The Neihardt Foundation offers another excellent conference on Saturday, April 24th at the Neihardt State Historic Site in Bancroft, Nebraska. This year’s participating scholars are all authors and educators, each with much experience in creating short stories as was Neihardt. Although renowned as Nebraska’s Poet Laureate in Perpetuity, many of Neihardt’s earliest published works consisted of over 35 short stories based on traditional tales and accounts of historical events and incidents he heard from Omaha Indian men, traders, railroad workers, farmers, and others living on the Great Plains. Some ring of tall tales, some of tragedies, some of heroism, and some of the metaphysical.
This year’s program combines an academic approach with a close and personal look at the work of writers from different racial-ethnic groups to examine the inspirations, development, and strength of the short story as a medium to convey complex scenarios in masterfully crafted writing.
The featured speakers all share some renown as both writers and teachers. James Work, Professor Emeritus of English at Colorado State University has made many appearances at Neihardt conferences as a dramatic theater reader of Neihardt’s “Song of Three Friends” and a paper on the mountain man Mike Fink. He will address the accepted formula for writing short story and examine whether Neihardt’s short stories, all written between 1907 and 1911, followed that prescription. This will lay the groundwork for hearing from three other well-known short story authors. Karen Gettert Shoemaker, Creative Writing faculty at UN – Omaha, will speak on “creating the types of stories I loved to read.” Two speakers will explore the diversity of ethnic and racial perspectives in the genre. Linda Hogan is a Chickasaw from Oklahoma whose father was born in Nebraska. She has written novels, scripts for PBS, books of poetry, and non-fiction essays, as well as short stories. Environmental, spiritual, and human rights issues are prominent in her work and she will focus on placing historical and contemporary issues into the short story format. Ricardo Garcia is a poet, fiction writer, and accomplished storyteller. He teaches the art of storytelling at a variety of venues; as he says “anywhere anybody will listen.” His focus will be on universal truths told with humor and clarity from ethnic perspectives. Moderator for the day will be Neil Harrison, Dean of Language Arts at Northeast Community College and the Outside Evaluator will be Lisa Sandlin, Creative Writing instructor at UNO.
Registration for the conference can be made by mail, phone, or e-mail. Cost is $20 per person pre-registered, $25 at the door, and $15 for students. Lunch reservations at $8 must be made by April 20th. The conference day begins at 8:30 AM with the first presentations beginning at 9:00 and ends at 4:30 PM. Lunch will be served at The Country Pub, 409 Main Street. Presenters’ books will be available for sale and signing. Funding for the conference has been provided by the Neihardt Foundation, the Nebraska Humanities Council, Cuming County Visitors Bureau, and Wayne State College School of Arts and Humanities. To register, call 402-648-3388 or toll free 1-888-777-4667; on-line: Neihardt@gpcom.net; by mail: PO Box 344, Bancroft, NE 68004. The Neihardt State Historic Site is located at 306 West Elm Street, Bancroft, Nebraska and is a branch museum of the Nebraska State Historical Society.
