are limited to one work of prose (maximum 1,500 words) or up to five poems, photographs and/or works of art.
Read the complete submission rules and submit electronically through kvml.submittable.com. Send paper submissions to Vonnegut Library, So It Goes Submissions, 340 N. Senate Ave., Indianapolis, IN 46204. Include a self-addressed, stamped envelope with sufficient postage for response.
Deadline: July 15, 2013. Submitted materials will not be returned.
Questions? Send them to SoItGoes@vonnegutlibrary.org. Good luck!
Take a look at our first issue.
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Lonely Planet recommends us!
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library was just selected for inclusion in the “Recommended by Lonely Planet 2013” program. The #1 travel publisher in America said that it recognizes businesses reviewed in its guidebooks “based purely on merit.”
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Back by popular demand in July:
Rare vintage WW II cartoons
16mm training films poked fun while training soldiers
to be shown at IDADA First Friday event – July 5, 2013
Because of their popularity during the March IDADA First Friday event, these films are coming back to the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library in July!
The Private Snafu films – with SNAFU standing for “Situation Normal, All Fouled (or F-d) Up” – were created to teach World War II soldiers what happens if you fail to follow military protocol.
The films were never intended to be seen by the general public. But on July 5, 2013, you can see them in their original format at the Vonnegut Library.
Local historian Eric Grayson has won acclaim for his digital restorations of Buster Keaton’s Seven Chances from 1925 and the serial King of the Kongo from 1929. He’ll share his Private Snafu films as a tribute to another WW II veteran and humorist, Kurt Vonnegut.
The character was created by Frank Capra and voiced by Mel Blanc, and many episodes were written by Theodore “Dr. Seuss” Geisel.
The free event is 6-9 p.m. Note: These cartoons may not be deemed appropriate for children by some parents. View a sample.
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Teaching Teachers to Teach Vonnegut
New: You’ll earn professional development credit!
Free weeklong workshop is July 15-19
Registration now open
Students find Kurt Vonnegut’s sense of humor and willingness to speak out irresistible, once you get them to open the book.
At the 2013 Teaching Teachers to Teach Vonnegut workshop, high school teachers will hear from Vonnegut scholars on how to introduce one of our nation’s best authors to young people. And you’ll earn professional development credits for each hour you attend.
This year’s workshop faculty:
- Rodney Allen, PhD, Vonnegut scholar and author of Conversations with Kurt Vonnegut and Understanding Kurt Vonnegut.
- Jonathan R. Eller, PhD, IUPUI English professor and author of Becoming Ray Bradbury.
- Gregory H. Mobley, archives specialist, Ruth Lilly Special Collections, IUPUI University Library.
- Gregory D. Sumner, PhD, University of Detroit-Mercy history chair and author of Unstuck in Time: A Journey Through Kurt Vonnegut’s Life and Novels and the forthcoming Building the Monkeyhouse: At Vonnegut’s Writing Table.
The goal:
To give teachers information they need to effectively share Vonnegut’s work with students. Vonnegut’s writing is relevant to social issues today – environmentalism, militarism, human rights, censorship, religion’s place in civic life – and students will find his humor and insights into the human condition fascinating and challenging.
Space is limited, so contact the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library today by email: teachingKV@vonnegutlibrary.org. The workshop is free.
Made possible in part with support from the Indiana Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.
Our Vision
We believe that writing is important. Great humorists such as Kurt Vonnegut compel us to see our world more clearly. The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library aims to inspire and promote insightful writing, extolling the greatness and exposing the foibles of the human condition. We seek to engage people, especially young people in Indianapolis, in thinking about and expressing themselves with the written word. We believe that writers are made, not born.
Our Mission
The Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library champions the literary, artistic, and cultural contributions of Hoosier writer and artist Kurt Vonnegut; serves as a cultural and educational resource facility, museum, art gallery, and reading room; supports language and arts education, and explores social issues through programs and outreach activities with other local and national groups.
Why Indianapolis?
“All my jokes are Indianapolis. All my attitudes are Indianapolis. My adenoids are Indianapolis. If I ever severed myself from Indianapolis, I would be out of business. What people like about me is Indianapolis.”
—Kurt Vonnegut, 1986
“Where is home? I’ve wondered where home is, and I realized, it’s not Mars or someplace like that, it’s Indianapolis when I was nine years old. I had a brother and a sister, a cat and a dog, and a mother and a father and uncles and aunts. And there’s no way I can get there again.”
— Kurt Vonnegut, 2005
Slaughterhouse-Five BANNED?!
The Vonnegut Library is giving away free copies of Slaughterhouse-Five to students from Republic, Missouri’s high school (yes, the school that banned Slaughterhouse-Five in 2011 from their curriculum and school library).
If you are a student at Republic High School, please email us with your name, address and grade level to request your free copy of the book. We will not share your request or any of your personal information with anyone else.
Recaps:
Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library 2nd Anniversary Celebration – Jan. 26, 2013
German-Americans who were held in internment camps during World War II, the author and photographer of the book “Food for Thought,” and Norb Vonnegut, author of The Trust. All free!
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and NYT best-selling author Chris Rose performed a staged reading of “So It Goes, an Evening with Kurt Vonnegut,” a play by Todd Grove.
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Vonnegut-inspired “Veterans Reclaim Armistice Day” offered outlet for expression, communication – Nov. 11, 2012
On Nov. 11, 2012, veterans, artists and supporters came together in one of the most meaningful presentations the Vonnegut Memorial Library has ever been involved in: “Veterans Reclaim Armistice Day: Healing through the Humanities.”
We’re keeping the Facebook page for this event going as a way for everyone to keep in touch with each other. We hope you sign up!
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Corey Michael Dalton was LOCKED UP WITH VONNEGUT for Banned Books Week
This editor from the Saturday Evening Post Society spent a week living, working, sleeping (and yes, not showering) in the front window of the Vonnegut Library for the duration of Banned Books Week 2012: 30 Years of Liberating Literature.
Why? We were protesting the continuing ban on Slaughterhouse-Five by the Republic, Missouri, school system.
Read about Corey’s experience on our blog. Visit our YouTube channel to see Dan Wakefield, Judy O’Bannon, Michael Moore and others reading from and commenting on banned books. It’s quite a remarkable treat.
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Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist Clarence Page was guest speaker at annual Night of Vonnegut
Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the Chicago Tribune Clarence Page was the guest speaker for the annual Night of Vonnegut presented by the Kurt Vonnegut Memorial Library on April 13, 2013, at the Scottish Rite Cathedral in downtown Indianapolis.
Page won the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Commentary and took part in the 1972 Chicago Tribune Task Force’s series on vote fraud that also won a Pulitzer. He has received a lifetime achievement award from the National Association of Black Journalists and was inducted into the Chicago Journalism Hall of Fame in 1992.
Night of Vonnegut is an annual fundraiser for the nation’s only venue dedicated to the life and work of Indiana native Kurt Vonnegut, author of Slaughterhouse-Five, Breakfast of Champions, Sirens of Titan and many other best-selling novels.
Special guests: Nanette Vonnegut, the author’s daughter, announced and presented $1,000 scholarships – the Kurt Vonnegut Writing Award and the Jane Cox Vonnegut Writing Award – to two Shortridge High School (Vonnegut’s alma mater) students. And Indiana native and author James Alexander Thom shared memories of his friendship with Vonnegut.
