Speaking at the final event, a service marking Palm Sunday, Wiebe touched on the way writers work in silence, enveloped in the mystery of writing. Yet when writers and readers meet, their 鈥渕utual silences open to listening.鈥�

There was little silence at this conference, dubbed 鈥淢ennonite/s Writing VI.鈥� Packed into the two days, one evening and one morning were: an oratorio featuring the poetry of one of the conference participants, Jean Janzen of California; two dramatic 聽performances and an equal number of music events; at least 30 readings from original poems, works of fiction and memoirs; and plenty of talks on such weighty topics as the intersection of theology and poetry (鈥渢heopoetics鈥�), on teaching writing and literature, and on what it means to be a Mennonite or to write in a Mennonite manner. Critics of literature formed one panel discussion and publishers of literature formed another.

Some participants left the campus to take a guided tour of the MennoMedia offices a block away or a different tour to Singers Glen, eight miles to the west of 91短视频, where the oldest continually used hymnal in the United States was first published by a local Mennonite man, Joseph Funk.

Kirsten Beachy, an 91短视频 assistant professor who was co-chair of the conference, smilingly summed up the conference with these words: 鈥淲e feasted together on words and on food.鈥�

Throughout the conference, participants often credited Wiebe and Julia Spicher Kasdorf, a poet and conference co-chair, with inspiring other Mennonite writers by producing seminal works that challenged the insularity of the traditional Mennonite church-community in North America鈥攈e in 1962 with his first novel, Peace Shall Destroy Many, and she in 1992 with her first book of poetry, Sleeping Preacher.

Well-known poet and essayist Gregory Orr, a University of Virginia professor who is not a Mennonite, attracted one of the largest crowds assembled in one location to hear his talk on 鈥渆thics, aesthetics and the lyric.鈥� He advocated that writers be true to themselves and 鈥渂reak with the overculture,鈥� a message that resonated with his Mennonite audience in two ways鈥攕ome have worked hard to find their voice within the 鈥渙verculture鈥� of their original community, while many view themselves as belonging to a minority culture that often goes against the grain of the mainstream culture.

On Friday evening, Vern Thiessen, one of the most-produced playwrights in Canada, performed two roles鈥攖hat of himself and of his father鈥攊n 鈥淏ack to Berlin,鈥� his play exploring how his father (and by extension other Mennonites in Germany) acquiesced to or collaborated with the Nazis during World War II.

Writers who received formal tributes at the Saturday evening banquet were Ervin Beck, Goshen College professor emeritus; Omar Eby, 91短视频 professor emeritus; Al Reimer, professor emeritus at the University of Winnipeg; Elaine Sommers Rich, author of the 1964 children鈥檚 book Hannah Elizabeth; and Katie Funk Wiebe, a prolific essayist who taught at Tabor College before her retirement.

The 91短视频 conference received support from the Virginia Commission for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts, as well as from Conrad Grebel University College in Ontario and private donors. It was the sixth gathering in North America since 1990 of writers who have a Mennonite background, who delve into Mennonite themes in their works, or who simply have an interest in this field. Photos are online at emu.edu/photos/mennonites-writing-vi-conference/

Alice Parker, an American composer, arranger and conductor who has over a dozen recordings will be in attendance along with American poet Jean Janzen during the opening night of “That Sturdy Vine” at 8 p.m., in Lehman Auditorium.

That Sturdy Vine will feature the Wilbur Pence Middle School children’s chorus, under the direction of Janet Hostetter, and soprano Anne Gross and the 91短视频 Chamber Singers and Orchestra. , professor of , will direct.

In addition, , chair of music, will conduct the strings in Mozart’s Eine Kleine Nachtmusik.

Admission is free. Donations are welcomed for the 91短视频 music scholarship fund.

For more information contact the music department at 540-432-4225 or email music@emu.edu.

Mennonite/s Writing Conference

Before the concert there is a welcome and poetry reading at 6 p.m. Thursday by Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Jeff Gundy, Todd Davis and Keith Ratzlaff in the University Commons.

In addition, during the conference participants will enjoy a performance by Canadian Mennonite playwright Vern Thiessen and a reading and lecture by Charlottesville, Va., poet Greg Orr. A growing list of writers, including Katherine Arnoldi, Dora Dueck, Janzen and Rudy Wiebe will read their work.

For more information visit the or .

91短视频 Alice Parker

Composer, conductor, and teacher Alice Parker says that she sang before she spoke. What an appropriate beginning for a career that has spanned almost six decades and has been devoted to the creation of works for the human voice.

She began composing at the age of five, and wrote her first orchestral score while still in high school. At Smith College and the Julliard School, she studied composition and conducting, beginning her long association with Robert Shaw. Their many settings of American folk songs, hymns, and spirituals form an enduring repertoire for choruses all around the world. Through the years she has continued composing in all the choral forms from opera to cantata, from sacred anthems to songs on texts by distinguished poets. She has been commissioned by such well-known groups as Chanticleer, the Vancouver Chamber Singers, and the Atlanta Symphony, as well as hundreds of community, school and church choruses.

Now a resident of western Massachusetts, Parker has published books on melodic styles, choral improvisation, and 鈥淕ood Singing in Church.鈥� Three videos have been released showing her work with hymnody. She is the recipient of four honorary doctorates and the Smith College Medal, as well as grants from ASCAP, the National Endowment for the Arts, and the American Music Center. She is on the board of Chorus America.

Jean Janzen

Jean Janzen is the author of six collections of poetry, the most recent being Paper House, published by Good Books, 2008.

Her poems have appeared in Poetry, Image, Gettysburg Review, Prairie Schooner, Christian Century, and numerous anthologies. She has won an NEA grant and has been twice nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Some of her poems have been set to music, including the oratorio That Sturdy Vine by Alice Parker.

A chorale/orchestral piece by Eugene Friesen based on her poetry will be part of the 20th Anniversary celebration of the in June 2012.

Janzen has taught poetry writing at Fresno Pacific University and 91短视频.

91短视频 (91短视频) will host a March 29-April 1. The sixth in a series of Mennonite Writing conferences in the United States and Canada, the conference comes to the East Coast of the United States for the first time this spring.

鈥淚f you love to read or write, whether you鈥檙e Mennonite, MennoNot, or Menno-curious, this conference is for you,鈥� said conference co-chair , assistant professor of at 91短视频.

鈥淢ennonite/s Writing VI: Solos and Harmonies鈥� will feature a performance by Canadian Mennonite playwright Vern Thiessen and a reading and lecture by Charlottesville, Va., poet Greg Orr. A growing list of Mennonite scholars and writers, including Katherine Arnoldi, Stephen Raleigh Byler, Todd Davis, Dora Dueck, Jeff Gundy, Ann Hostetler, Jean Janzen, Julia Spicher Kasdorf, Keith Ratzlaff, Sofia Samatar, Hildi Froese Tiessen, and Rudy Wiebe will share their work.

Several events are open to the public, including a kick-off poetry reading followed by an orchestra concert on Thursday evening; a Friday night performance by Vern Thiessen of Back to Berlin, a funny and lyrical look at a father and son on a trip to Berlin to discover secrets lying in the city鈥攁nd in the father鈥檚 past; a lecture on 鈥淓thics, Aesthetics, and the Lyric鈥� by Charlottesville poet Gregory Orr Saturday morning, followed by a reading of his poetry. The conference will close with a Sunday morning meditation by Rudy Wiebe.

The festival program for conference registrants includes over seventy different presentations: readings, scholarly paper presentations, writing workshops, performances, book-signings, excursions and feasting. 鈥淥ur cup is full and running over when it comes to the program,鈥� said Beachy. 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 possibly see everything offered during the weekend, but you鈥檒l have a lot of great options. It鈥檚 a good reflection of the abundant and diverse voices coming out of Mennonite faith and culture.鈥�

The conference committee, co-chaired by Spicher Kasdorf, includes Mennonite writers and scholars from Bluffton, Goshen and 91短视频. Conrad Grebel University College (Waterloo, Ont.), co-sponsors the conference, and committee member of Conrad Grebel convened the first Mennonite writing conference there in 1990.

The conference is sponsored in part by the , the and the Marpeck Foundation.

For more information contact Kirsten Eve Beachy at kirsten.beachy@emu.edu. The full conference schedule and online registration can be found at .

Special rates are available for students and seniors.