Rock and Hawk: Poetry of Robinson Jeffers

Dear friends,

I would like to invite you to the evening of poetry of the American poet Robinson Jeffers. Our guest is Professor Elliot Roberts, Vice President of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation, author of many books inspired by live and work of Jeffers. Professor will read verses, answer your questions and also he will invite his own guest Táňa Fischerová, Czech actress, who will read verses in Czech.
So the programme is bilingual.
This event will be held in Central Library (Mariánské náměstí 1) on September 16 at 6:30 pm at the Big Hall (downstairs).

Free admission!!!! It's not necessary to book a seat, because Big Hall has capacity almost 400 seats.

Some information about Elliot Roberts:

Elliot Ruchowitz-Roberts is co-author of Bowing to Receive the Mountain: Essays by Lin Jensen and Poems by Elliot Roberts (Sunflower Ink: Carmel, CA, 1997); co-editor/co-translator of two works of poetry from the Telugu: Chalam's Sudha (Nectar) (Motilal Banarsidass/ UNESCO: Delhi, 1990) and Selected Verses of Vemana (Sahitya Akademi: New Delhi, 1995); and co-editor of the college text Bridges (Prentice-Hall: Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1972). He has published two chapbooks of poetry and his poems have appeared in various anthologies and journals, including Dancing on the Brink of the World: Selected Poems of Point Lobos, The Anthology of Monterey Bay Poets: 2004, caesura: the 25th anniversary edition, and The Homestead Review. His poem “The Scrub Jay” was set to a musical score by pianist/composer David Clay and had its world premier at the New Music Works Avant Garden Party in Santa Cruz. His four poems that appeared in Dancing on the Brink of the World have been translated into Spanish and published in the El Nuevo Diario newspaper(Managua, Nicaragua). He has read his poetry at various venues on the Monterey Peninsula.

As Vice President of the Robinson Jeffers Tor House Foundation in Carmel, Mr. Ruchowitz-Roberts coordinates the Foundation’s annual Poetry and Performance Series and its annual Prize for Poetry, for which he is a preliminary judge. He also presents an annual benefit reading and is one of four poets in the annual “Robinson Jeffers at Point Sur” tour and reading.

Mr. Ruchowitz-Roberts lives in Carmel Highlands with his wife Tey. He has three adult children and seven grandchildren. He is President/Chair of the non-profit Henry Miller Memorial Library in Big Sur and Chair of the Monterey County Chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

Next meeting in September!!!

Dear readers,

Last meeting was visited by a few members. In fact, I was there alone and I was sad because the topic was good. For this reason the next meeting will be after holiday, on September 23rd (6:30 pm, Central Library, Clubroom). The topic will be same - COMICS.

We will also chat about your summer time and holiday, and maybe you will tell me, where were you in July, when I was waiting for you at the clubroom and reading Garfield.

Next meeting!!

Dear friends.

Our next meeting will have a very specific topic - COMICS. We invite all fans and also adversaries to chat about classical heroes, graphic novels, about growing popularity of comics. I hope that lot of you will come despite the holiday and nice summer weather. Meeting will be held as usual at the Clubroom of the Central Library (Mariánské nám. 1, Prague 1) on July 8 at 6:30 pm.

Women and literature - quiz

Dear readers,

Last meeting was about Literature for women and in the beginning we tried to answer this quiz. Answers below.

1. The names of three famous English writers of the 1840s and 1850s?
(Because it's too easy, there are no options.)

2. Which Brönte sister wrote The Professor?
A. Anna
B. Charlotte
C. Emily

3. When did Jane Austen get married?
A. 1757 (when she was 18)
B. 1816 (one year before her death)
C. she never get married

4. Whole name of Virginia Woolf is:
A. Adeline Virginia Woolf
B. Barbara Virginia Woolf
C. Marie Virginia Woolf

5. Marjane Satrapi, author of graphic novel Persepolis was born in:
A. Iraq
B. Iran
C. Israel

6. Who is the author of The Six Bullerby Children?
A. Dagmar Lange
B. Sara Lidman
C. Astrid Lindgren

7. The most famous Czech female writer is:
A. Božena Němcová
B. Magdalena Dobromila Rettigová
C. Marie Pujmanová

8. The richest female writer is:
A. Helen Fielding
B. J. K. Rowling
C. Gina B. Nahai

9. The pen name of Mary Anne Evans:
A. George Eliot
B. James Joyce
C. Adam Bede

10. Who is the author of this title:

Leaves from the journal of our life in the Highlands, from 1848 to 1861 to which are prefixed and added extracts from the same journal giving an account of earlier visits to Scotland, and tours in England and Ireland, and yachting excursions

Correct answers:
1. Brönte sisters - Anna, Charlotte, Emily
2B - first novel by Charlotte Brönte - published posthumously
3C
4A - but her original name was Adeline Virginia Stephen
5B - now Satrapi lives in France
6C - She is the best remembered for writing the Pipi Longstocking
7A - Author of the novel Babička (Grandma)
8B - Author of Harry Potter series
9A - She was an English novelist, one of the leading writers of the Victorian era
10 - Queen Victoria

Fairy Tales

Dear readers,

here is the report from the meeting about Fairy Tales. The author is Marta that held this meeting.

At the beginning of our fairy evening we used the folklorist classification of folk tales and tried to explain some expressions. Than some famous tales collectors as Němcová, Erben, Dobšinský, brothers Grimms were mentioned.

We had fun during listening to Astrid Lindgren short story „Older sister and younger brother“ – a story where an older sister is trying to tell a fairy tale to her younger brother.

Classic fairy tales are always full of several archetypes of character, they are spread all over the world, though some story details may differ (as for example Czech, Slovak and English Cinderella version). It was also interesting to hear that the tale of the Greco-Egyptian girl Rhodopis, recorded in the 1st century BC, was considered the oldest known version of the story.

Sometimes life is like a fairy tale, but not each story finishes with a happy ending. Lida Baarova story was given as a good example.

All of us liked very much another story about the girl, who did not agree with marriage and lived happily on her own ever after.

And before saying goodbye an old Chinese story about first storyteller was retold and I hope we all spent a nice time by returning to our childhood – at least for a while.