Here's a look at the featured books and authors from Author Festival 2020.
Anxiety, Angst, Anguish in Fin de Siècle Art and Literature by
This volume examines various manifestations of anguish in art, literature, and philosophy. It demonstrates that the experience of anguish manifested itself in a spectacular way in the arts in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It makes obvious the extraordinary tension between anguish and art. The works discussed here reflect the magnitude of anguish generated by historical events, scientific advancements (especially in psychology), and metaphysical inquiries of the time. Through the invention of new artistic languages, those works also illustrate the fecundity of anguish for artists.
Associate Professor, Art, Music, and Theatre
Dr. Rosina Neginsky teaches Art History and Literature, with a specialization in the Symbolist Movement in Europe. She is the author of several books, including Salome: The Image of a Woman Who Never Was (2013), of numerous articles on Russian and European artists, poets and writers, and of books of poetry, of which the most recent is In the Garden of Luxembourg (2015).
She is the president and founder of the international interdisciplinary organization Art, Literature, Music in Symbolism and Decadence (ALMSD), and the editor of various books on Symbolism, of which the most recent is Mental Illnesses in Symbolism (2017).
Neginsky is a 2008 recipient of the University Scholar Award, a prestigious award given to members of the faculty for their excellence in teaching and research.
Roses from Kenya by
Kenya supplies more than 35 percent of the fresh-cut roses and other flowers sold annually in the European Union. This industry?which employs at least 90,000 workers, most of whom are women?is lucrative but enduringly controversial. More than half the flowers are grown near the shores of Lake Naivasha, a freshwater lake northwest of Nairobi recognized as a Ramsar site, a wetland of international importance. Critics decry the environmental side effects of floriculture, and human rights activists demand better wages and living conditions for workers. In this rich portrait of Kenyan floriculture, Megan Styles presents the point of view of local workers and investigates how the industry shapes Kenyan livelihoods, landscapes, and politics. She investigates the experiences and perspectives of low-wage farmworkers and the more elite actors whose lives revolve around floriculture, including farm managers and owners, Kenyan officials, and the human rights and environmental activists advocating for reform. By exploring these perspectives together, Styles reveals the complex and contradictory ways that rose farming shapes contemporary Kenya. She also shows how the rose industry connects Kenya to the world, and how Kenyan actors perceive these connections. As a key space of encounter, Lake Naivasha is a synergistic center where many actors seek to solve broader Kenyan social and environmental problems using the global flows of people, information, and money generated by floriculture.
Assistant Professor, Environmental Studies
Dr. Megan Styles received her Ph.D. in Environmental Anthropology from the University of Washington in 2011. She also holds an M.A. in Anthropology and a B.A. in Anthropology and Environmental Studies.
Her research focuses on sustainable agricultural development, environmental justice, and conservation issues in East Africa and the United States. She is the author of Roses from Kenya: Labor, Environment, and the Global Trade in Cut Flowers, an ethnographic examination of the social and ecological effects of cut flower farming near Kenya’s Lake Naivasha.
Megan is also the Co-Editor for Culture, Agriculture, Food, and Environment (CAFE), a peer-reviewed journal published by the American Anthropological Association. She is passionate about teaching, mentoring students, and conducting research that will lead to a more just and sustainable future.
Colorism Poems by
The first book of poetry dedicated to the issue of colorism, Colorism Poems features the best poems submitted to the 2014 and 2016 Colorism Healing Poetry Contests. The poems published here represent a diverse range of voices, ages, languages, ethnicities, and styles. This collection explores the complex politics of complexion, hair, gender, beauty, race, nationality, mixed-race identity, stereotypes, family, heritage, healing, love, and more.
Assistant Professor, English and Modern Languages
Dr. Sarah Webb received her Ph.D. in English from Louisiana State University. She also holds an M.F.A. from California College of the Arts, and a B.S. in English from Mississippi State. Sarah's passion is her 5-year-old initiative Colorism Healing, through which she uses multiple forms of literacy to raise awareness about, and intervene in the, global issue of colorism. She uses her teaching and writing expertise to raise critical awareness about colorism, and in addition to workshops, she writes articles, publishes books, and creates additional resources on the subject of colorism.
Sarah created the website Colorism Healing and through that platform she hosts annual writing contests that attracts international attention. Her writing has been published in numerous places online and in print. Dr. Webb has also been featured on radio stations WBEZ 91.5 Chicago Public Radio and KCEB 88.1 in Las Vegas. She has recently been a featured guest on the Time for an Awakening podcast. In 2016 she cohosted the Black Weblog Awards. You can also find Sarah’s work on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s Teaching Tolerance blog.