Women’s Literature is honored

By JILL AHO

Women have been telling their stories through literature for a long time. Faculty, staff and students shared some of their favorite works written by women at noon Thursday in the Town and Gown Room.

Carol Foster, a supervisor in Steps to Success, said she chose to read from “Cogewea: The Half Blood” by Mourning Dove because she is also part Indian and Foster sees a mirror between her efforts to increase understanding among all people and the goals of the author and her character.

“I first became acquainted with Mourning Dove when looking for an interesting and engaging topic for my undergraduate history honor’s thesis in 1993,” said Foster.

Foster said she admired Mourning Dove because despite having a rough life, “she persisted in her mission to write her novel and have it published” with the goal of improving relationships between whites and Indians.

“The year that I spent learning about Mourning Dove and her dreams, desires and goals was one of the most wondrous journeys in my life,” Foster said.

Wendy Schissel, dean of humanities, said her choice to read from Margaret Atwood’s latest novel, “The Penelopiad,” was influenced by her Canadian background, her doctorate in Canadian literature and the use of Atwood’s work in Schissel’s dissertation.

“She has long fascinated me with very teachable books like “The Handmaid’s Tale” and ‘Oryx and Crake,’” Schissel said.

Atwood deals in mythopoeic writing, which Schissel explains is “rewriting of myths, legend, or literature and the figures in them.”

“The Penelopiad” is Penelope’s story from Homer’s epic “The Odyssey.” In Homer’s tale, Penelope waits faithfully for Odysseus to return, and when he does, he and his sons hang all of Penelope’s maids.

“Atwood tells the story through Penelope’s voice and through the voices of the twelve hanged maids,” said Schissel.

Gerry Barra, an English instructor, said she chose to read “My Sisters, O My Sisters” by May Sarton. Barra said, “I chose her because of this quote: ‘We have to dare to be ourselves, however frightening or strange that self may prove to be.’ I think the poem bears this out, and it is a timeless message,” said Barra.

Melissa Pirie, a program assistant in the Learning Assistance Center, said she chose to read from “Elegy for Francis,” a poem by Erica Jong, because “there are few modern examples of women who write from a very feminine perspective ­— a mother’s perspective, an environmental, sexual, holistic perspective.”

Pirie feels Jong’s work does this and “helps us define what a women’s role may be becoming.”

Jong is a modern feminist poet/writer whose work Pirie feels might not have been published a century ago, but deals with relevant issues, such as the “ongoing battle with gender roles and women’s roles in American society,” Pirie said.

These readers were among several men and women from the MHCC community who shared the works that they believed were motivational and challenging.

Two more events are left in the Women’s Herstory Celebration. On Tuesday a documentary titled “Mighty Times: The Legacy of Rosa Parks” will be shown from noon to 1 p.m. in Room AC 1600 Wednesday is International Women’s Day, and from noon to 1 p.m. in the Town and Gown Room, an open mic event will give participants the opportunity to share experiences, fashion, poetry and art.