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Stellfox Prize recipient Margaret Atwood charms campus community

by Mary Kate Skehan 鈥�12

鈥淲e wanted to invite someone about whom we can all say, 鈥榃ow!鈥欌�� Associate Professor of English Susan Perabo explained in her introduction to the Harold and Ethel L. Stellfox Visiting Scholars and Writers Program award. 鈥淎s in, 鈥榃ow! Margaret Atwood is sitting right there! Margaret Atwood! Wow!鈥欌��

Atwood, seated in the front row of the Anita Tuvin Schlecter Auditorium, became the seventh recipient of the Stellfox Prize on Nov. 29. After Perabo鈥檚 enthusiastic introduction, she received the award and read selections from her latest work of nonfiction, the memoir In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination, as well as her most recent novel, The Year of the Flood. Past winners of the Stellfox Prize include Richard Russo, Rita Dove, Maxine Kumin and Ian McEwan.

Atwood, a prolific writer, published her first book of poetry in 1966. Since, she has more than 50 titles to her name, including novels, poetry, short fiction, nonfiction, children鈥檚 books and a play. Some of her best-known works include the novels The Handmaid鈥檚 Tale and Alias Grace, and Booker Prize-winning work The Blind Assassin.  

Atwood鈥檚 residency at Dickinson produced no short supply of 鈥渨ow!鈥� During her time on campus, Atwood鈥檚 schedule included a public reading, a reception with students and faculty at the President鈥檚 House, a question-and-answer session, lunch with students, and teaching a class for advanced creative writing students.

Classrooms across campus buzzed with excitement about the visit. Atwood鈥檚 popular success ensured that many students across disciplines were familiar with her work. The English department sponsored a free screening of the film adaptation of Atwood鈥檚 novel The Handmaid鈥檚 Tale on Nov. 28  at the Carlisle Theatre. The next afternoon, literary societies Belles Lettres and the Literati hosted a discussion of The Year of the Flood, in preparation for Atwood鈥檚 reading. The English department provided free copies of the novel to students, and approximately 30 students participated. Belles Lettres president Emily Mininsohn 鈥�12 said her favorite aspect of Atwood鈥檚 visit was 鈥渢he way that so many English majors and people who like literature in general came together for the events leading up to [it].鈥�

Tuesday night鈥檚 reading, held in ATS, was the visit鈥檚 kickoff event. Atwood鈥檚 memoir selection played particularly well to the student-filled audience; with insight and self-deprecating humor, she explored the origins of her insatiable love of literature and her pursuit of its study through high school, college and beyond. 鈥淚 was really struck by her sense of humor,鈥� noted first-year economics major Paul Gaver. Atwood concluded the event with a song from The Year of the Flood, and she was met with enthusiastic participation when she turned the refrain over to the audience.

Perabo reports that while at lunch with about a dozen students on Wednesday, Atwood was particularly curious to learn about their tastes and interests. 鈥淪he asked questions like, 鈥榃hat are young people today worried about?鈥欌�� Perabo says, 鈥淵ou could see the wheels turning as the students answered, and I was thinking, this is all going to turn up somewhere, either in her fiction or her nonfiction.鈥�

English major and creative-writing minor Justin Taylor 鈥�13 attended Atwood鈥檚 public events as well as the class she taught and Wednesday afternoon lunch. He says the visit emphasized for him 鈥渢he importance of being a reader鈥攏ot just reading in general, but the importance of exploring different genres. It was obvious that Ms. Atwood still has a thirst for learning, no matter the field of study, and I admired that.鈥�

Atwood was drawn to visit Dickinson in part because of the legacy of the Stellfox prize. The prize honors Jean Louise Stellfox 鈥�60, whose interaction with visiting writer Robert Frost during her junior year inspired her to teach English. After 30 years at Shamokin Area Senior High School engendering love of literature in countless students, Stellfox bequeathed a $1.5-million gift to Dickinson to establish the program, named for her parents. In a preface to her reading, Atwood explained that she agreed to visit in part because of Stellfox鈥檚 moving story. Perabo reports that Atwood couldn鈥檛 get enough information about the inspirational teacher. 鈥淪he wanted to hear everything I knew about Jean Stellfox.鈥� Shortly after leaving, Atwood tweeted, 鈥淭he Jean Stellfox story is so touching,鈥� calling her an 鈥渁ngel English teacher.鈥�

In a gesture toward commemorating Stellfox鈥檚 contributions to the Shamokin community, five students from Shamokin Area High School came to campus during the visit to participate in the Q&A session and learn more about Stellfox and Dickinson. Also in attendance at Atwood鈥檚 reading were Mary Ann Stellfox Gray, Jean Stellfox鈥檚 cousin, and Todd Kerstetter 鈥�93, the attorney who helped to establish Stellfox鈥檚 gift.

Published January 2, 2012