Visiting Writer David Wancyzk to visit Pocatello on Nov. 7
October 26, 2018
POCATELLO — On Wednesday, Nov. 7, Idaho State University’s Department of English and Philosophy will host visiting writer David Wanczyk, author of “Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind.”
During his visit, Wanczyk will hold a public reading and give a talk at ISU's Diversity Resource Center. Additionally, Wanczyk, who is editor of the prestigious literary journal New Ohio Review, will attend a Q&A session with Black Rock & Sage, ISU's journal of the creative arts and others interested in literary publishing and editorialship. All events are free, and the public is welcome to attend.
The schedule and location of the events follows
• Noon – Conversation on “Beep,” Diversity Resource Center, Rendezvous Complex Room 129
• 3 p.m. – Literary Editing Conversation/Q&A, Kegel Liberal Arts Building, Room 256
• 6 p.m. – Public Reading, Bengal Café, Pond Student Union
A 2018 Junior Library Guild selection, “Beep: Inside the Unseen World of Baseball for the Blind,” explores the history and the present state of an adaptive sport with an increasingly global reach, and tracks in detail the fortunes of teams and individual players competing intensely in the pursuit of a complex range of athletic, psychological and social ambitions.
In the “L.A Review of Books,” Joshua Jackson describes “Beep” as “a work of sports reportage. . .but also some fine travel writing, a history of the relatively new game, an exploration of an underrepresented culture, and even a memoir. [Wanczyk] gives beep its due respect as a sport, and he reveals its heroes and goats not only as athletes, but as humans.”
Wanczyk holds a Ph.D. in creative nonfiction from Ohio University. He has written extensively on novel sports for publications such as “Salon” and “Slate.” He has also contributed essays, poems and criticism to venues as diverse as Woolf Studies Annual and the food journal Alimentum. He is the editor of New Ohio Review and director of special programs for the English department at Ohio University, where he presently teaches.
Wanczyk’s visit is made possible by support from the Idaho Humanities Council, ISU’s Department of English and Philosophy, ISU’s Disability Services, ISU’s Diversity Resource Center and Black Rock & Sage.
For more information, contact ISU’s Department of English and Philosophy at (208) 241-2478 or schubeth@isu.edu.