March 2014 Archives

March 7, 2014

Writers from seven countries awarded $150,000 Yale prize

The Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library at Yale has announced the winners of the Windham Campbell Literature Prizes. This year’s recipients illustrate the global scale of the prizes, with the eight winning writers hailing from seven countries. The winners in the three categories — fiction, non-fiction, and drama — will receive $150,000 each in recognition of their achievements and to support their ongoing work.

The 2014 prizewinners are: in fiction, Aminatta Forna (Sierra Leone), Nadeem Aslam (Pakistan), and Jim Crace (United Kingdom); in non-fiction, Pankaj Mishra (India) and John Vaillant (United States/Canada); and in drama, Kia Corthron (United States), Sam Holcroft (United Kingdom) and Noëlle Janaczewska (Australia).

The writers didn’t know that they had been nominated, and their responses to winning the prizes ran the gamut from shock to gratitude. It was Donald Windham’s wish to support writers by giving them the time and financial independence to write. Aminatta Forna, a Sierra Leonean novelist based in the United Kingdom, said as much when she learned that she had won the prize.

“The Windham Campbell Prize offers a writer what we most crave — time to write, free from deadlines, financial pressures, the expectations of others,” said Forna. “It is a wonderful idea, a gesture of remarkable generosity, and in the current climate — when the pursuit of fiction faces so many challenges — very welcome indeed.”

British playwright Sam Holcroft, the youngest of the prizewinners at age 31, was quite emotional when she learned she had won.

“I’m stunned, overwhelmed — and frankly, slightly unhinged — to be named as a recipient of the Windham Campbell Prize,” said Holcroft. “Realizing that I can put away the applications for temping jobs, and devote all my time to writing — it’s genuinely life-changing, and I’m indescribably grateful.”

Pakistani novelist Nadeem Aslam’s lyrical response was: “Artists are moths, chewing holes in the robes of the powerful and the unjust. My work is a private response to the world I live in, so when readers agree with what I have written I am deeply grateful because it makes me feel less alone.”

All eight writers will accept the prize in person at a ceremony at Yale on September 15, 2014. The ceremony will be followed by a three-day literary festival celebrating the work of the prize recipients.

“I can’t think of a more appropriate setting to announce the winners of a global literary prize than here at Yale’s Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library,” said Yale President Peter Salovey, who announced the winners. “It is one of the great monuments to human intellectual achievement in the world, and I feel certain our prizewinners will one day add their inscriptions to it.”

For biographies and photos of the eight prizewinners, visit the Windham Campbell website at: http://windhamcampbell.org/

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 7, 2014 11:16 AM

Sterling Memorial Library nave restoration heads towards completion

A major milestone in the restoration of the gothic-style entrance nave to Sterling Memorial Library occurred in January when the project passed the halfway point. Much of the restoration work has taken place out of sight, since the project began in June of 2013, behind a specially constructed pedestrian tunnel.

All of the stonewalls and decorative ceilings have been cleaned and repaired. The large stained glass windows have also been restored, with portions of the most at-risk windows going off-campus for repairs to a specialist stained glass studio.

All of these activities have resulted in a much more vibrant nave, in which the colorful ceilings, intricate stone carvings, and monumental windows will delight and awe viewers. Less noticeable work has occurred behind the scenes, as new heating and cooling systems have been installed and new furnishings for readers and staff have been selected.

Two major parts of the project will continue during the spring: the restoration of the prominent Alma Mater mural above the circulation desk, and the cleaning and repair of the decorative woodwork that fills the nave at floor-level. A newly constructed service desk for the north aisle of the nave and a reconfigured security and welcome desk at the High Street entrance are being built to complement the original woodwork nearby. Although work in the side aisles will continue throughout the summer, the pedestrian tunnel is anticipated to come down in June, which will reveal the restored nave for the first time. All parts of the nave will reopen to users in August, just in time for the beginning of the new semester, and opening celebrations are being planned for the fall. The SML nave is being restored thanks to a generous gift from Richard Gilder ’54 and his wife, Lois Chiles.

To see photographs from behind the scenes: http://www.flickr.com/photos/sml-naverestoration/sets/

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 7, 2014 3:21 PM

March 18, 2014

A Lunchtime Musical Revue for "A Cure for What Ails You: Songs from the Medical Library’s Sheet Music Collection"

Wednesday, April 2, 2014 12:00–1:00pm
The Medical Historical Library in the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library
333 Cedar Street, New Haven, CT 06510

Come to the Medical Historical Library for a live musical revue of selections from our exhibit “A Cure for What Ails You.” Bring your lunches into the Medical Historical Library and enjoy wonderful vocals with instrumental accompaniment. Songs range from rag time and art song to rock and country music and will be performed by Medical and Music Library staff and doctors from the Medical School. Selections include Loretta Lynn's "The Pill" and Irving Berlin’s “They’ve Got Me Doing It Now.”

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 18, 2014 12:27 PM

Hot Spots: Highlights from the Jazz Collections in the Gilmore Music Library

A new exhibit is now on view in the Irving S. Gilmore Music Library, located in Sterling Memorial Library.

Most of the Music Library’s holdings come from the classical tradition, but it is also a world-renowned center of jazz research. The Library is the home of the papers of the “King of Swing,” Benny Goodman, as well as numerous other jazz figures, such as Mel Powell, Eddie Sauter, Slam Stewart, Red Norvo, and John Hammond. It also holds individual manuscripts by Duke Ellington, Artie Shaw, Fats Waller, and Glenn Miller. Hot Spots features a selection of these treasures, along with photographs of jazz luminaries from the papers of Stanley Dance and Helen Oakley Dance and Fred Plaut.

The exhibit will be on view until August 15th. It is free and open to the public.

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 18, 2014 12:29 PM

March 19, 2014

Hard Chairs, Bad Coffee, Top Secret Documents: Why I Love Working in Post-Communist Archives

Tuesday, April 1, 2014 3:30 pm
Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall

Anne Applebaum is a columnist for the Washington Post and Slate, and a historian of Central and Eastern Europe. She is the author of several books including Gulag: A History, which won the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, as well as Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe, 1945-1956 which won the Cundill Prize for Historical Literature.

The Harvey M. Applebaum '59 Award is conferred annually upon a Yale College senior for an outstanding essay based on research in the Yale University Library's government documents collections. The deadline for 2014 Applebaum Award submissions is April 21, 2014; for more information, please see http://guides.library.yale.edu/Applebaum.

A reception will follow the talk. All are welcome.

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 19, 2014 2:58 PM

March 21, 2014

A Lewis Walpole Library exhibition brochure wins a design award

The Lewis Walpole Library's recent exhibit, Dancing on a Sunny Plain: The Life of Annie Burr Auchincloss Lewis exhibition catalog has won the 2014 Katharine Kyes Leab and Daniel J. Leab “American Book Prices Current” Exhibition Award for Best exhibition catalog, division three. It was designed by Rebecca Martz and edited by Lesley K. Baier in the Office of the University Printer at Yale and written by Susan Walker, librarian at the Lewis Walpole Library.

According to the chair of the award committee, “the charming design and look of this catalog is a lovely example of a donor tribute catalog – Anne Burr Lewis was the wife of a major Yale figure and donor to the Walpole Library, Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis. Perfectly appropriate to the subject, the small, rectangular booklet format holds nicely in the hand with an intimate feel to it while reflecting the gentle personality of its subject. The excellent choice of typefaces makes the catalog very readable and attractive, with a good use of white space. Evocative of the 1920’s when Anne Burr Lewis was a young woman, the reproductions of watercolors are visually beautiful while the use of color and design sense is evident on every page.”

Other winners and commentary can be seen at: http://www.ala.org/news/press-releases/2014/03/2014-rbms-leab-exhibition-award-winners

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 21, 2014 12:39 PM

March 25, 2014

Sam Chauncey and John Wilkinson: A Conversation on Yale and May Day 1970

April 8th, 4pm Sterling Memorial Library Lecture Hall

Moderated by Judith Schiff, Chief Research Archivist at Yale University Library, this panel will reflect on the university’s role in the era of student activism and the Black Panthers. It coincides with the exhibition currently on view in Sterling Memorial Library's Memorabilia Room, “Bulldog and Panther: The 1970 May Day Rally and Yale", on display until May 16. The event is being sponsored by the Yale Library Associates.

Henry "Sam" Chauncey, Jr. BA '57, was President Kingman Brewster’s assistant, in charge of Yale’s relationship with the New Haven Police and other government entities in the period of the Panther trial and May Day. In 1972 he was made Secretary of the University. Later he left Yale to start Science Park and then became President of Gaylord Hospital outside New Haven, but returned in 1995 to revitalize the Health Management Program at the School of Public Health.

John Wilkinson BA '60, '63 MAT is the former Dean of Students at Yale University. He left in 1974 as Associate Dean of Yale College and Dean of Undergraduate Affairs to head the Hopkins School. President Bart Giamatti brought him back in 1979 as Vice President for Development and then Secretary of the University in 1981.

All are welcome!

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 25, 2014 12:14 PM

Archives, Satellite Imagery & Everything in Between: Reflections on Data Management in Political Science

Thursday, April 3, 9:30-11:00am
Center for Science & Social Science Stat Lab, 219 Prospect St., New Haven, CT 06511

Jason Lyall, Associate Professor, Dept. of Political ScienceDescription: Archives, Satellite Imagery, and Everything in Between: Reflections on Data Management in Political Science Jason Lyall, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, Yale University Jason Lyall will discuss the collection, processing, analysis, and security of data used in his projects exploring violence and conflict in Afghanistan and Chechnya, and how, as an individual researcher, he uses archives and partnerships with others to advance research in his field.

This talk is part of the Day of Data Spring Discussion Series. Hosted by the Data & eScience Group, the series offers talks on tools and workflows for effectively carrying out research projects. The projects discussed in this Spring series range from the experience of a single researcher to a system intended to facilitate sharing across multiple institutions, and will focus on data collection, security, data standards, partnerships, and more, with plenty of time for discussion of specific problems, issues, and areas of interest.

Posted by Amanda Patrick on March 25, 2014 3:13 PM