Monday, February 13, 2006

New Publication

I'm happy to report that I will have a publication forthcoming in an unusual outlet: Puppetry International Magazine. It brings together a variety of skills and readings which is always fun. The essay is "Future Medieval Space: Performing 'Punch' in Riddley Walker." I have been really fascinated with Punch of late, and this is one of the payoffs. I know I've mentioned Riddley Walker before (and recently reviewed the latest book by Russell Hoban), but the part that Punch plays in the novel continues to fascinate me, as does Hoban's use of the legend of St. Eustace (and the wall painting based on it in Canterbury Cathedral. Perhaps the fractured language that Hoban uses to evoke the stunted world after nuclear holocaust intrigues me most of all. Naturally, I have made sure to include this favorite book in my course about Canterbury that I'm teaching as part of the London trip this spring.

3 comments:

Bobby Kuechenmeister said...

Congrats! I am planning on attempting some of those CFPs Gene shared on the discussion list. Each time I get an acceptance or rejection letter, it ends up on my blog, with no names except for where it came from.

C. Margery Kempe said...

I suppose that would help keep track of everything, but I can't be bothered to remember rejections unless it's for something I have to set aside for awhile and want to make sure I don't forget. After you grow a thick skin for rejection, you begin to simply let them roll off your back. Occasionally, it's true, with a curse as it rolls ("you pinhead, you didn't get it at all!"). But most rejections come because the calls are competetive -- no reflection on the work, just not enough room for everything.

Of course, I usually mention acceptances twice :-) -- once when I receive the acceptance, and again when I either present the paper or publish it. So there: Shrug off rejections and celebrate success!

Bobby Kuechenmeister said...

Kate, Many of my colleagues here in Texas A&M University's English department have told me such sage advice. Oddly, I have no problem with academic rejection, as my recent rejections prove.

However, I do have mild difficulty understanding that people are not "gunning" for me as a lone comic scholar here. I know that getting dissertations on comics is difficult to pass, so I am trying to protect and prepare myself for a tough fight in advance. Fortunately or unfortunately, it translates into a "Me vs. The World" mental framework.