UC Davis experts: Literature

The following UC Davis faculty members are available to speak on topics related to the literature. If you need information on a topic not listed, please contact Claudia Morain at the UC Davis News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu.

Politics and film adaptations

• Censorship, freedom of expression
• Law and politics
• Film adaptations of novels

Children's literature

• Poetry for and by children
• Mark Twain on kids
• Children's literature

Ethnic and foreign literature

• African American literature
• Asian masculinity, family roles
• Latino poetry
• Mexican indigenous writers
• Mexican cultural critic Carlos Monsiváis

POLITICS AND FILM ADAPTATIONS

Censorhip, freedom of expression

Challenging books is a pervasive American response to literature that deals with sex, race, homosexuality and other uncomfortable subjects, says UC Davis English professor Don Abbott, who specializes in freedom-of-expression issues. "There is this impulse in American society to challenge literature because some groups want to prohibit people from reading certain books, which is a violation of the First Amendment," Abbott says. Among the most challenged books these days are those in the Harry Potter series, because they deal with wizardry and magic, Abbott points out. However, a perennial favorite book to ban has been "Huckleberry Finn," because of its presumably racist message and language. Most of the challenged books have received recognition as good or even great literature, Abbott says. Contact: Don Abbott, English, (530) 752-6097, dpabbott@ucdavis.edu.

Law and politics

Nancy Morrow, a lecturer in English and humanities at UC Davis, teaches and writes on the representation of law and justice in literature and film, especially on the ways that issues of race, gender and class are treated in "legal fictions." She also examines discourse about the family in law, literature, and film. Her work focuses on adaptation of novels into film and differences between the two genres. She also writes on the ways in which the media shape and disseminate political discourse. Contact: Nancy Morrow, English, (530) 754-6270, nvmorrow@ucdavis.edu.

Film adaptations of novels

UC Davis English lecturer Pamela Demory can talk about how "The Hours" and "Adaptation," both up for 2003 Academy Award nominations, were particularly good examples of the key problems and implications of adapting literature into film. "Both of these films end up commenting on the very mechanism of adaptation and of re-telling narratives," she says. Demory writes and teaches about adaptations of classic English and American novels, such as those by Jane Austen or the Merchant/Ivory productions of E.M. Forster. Most recently she has been working on a study of "Apocalypse ow Redux" and its relationship to Joseph Conrad's "Heart of Darkness." Contact: Pamela Demory, English, (530) 752-9535, phdemory@ucdavis.edu.

CHILDREN'S LITERATURE

Poetry for and by children

Poet and educator Francisco X. Alarcón of UC Davis can talk about how to reach children's creative center through poetry. Winner of numerous national awards for his seasonal poems, Alarcón writes bilingual poems about the Hispanic American experience for children. His children's books include "Jitomatoes Risueñas" ("Laughing Tomatoes") and "From the Bellybutton of the Moon." A teacher of college Spanish composition, Alarcón also wrote a best-selling high-school textbook on Spanish for Spanish speakers. He gives poetry workshops to elementary-school children and their parents throughout California. Contact: Francisco X. Alarcón, (fluent in Spanish) Spanish, (530) 752-1022, fjalarcon@ucdavis.edu.

Mark Twain on kids

UC Davis English professor and Mark Twain scholar Linda Morris can talk about "Tom Sawyer" and "Prince and the Pauper" in relationship to Twain's career and how the two books were representative of changing tastes and expectations for children and adolescent literature. Morris can also discuss the representation of boys vs. girls in the late 19th century and universal themes found in the stories, such as the need for a future leader to go through trials and childhood fears and fantasies. Morris' teaching and research areas are late 19th-century American literature, Mark Twain, American humor and African-American literature. Contact: Linda Morris, English, (530) 752-1696, lamorris@ucdavis.edu.

Children's literature

John Boe, an English lecturer at UC Davis, can talk about the range of children's literature from Mother Goose to "Alice in Wonderland" and Harry Potter, with special focus on story telling. Boe has taught children's literature courses for nearly 30 years, 20 years at UC Davis. He is a writer, editor, teacher and storyteller, and his books include "Life Itself: Messiness Is Next to Goddessness and Other Essays," which includes essays on children's literature, and "Your Joke Is in the E-Mail." Contact: John Boe, English, jdboe@ucdavis.edu, (530) 752-4170.

Ethnic and foreign literature

African American literature

Black Southern masculinity and blackness in global contexts are among the topics that English assistant professor Riche Richardson studies. She is currently working on a study titled "Masculinity, Black Identity and the South: From Uncle Tom to Gangsta." Richardson's overall research and teaching interests include African American and American literature, cultural studies and feminism. Contact: Riche Richardson, English, (530) 752-4295, GENDER AND CULTURE -- Black Southern masculinity and blackness in global contexts are among the topics that English assistant professor Riche Richardson studies. She is currently working on a study titled "Masculinity, Black Identity and the South: From Uncle Tom to Gangsta." Richardson' s overall research and teaching interests include african american and american literature, cultural studies and feminism. contact: riche richardson, english, (530) 752-4295, rrichardson@ucdavis.edu.

Asian masculinity, family roles

Wendy Ho, associate professor in Asian American studies and women and gender studies, examines the constructions of masculinity in literatures by Asian American male writers. She is exploring their engagements with often conflicting concepts of masculinity in mainstream and historically marginalized racial-ethnic communities of the United States. Her earlier book "In Her Mother's House: The Politics of Asian American Mother-Daughter Writing" includes a discussion of the relationships of fathers and daughters in the work of Chinese American women writers. Contact: Wendy Ho, Asian American Studies, (530) 752-3625, waho@ucdavis.edu.

Latino poetry

Francisco X. Alarcón, Spanish lecturer and national award-winning bilingual poet, can talk about gay and lesbian Latino poetry and bilingual children's poetry. He is compiling an anthology titled Boca a Boca / Mouth to Mouth: A Gay Latino Poetry Anthology to be published by the University of California Press. Alarcón is the author of 10 volumes of poetry, including Snake Poems: An Aztec Invocation (San Francisco: Chronicle Books, 1992), De amor oscuro / Of Dark Love (Santa Cruz: Moving Parts Press, 1991 and 2001), Body in Flames / Cuerpo en llamas (Chronicle Books, l990). His volumes of bilingual children's poetry have garnered three Pura Belpré Honor Awards from the American Library Association and the National Parenting Publications Gold Medal. He has been a recipient of the Danforth and Fulbright fellowships, and has been awarded several literary prizes, including the 1998 Carlos Pellicer-Robert Frost Poetry Honor Award by the Third Binational Border Poetry Contest. Contact: Francisco Alarcon, Spanish, (fluent in Spanish) (530) 752-1022, fjalarcon@ucdavis.edu.

Mexican indigenous writers

Inés Hernández-Avila's scholarship and creative work focuses on cultural/intellectual connections between Chicanas, Native American women and indigenous women of Mexico. The professor of Native American studies is also known for her work on issues of identity and representation in relation to indigenismo (being indigenous) and mestizaje (being of mixed race) in the Chicana/o community. Her current projects include a book looking at the roots of "danza Azteca" in the United States in the Conchero dance tradition of Mexico and another on a national movement of native writers in indigenous languages in Mexico known as Escritores en Lenguas Indigenas or Writers of Indigenous Languages. Hernandez-Avila directs the UC Davis Chicana/Latina Research Center and is a member of the UC Committee on Latino Research and a poet. She is affiliated with the Nez-Perce Nation. Contact: Ines Hernandez-Avila (fluent in Spanish), Native American Studies, (530) 752-4394, ighernandez@ucdavis.edu.

Mexican cultural critic Carlos Monsiváis

For the past 40 years, "new journalists" like Joan Didion, Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe have brought a personal literary approach to reporting that changed how the public interprets the news. However, maybe the best of the bunch isn’t from the United States but Mexico, says the author of "Carlos Monsiváis: Culture and Chronicle in Contemporary Mexico." UC Davis Spanish assistant professor and former journalist Linda Egan says Monsiváis has become Mexico’s national conscience. He built a reputation through five collections of lierary journalism chronicles, beginning with "Dias de Guardar" in 1970. Mexicans are also familiar with Monsiváis through a weekly newspaper column he published for decades in the capital’s most prestigious cultural supplements and dailies. Media contacts: Linda Egan, Spanish, (fluent in Spanish) (530) 752-1035, ldegan@ucdavis.edu.

Media contacts:

• Claudia Morain, News Service, (530) 752-9841, cmmorain@ucdavis.edu

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