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Contact: Maryemma Graham, professor of English, (785) 864-2557.

New novelist to speak to Kansas, Missouri English teachers in October

Editors note: Teachers mentioned from Barber, Douglas, Jewell and Sedgwick counties, and Kansas City, Mo.

LAWRENCE -- A writer whose first book focuses on an African-American teenage pioneer in Kansas and a Kansas Board of Regents officer plan to meet with English teachers from Kansas and Missouri attending the annual composition and literature conference Oct. 8 at the University of Kansas.

David Anthony Durham, author of "Gabriel's Story," and Amanda Golbeck, academic affairs director for the Kansas Board of Regents, will explore "Teaching Traditions in a Time of Transition" with English teachers from Kansas and Missouri.

KU sponsors the annual event to encourage English teachers in high schools and universities to review the effect that changes in technology, curricula and testing, for example, may have in their classrooms. In-service credit is available in some school districts.

Teachers may register for the conference by calling KU Continuing Education at (785) 864-KUCE or toll free at (877) 404-KUCE. More details about the conference are available on the Web at www.kuce.org/app/ccl.

"As we change the face of English instruction and maintain the rigor of what we do, many questions emerge," said Maryemma Graham, KU professor of English.

"We are learning more about what and who we teach, and about who is teaching, who is learning, and for what purpose. This year's conference will be devoted to common issues facing students and teachers of English in secondary schools as well as colleges and universities."

Graham said the conference would focus on issues of articulation and transfer of courses under the newly reorganized State Board of Regents.

Durham's novel "Gabriel's Story," published this year, tells of a 15-year-old African-American boy who moves with his family to central Kansas in the 1870s and then heads farther west, where his adventures become a waking hell. The New York Times Book Review has listed "Gabriel's Story" -- Durham's first published novel -- in its books recommended for summer reading.

Golbeck, as academic affairs directors for the regents, provides academic leadership to public universities, community colleges, technical schools and colleges, proprietary schools, technical education programs, adults basic education programs and GED testing services.

English teachers in Kansas and Missouri are offering ideas for discussion at the conference, including:

 • finding useful and adaptive composition techniques for students in playwriting, by Charles Kovich, Rockhurst University, Kansas City, Mo.
 • teaching students that revising can make their writing powerful, by Kathleen Regier, Hutchinson Community College.
 • stepping across timelines, by Devra Parker, Medicine Lodge High School.
 • using literature in the writing classroom by Karen Burge, Wichita State University.
 • enrolling students concurrently, by Sherrill F. Daniels, Mankato High School.

KU's English department sponsors the annual event with KU's provost's office, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Continuing Education.