Tag Archives: Events

Hungry? Bite into an edible book with UC Libraries

Posted on by

Celebrate books good enough to eat at the International Edible Books Festival April 1st

Once again, the University of Cincinnati Libraries will celebrate the International Edible Books Festival with an event scheduled for Tuesday, April 1, from 11 a.m. to noon on the 4th floor of the Walter C. Langsam Library.

At the event, over 20 participants will present edible creations inspired by an book. There are few restrictions in creating an edible book — namely that the creation be edible and have something to do with a book.

edible book

Popular books represented on screen and now as edible books will be “Dune,” “Bridgerton,” “Pride and Prejudice,” and “Twilight.” Numerous children’s books will make people smile with such titles as “Charlotte’s Web,” “Freckle Juice,” “Too Many Carrots,” “Black Hearts in Buttersea” and “Matilda.” Young Adult books have a presence this year with “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” and “Harry Potter.”  Animals are a theme this year with “Penguin Island” and “Dragons Love Tacos.” Both fiction, “The Silver Bone” and “White Teeth,” and non-fiction, “Eyes on the Prize” and “How Infrastructure Works: Inside Systems that Shape our World” are represented. See these delicious entries and more at the event.

As in past years, entries will be judged according to such categories as Most Literary, Most Delicious, Most Adorable and Most Gruesome. In addition, the Top Student Entry and Best Overall Entry will receive UC merch. After the entries are judged they will be consumed and enjoyed by all in attendance.

According to the International Edible Book Festival website, the edible book was initiated by librarian and artist Judith A. Hoffberg during a 1999 Thanksgiving celebration with book artists. It became an international celebration in 2000 when artist Béatrice Coron launched the Books2Eat website. Traditionally, the event is celebrated on April 1st (April Fools’ Day) to mark the birthday of Jean Anthelme Brillat-Savarin (1755-1826), a French lawyer and politician who became famous for his book, “Physiologie du gout” (The Physiology of Taste).

The Libraries International Edible Books Festival is free and open to the public. Following the event, pictures of the edible books and their awards will be posted on the Libraries Facebook page. Come to celebrate (and eat) “books good enough to eat.”

Come Get Some Ink on Your Hands at a Cheap Copies! Workshop

Posted on by

Before social media, even before xerox-copied zines and flyers, marginalized communities used simple copying techniques- hectography (gelatin printing) mimeography (stencil printing) and spirit duplication (alcohol transfers, also known as “ditto”)- to make their voices heard. From political activists struggling for independence in India to the early gay rights activists in New York City, and from the dissident writers of Samizdat (self publishing) in the Soviet Union to the striking migrant farm workers of Southern California, these analog copiers were used to spread the word through words and pictures in the 20th century.

Each year, librarian, zinester and lover of “arcane technologies” Rich Dana sets out across the US on a series of in-person workshops to demonstrate these low-cost techniques and how contemporary artists and writers can use them to publish editions of zines, chapbooks, prints, and flyers. The Archives and Rare Books Library and the Elliston Poetry Room are sponsoring Rich’s Cincinnati stop of his Obsolete Roadshow series on April 7, 2025.

Rich will present a hands-on workshop for UC students in the morning (sign up online or via the QR code below; space is limited to 25). In the afternoon, the public is invited to hear Rich talk about the history and use of the technologies and receive a hands-on experience, as well.

Both events will take place in the Elliston Poetry Room (Langsam Library 646). Come join us and get some ink on your hands!

rich dana workshop flyer

Join us March 12 for Poetry Stacked…and Live Art!

Posted on by

The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the next roster of poets for Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library.

At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, March 12 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:

  • Kari Gunter-Seymour is the Poet Laureate of Ohio and the author of three award-winning collections of poetry, including Dirt Songs (EastOver Press 2024) and Alone in the House of My Heart (Ohio University Swallow Press 2022). She is the executive director of the Women of Appalachia Project and editor of its anthology series Women Speak. Her work has been featured in a number of periodicals and journals including the American Book Review, Poem-a-Day, World Literature Today and The New York Times. Find her at www.karigunterseymourpoet.com.
  • Phoebe Reeves is professor of English at the University of Cincinnati Clermont College. She has three chapbooks of poetry, most recently The Flame of Her Will. Her first full length collection, Helen of Bikini was published in March 2023. She lives in Cincinnati with her husband Don, amidst her unruly urban garden.
  • Prince Bush is a poet from Nashville, TN whose poems appear in Cherry Tree, The Drift, The Cortland Review, Northwest Review and elsewhere. He received a fellowship from the Bucknell Seminar for Undergraduate Poets while earning his BA in English as an Erastus Milo Cravath Presidential Scholar at Fisk University. Currently a PhD student in Creative Writing at the University of Cincinnati as a Yates Fellow, Prince Bush earned his MFA in Creative Writing as a Truman Capote Literary Fellow from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop.
poets Kari Gunter-Seymour, Phoebe Reeves, Prince Bush
Continue reading →

Join us for the workshop The Visual Cento: Fonts of Inspiration

Posted on by

Join the University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room for a hands-on discussion & workshop about creating visual cento poetry.

Dior Stephens, poet and PhD graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, will kick things off with an introduction of the cento form. Katie Foran-Mulcahy, librarian and head of the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services Library, will provide an overview of library collections and how to navigate the stacks before sending participants to explore and collect lines and possible visual elements from various texts. D.J. Trischler, assistant professor of communication design at UC’s Ullman School of Design in the College of Design, Architecture, Art and Planning will then talk about found art as the canvas and give tips on how to use text and images to express meaning.

This will culminate in participants creating their own cento poetry – no prior experience required.

The event is free and open to all to attend.

the visual cento: fonts of inspiration

Join us Feb. 12 for an afternoon of poetry at the next Poetry Stacked

Posted on by

The University of Cincinnati Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room announce the next roster of poets for Poetry Stacked, a semi-regular poetry reading series held in the 6th floor east stacks of the Walter C. Langsam Library.

At the next event, scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 12 at 4:30pm, three poets will read their original work:

poets Aditi Machado, Abigail Rudibaugh and Whitney Hendrix

Aditi Machado is the author of three books of poetry, most recently Material Witness from Nightboat; a novel translation from the French; and several pamphlets of nonfiction prose and poetry. Soon-to-be published works include a book-length translation of Swiss poet Baptiste Gaillard’s In the Realm of Motes and the collaborative mistranslation project Ancient Algorithms headed by Katrine Øgaard Jensen. Machado is an Associate Professor at UC and an Advisory Poetry Editor at The Paris Review.

Abigail Rudibaugh is a writer and teacher. Her writing has been published in Pensworth Literary Journal, Noble Pursuit Magazine, and Fathom Magazine. Abigail holds a Masters of Arts in Teaching through the Ohio Writing Project at Miami University as well as a Masters of Fine Arts in Poetry through Sena Jeter Naslund-Karen Mann Graduate School of Writing at Spalding University. She calls Cincinnati, Ohio home with her husband and two daughters.

Whitney Hendrix is an undergraduate senior at the University of Cincinnati. Raised in a small conservative town in Northeast Ohio, she much enjoys the Cincinnati student lifestyle. She will graduate this Spring with degrees in English Creative Writing and Film and Media Studies. Whitney mainly writes poetry but is inspired by all genres and forms of storytelling. Her work explores themes of identity, the mundane every day, memory, and childhood. Most of Whitney’s literary inspiration comes from her dream journal and her favorite fiction novelist Ottessa Moshfegh. 

Continue reading →

UC Libraries Closed Monday, Jan. 20 for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

Posted on by

The University of Cincinnati Libraries will be closed Monday, Jan. 20 in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The Libraries will resume normal hours on Tuesday, Jan. 21.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King, Jr. from LIFE Magazine

This Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, we invite you to join the Libraries Racial Equity, Support & Programming to Educate the Community Team (RESPECT) in commemorating this civil rights legend by checking out these library resources. In addition, just when you thought you knew everything there was to know about Martin Luther King, Jr., History.com has compiled a list of 10 surprising facts that you probably didn’t know. For example, Martin Luther King, entered Morehouse College at the tender age of only 15!

Health Sciences Library celebrates opening of The Anatomy Learning Lab with two events scheduled in January

Posted on by

The Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library announces the opening of The Anatomy Learning Lab to enhance the study of the human body. Located on the E level of the library, the 10 specimens placed throughout the space provide the opportunity for close study of torsos, a hand, foot, kidneys and other body systems. The specimens coupled with the Sectra Virtual Anatomy Table, also located in the space, provide an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the structural and functional complexities of the human body.

To celebrate the opening of The Anatomy Learning Lab, the Health Sciences Library is holding two events:

Open House

Thursday, January 16, 3:30-5pm
Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library – E Level

Brief remarks by: Dr. Gregory Postel, senior vice president of health affairs and dean of the College of Medicine; and
Liz Kiscaden, dean and university librarian

Lunch & Learn

Human Anatomical Models: History & Development of Plastination

Thursday, January 23, 11:30am
Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library – The Anatomy Learning Lab, E Level

RSVP requested.

lunch and learn invite

Dr. Efrain Miranda, CEO of Clinical Anatomy Associates, Inc. will review the history of three-dimensional models to study anatomy, including wax models, paper mâché models and other techniques and materials, culminating with the present, utilizing 3D computer-based systems and plastination.

Both events are open to all to attend in the Donald C. Harrison Health Sciences Library, 231 Albert Sabin Way.

Cento as Form: Poetry found in the stacks

Posted on by

Join UC Libraries and the Elliston Poetry Room for a hands-on discussion and workshop about creating Cento poetry.

Thursday, Nov. 14, 6:30pm

Elliston Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library

Katie Foran-Mulcahy, librarian and head of the College of Education, Criminal Justice and Human Services Library, will begin the event with an overview of library collections. She will instruct how to navigate the stacks and then give directions on how to proceed with a scavenger hunt to find resources to collect lines from various texts.

Dior Stephens, poet and PhD graduate student in the College of Arts and Sciences, will then lead participants in a workshop to create their own Cento poem. Dior will introduce the Cento form, its history and creative potential, and explain that participants can use lines from any genre of books they find in the stacks to create their own poems.

The event is free and open to all to attend. Come to learn about and create a Cento poem.

cento as form flyer

Learn about Archives & Rare Books highlights at an Open House October 21st

Posted on by

The Archives & Rare Books (ARB) Library is hosting an Open House, Monday, Oct. 21 from 1-3:30pm on the 8th floor of Blegen Library.

open house graphic

Attendees to the Open House can enjoy refreshments and door prizes as they view collection highlights, recent acquisitions and “spooky” books. Library staff will be on hand to meet and greet and ARB’s growing digitization space will be available for viewing.

The Archives and Rare Books Library acquires, processes, preserves and provides access to the University’s Rare Books collection, University Archives, Local Government records, Urban Studies collection and German-Americana collection.

The Open House is free and open to all.