Eye On Literature

Podcast #36 - Shakespeare and The Globe

2010-07-31T14:09:00.001-07:00

In 1599, the first Globe Theatre was completed on the south bank of the Thames River. William Shakespeare, along with three other actors, bought a share in the Globe. It stood for 14 years and presented many of Shakespeare’s greatest plays. During a performance of Henry VIII in 1614, a stage cannon ignited the thatched roof and the theatre burned to the ground. However, it was quickly rebuilt and continued to present plays until the Puritans shut down all theaters in London in 1642. It was demolished in 1644.

The American actor Sam Wanamaker initiated the rebuilding of Shakespeare’s Globe after his first visit to London in 1949. Workers began construction in 1993 on the new theatre near the original site. The latest Globe Theatre was completed in 1996; Queen Elizabeth II officially opened the theatre on June 12, 1997 with a production of Henry V.

In 1596, a Dutch student by the name of Johannes de Witt attended a play in London at the Swan Theatre. While there, de Witt made a drawing of the theatre's interior. A friend, Arend van Buchell, copied this drawing. The sketch is the only surviving contemporary rendering of the interior of an Elizabethan-era public theatre. As such, it's the closest thing historians have to an original picture of what the Globe may have looked like, seating 1,500 people between the galleries and the "groundlings."

In addition, there are suggestive descriptions included in the plays themselves, such as the famous Chorus, which begins Henry V: ‘And shall this cockpit hold the vasty fields of France / Or may we cram within this wooden ‘O’...’

The Globe itself was not a truly circular building. An archaeological excavation of the Rose Theatre in 1989 revealed that the Elizabethan playhouses were polygonal buildings. In the same year, a small portion of the Globe itself was excavated and revealed that it was a 20-sided building with a diameter of 100 feet.

For more information about the Globe, click here

View the video tour of the Globe Theatre and Exhibition:

Podcast #35 - The Poetry of Pablo Neruda - a bilingual podcast

2010-02-28T06:27:00.001-08:00

Born Neftali Ricardo Reyes Basoalto in Southern Chile on July 12, 1904, he published his first book, Crepusculario (Twilight), under the pen name Palbo Neruda because his family did not approve of his writing. The publication of his second book made Neruda famous and launched him on a long and distinguished career, culminating with the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. Neruda died on September 23, 1973. He is generally recognized as one of the greatest Latin American poets.

For more on Neruda's life and work, click on these links:

The Nobel Prize Laureates (with additional links)
Biography from Emory University
The Paris Review Interview (download the PDF file)

Podcast #35 - The Poetry of Pablo Neruda - features a discussion with Nicolas Mansito. Nicolas describes himself as a Cuban-Colombian-American and works across the English and Spanish Languages. His first book entitled 3rd & 7th is a collection of experimental poetry produced through constraint writing. Nicolas' work has also appeared in several literary magazines. He is an Assistant Professor of English at Broward College.

The two poems covered by this podcast are: "Inclinado en las Tardes..." (Leaning into the Afternoon-translated by W.S. Merwin) and "Solo la Muerte" (Nothing but Death-translated by Robert Bly).

To listen to the podcast, click here

Podcast #34 - F.Scott Fitzgerald's "Bernice Bobs Her Hair"

2010-02-11T12:41:00.000-08:00

Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born in St. Paul, Minnesota, on September 24, 1896, a distant cousin of the author of the National Anthem. He graduated from Princeton University in 1917. In 1920, the publication of his first novel This Side of Paradise made the 24 year-old Fitzgerald famous almost overnight, and a week later he married Zelda Sayre in New York. He and his wife Zelda became symbols of the Jazz Age, a term coined by Fitzgerald.

His most enduring novel The Great Gatsby was published in April of 1925. Fitzgerald died of a heart attack on December 21, 1940. In 1948, Zelda Fitzgerald died in a fire at Highland Hospital where she had been institutionalized.

For more on Fitzgerald, check out these links:

http://www.pbs.org/kteh/amstorytellers/bios.html

http://www.fscottfitzgeraldsociety.org/biography/index.html

"Bernice Bobs Her Hair" first appeared in the Saturday Evening Post (1 May 1920) and was later published as part of the short story collection Flappers and Philosophers. It shares a theme with many of his novels: the drive for social status and acceptance by young people during the Jazz Age. The story was based on a letter Fitzgerald wrote to his younger sister, Annabel, advising her how to achieve popularity with boys: "Cultivate deliberate physical grace."

Fitzgerald cut three thousand words from the original version of the story and rewrote it to: "inject a snappy climax."

Podcast # 34 - "Bernice Bobs Her Hair" features Special Guest Speaker Professor Christopher Johnston of Broward College. Professor Johnston received his PhD. in American Studies from Bowling Green University in Ohio.

Click here to listen to the podcast

Podcast #33 - William Blake's "The Tyger"

2010-01-26T16:35:00.000-08:00

William Blake
(1757–1827)
William Blake was born in London, in 1757. Although he had little formal education, he made his living with his engravings and watercolors.

In 1789, he published his book of engravings and poems entitled Songs of Innocence and a few years later, in 1794, he followed with Songs of Experience which included “The Tyger.” Blake was part of London’s intellectual circle though he was often labeled as eccentric and delusional. Among the recurring themes of his work were: good and evil, heaven and hell, knowledge and innocence. Blake was ahead of his time and spoke out in favor of sexual and racial equality, rejecting the teachings of conventional religion. Blake's work was not generally recognized by his contemporaries but today he is considered an important and unique talent of the English Romantic Period. He influenced many writers and artists as diverse as Aldous Huxley, Jim Morrison of The Doors, and the film director Jim Jarmusch.

Here are some links to more information about William Blake and his work:

http://www.vu.union.edu/~blake/life.html

http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/bailey/blake.htm

http://www.duke.edu/web/secmod/biographies/Blake.pdf

For an introduction to Blake's poem "The Tyger" watch the You Tube video:

Podcast #32 - Fathers and Sons in Hamlet

2009-09-14T08:17:00.000-07:00

Shakespeare's Hamlet is a revenge play, but throughout the play we get a clear picture of the character of Hamlet as a man who sees his duty before him but who shirks it at every opportunity. Part of his dilemma is that he knows that the murder of his father was wrong, but he also realizes that vengeance is wrong.

There are 3 sets of fathers and sons in Hamlet: King Hamlet and Prince Hamlet, King Fortinbras and Prince Fortinbras, and Polonius and Laertes. Both Laetres and Prince Fortinbras serve as foils for Hamlet. That is, they provide a contrast to Hamlet and his character and behavior.

Podcast #31 The Mayan City of Chichen Itza

2009-03-04T11:26:00.000-08:00

Chichen Itza is a Mayan City on the Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico. It was established hundreds of years before the arrival of Christopher Columbus and most likely served as the religious center of the Yucatan.

Today it is the second most visited site of Mexico and is one of the New Seven Wonders of the World. The ruins include the Kukulkan pyramid which is also known as “El Castillo” (the castle).

The Maya originated around 3,000 years ago in present-day Central America and Mexico. The Mayan empire flourished in the southern regions from around 250 AD to 900 AD. The empire in the south collapsed around 900 AD, but the northern Maya thrived until the Spanish conquests of the 16th century AD.

The Maya were skilled farmers and created a sophisticated written language. They also carried on trade throughout a network of cities that went as far south as Panama and as far north as Central Mexico. They developed a number system which included the concept of zero and used their mathematical knowledge along with celestial observations to develop a sophisticated calendar and to create monuments to observe and commemorate movements of the moon, the sun, and Venus. Several of these monuments can still be seen at Chichen Itza today.

In the summer of 2008, we visited Chichen Itza. You can view a short video tour we created for Eye On Literature.

Click here for the Quick Time version

Click here for the IPod version

Podcast #30 - Poetry and the Writing Process with Michael Minassian

2009-01-27T12:48:00.000-08:00

In this podcast recorded in the Summer of 2008, Professor Gary Kay and I talk about the writing process and poetry. During our discussion, I read three of my published poems and we talked about the evolution and background of each poem. The poem "Crazy Jane..." was workshopped at a 1999 Poetry Conference in Sante Fe, New Mexico. The leader of that workshop was a poet and editor named Robert McDowell. You can visit Robert's website and sign up for his Free Poetry Mentor Newsletter at:

Robert McDowell

During this podcast I also mentioned the writer Julia Cameron, author of The Artist's Way and several other excellent books on creativity and writing. You can find out more at:

The Artist's Way

Here is a video of our discussion

You can also hear us discuss a fourth poem entitled "The Arboriculturist" at my blog:

Michael Minassian

In an earlier podcast from 2008, I discussed the Robert Frost Poetry Festival in Key West. This year's festival will be held in April 2009. For more information click on the link:

Robert Frost Poetry Festival

Podcast #29 - In Search of Literary San Antonio

2008-10-30T11:11:00.000-07:00

In July of 2008, my wife and I visited friends San Antonio, Texas. While we were there, my friend, Tom Davis a professor at San Antonio College, helped me track down three literary sites in San Antonio. The first two locations we visited were the residences of Robert Frost and his family members during the winter of 1936-37. Frost and his wife decided to take a break from their winters in Key West, Florida when his daughter moved to Mexico. However, due to an unusually harsh winter, Frost decided not to return to San Antonio after that year.

Robert Frost was born in San Francisco in 1874 and moved to Lawrence, Massachusetts. He was enrolled at Dartmouth College in 1892, and later spent some time at Harvard His first professional poem, "My Butterfly," was published on November 8, 1894, in the New York newspaper The Independent. In 1895, Frost married Elinor Miriam White and together moved to England in 1912. While in England, Frost published two full-length collections of poems and returned to the United States in 1915. By the nineteen-twenties, he was the most celebrated poet in America -- his work is principally associated with the life and landscape of New England. Frost was awarded four Pulitzer Prizes for his books of poetry. He died in Boston on January 29, 1963.

For more on Robert Frost, the Frost Cottage in Key West, and the Robert Frost Poetry Festival see my Eye On Literature posting of TUESDAY, MARCH 11, 2008:
Podcast #23 - The Robert Frost Cottage in Key West, Florida

For more information about Literary San Antonio and Robert Frost visit:

http://www.accd.edu/sac/english/mcquien/htmlfils/frost2.htm

Click here to view the QuickTime movie

The third literary landmark in San Antonio we visited was the O. Henry House. O. Henry was the pen name of William Sydney Porter whose short stories are famous for their ironic endings. He was born in 1862 on a plantation in Greensboro, North Carolina. In 1882, he moved to Texas, where he held various jobs, including that of a ranch hand. Two years later, he moved to Austin, and in 1887, he married a local girl, Athol Estes, who was only seventeen years old. In 1895, Porter was accused of embezzlement for the time he worked as a teller at the First National Bank of Austin. Although he denied the charges, he was arrested and skipped bail before the trial began. O. Henry spent part of 1895-1896 in San Antonio, Texas working on his magazine The Rolling Stone. The house itself was relocated from the old Lone Star Brewing Company site to the corner of Laredo and Dolorosa and is managed by the San Antonio Conservation Society. In May of 1999 the restored O. Henry House was reopened to the public.

http://www.saconservation.org/places/ohenry.htm

For more on O. Henry and his time in Austin, Texas, visit my posting at:

http://michaelminassian.blogspot.com/2007/02/o-henry-house-museum-austin-tx.html

Podcast #28 - A conversation with Christine Kling - Part 2

2008-08-09T12:21:00.000-07:00

Here is Part 2 of my conversation with Novelist and Broward College Professor Christine Kling. In this part, we focus on the issues of writing and the publishing industry. A special thank you to Christine Kling for her generosity with her time and for sharing her thoughts with us.

Click here to download the Quick Time Movie

Click here to download the Ipod Version

Don't forget to visit Christine's website at:

http://www.christinekling.com

Podcast #27 - A Conversation with Novelist Christine Kling - Part I

2008-06-09T13:57:00.000-07:00

In April of 2008, I sat down with novelist Christine Kling to discuss her novels and the writing process. Christine was very generous with her time and we spent over ah hour talking in front of the camera. In Part I we talk about her life, her books, and the writing process.

Part II continues with the issues of writing and the publishing industry.

Click here to download the QuickTime Movie

Click here to download the IPod version

Christine was born in Missoula, Montana, and grew up in Southern California in the 1960's. After high school, she spent a year in France as a foreign exchange student. Early on she wrote and published magazine stories about her adventures including riding a bicycle 1,000 miles down the newly opened Baja California highway and crewing on a 44-foot sailboat throughout the islands of the South Pacific to New Zealand and back. In 1984, Christine and her husband sailed to Florida where they settled, three months before the birth of their son. They lived aboard their boat on the Intracoastal Waterway and on canals off the New River. In 1993, Christine and her family took off sailing once again and spent two years cruising the waters of the Caribbean. It was during this voyage that she started her first novel, SURFACE TENSION. She has since published three other novels featuring the character Seychelle Sullivan: CROSS CURRENT, BITTER END, and WRECKERS' KEY. She is currently working on a stand alone novel entitled: FAULTY INTELLIGENCE. Christine lives alone aboard her 33' Caliber sailboat, TALESPINNER on a canal just off Fort Lauderdale's New River.

For more information about Christine Kling and her novels visit:

http://christinekling.com/

Podcast #25 - The Ernest Hemingway Home in Key West, Florida

2008-03-29T10:58:00.001-07:00

On March 7, 2008, I visited the Ernest Hemingway Home in Key West, Florida. Hemingway purchased the house on Whitehead Street in Key West and owned the property for thirty years from 1931 until his death in 1961. He actually lived in the house for ten years and wrote many of his novels in his studio which was located in the carriage house. A cat walk once connected the two structures but was blown down during one of the many hurricanes that passed through Key West. The surrounding gardens are also home to the first swimming pool ever built in Key West. The interior of the main house still holds many antiques and art work that Hemingway collected on his trips to Europe and Africa. The main house was built in 1851 by Asa Tift, a marine salvage specialist. Guided tours of the house and grounds are available daily.

To visit the website of the Hemingway Home
click on this link:

http://www.hemingwayhome.com/

Click here to download the QuickTime movie of my visit to the Hemingway Home

Here is an interview with Linda, manager of the bookstore at the Hemingway Home:

Photos by Sue Minassian

Podcast #24 - A conversation with Poet and Professor Dr. Barbra Nightingale

2008-03-29T09:28:00.000-07:00

On March 28, 2008, I sat down with Poet and Professor Dr. Barbra Nightingale to discuss her poetry and the writing process. Dr. Nightingale is a full time professor in the English Department on Broward Community College's South Campus.

The following is biographical information from Dr. Nightingale's Faculty Web Page:

Born in Chicago, IL, 1949. BS, Florida International University, MA (Literature) Florida Atlantic University, Ph.D. Florida International University. Over 200 poems in various journals and Anthologies including, Tigertail, A Florida Anthology, and Tigertail, A South Florida Poetry Annual, Florida in Poetry (Pineapple Press) and Having a Wonderful Time (Simon & Schuster). Poems have appeared in Barrow Street, Appalachee Review, The Mississippi Review, The Georgetown Review, Kalliope, Calyx,The Comstock Review, Kansas Quarterly, The Florida Review, Red Light/Blue Light, Visions International, The Mac Guffin, The Birmingham Review, The Chatahoochee Review and others. Four chapbooks: Lovers Never Die (1981); Prelude to a Woman (1986); Lunar Equations (1993) and Greatest Hits: 1980-2000; and a full length manuscript, Singing in the Key of L (1999) which won the 1999 Stevens Poetry Manuscript Award. A new collection of poetry, Geometry of Dreams, is forthcoming in 2009 withWord Tech Communications.

I have recently completed my first work of prose, a memoir entitled, My Year of Ex-Husbands and Other Strangers.

Click here to hear the audio file of my conversation with Dr. Nightingale

Click here to download the QuickTime movie

Podcast #22 - A conversation with Poet and Professor Dr. Michael Cleary

2008-03-13T18:41:00.000-07:00

On March 4, 2008, I sat down with Dr. Michael Cleary at his home in Fort Lauderdale and spoke to him about his poetry and the writing process. Dr. Cleary is the author of two award winning books of poems, his most recent Halfway Decent Sinners:

and his first book Hometown, USA:

Dr. Cleary grew up in Glens Falls, New York and taught high school English before earning his doctorate in Tennessee and joining the faculty in the English Department of Broward Community College. He has been awarded an Endowed Teaching Chair for classroom excellence and specializes in American Literature, Creative Writing, and Film.

His first poem appeared over twenty years ago in The Texas Review and his poetry has since been widely published in literary journals and college anthologies. He is a two time winner of the Florida Arts Grant in poetry. In 2006, he won the Paumanok Poetry Award for Halfway Decent Sinners. His first book Hometown, USA was published in 1992 and was the winner of the San Diego Poets Press' American Book Series Award.

He currently lives in Fort Lauderdale with his wife Carol.

For more information about Dr. Cleary and ordering information for his books, visit his web site at: http://michaelcleary.com/index.htm

To listen to the audio file of this podcast click on:

Click here to download the QuickTime movie

Click here to download the Ipod version

Podcast #23 - The Robert Frost Cottage in Key West, Florida

2008-03-11T13:39:00.001-07:00

Professor Michael Minassian at the Robert Frost Cottage in Key West, Florida

Photo by Sue Minassian

The Robert Frost Cottage in Key West, Florida is part of the Heritage House Museum at 410 Caroline Street, Key West. The Porter family home contains original furnishings, antiques, artifacts, books, and paintings which were collected by seven generations of the family. Frost's wife convinced him to accept Jessie Porter's invitation to spend time in the cottage behind the main house. The Frosts spent the next sixteen winters there.

Click here to view the QuickTime Movie

Click here to download the IPod version

Click here to visit the Heritage House Museum web site:

http://www.heritagehousemuseum.org/

The Heritage House Museum is also the main site of the 14th Annual Robert Frost Poetry Festival April 9-13, 2008. The Festival features workshops, readings, contests, a poetry slam, and many other activities. Their web site contains details about the fesitival, a schedule, and registration information. Click here to visit the Robert Frost Poetry Festival:

http://www.robertfrostpoetryfestival.com/

For more information about the Robert Frost Poetry Festival, April 9-13, 2008, watch this video:

Podcast #21 The Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida

2008-02-14T18:13:00.000-08:00

Jack Kerouac is the most famous of the Beat Generation novelists. The author of On the Road and Dharma Bums, Kerouac lived in Orlando and later in St. Petersburg where he died in 1969. The Kerouac House is located in the College Park area of Orlando and was largely forgotten until reporter Bob Kealing came across the house in 1996 and wrote a book entitled Kerouac in Florida: Where the Road Ends. Kealing was also one of the founders of the Kerouac Project which bought the house and created a writer in residence program there. The house has since been declared a historic site and is the sole literary landmark in Orlando.

Click here to to download the QuickTime Movie

Click here to to download the IPod version

Kerouac did not actually own the house, but he rented rooms in the back of the house and lived there with his mother during part of 1957 and 1958. I was lucky enough to see the inside of the house while I was there and we were able to take several photographs (all photos by Sue Minassian) of the interior and exterior. The Kerouac Project now owns the house and sponsors a writers in residence program. Check out their web site at:

http://www.kerouacproject.org/

The poem I read in the podcast was published in the Spring 2007 issue (Vol. 4, No. 1) of The Dos Passos Review.

You can visit their web site at:

http://www.longwood.edu/dospassosreview/

While searching for images of Jack Kerouac, I came across this photograph of Bob Dylan and the poet Allen Ginsberg visiting Kerouac's grave in Lowell, Massachusetts:

For more information about the Beat Generation Writers and Poets visit:

http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/BeatGen.html

http://www.kerouac.com/

http://www.wordsareimportant.com/dharmabeat.htm

Here are some more photos of the exterior and interior of the house:

All photos by Sue Minassian (2007).
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Podcast #20 Flannery O'Connor Home - Savannah, GA

2008-01-31T11:28:00.000-08:00

Click here to download the QuickTime Movie:

Click here to download the IPod version:

The author Flannery O'Connor (1924-64) was born a few blocks from this house and spent the first thirteen years of her life at this location in a quiet Savannah neighborhood. In 1947, she graduated from the Writer's Workshop at the University of Iowa with a Master's degree in Fine Arts.

Flannery O'Connor standing next to a self-portrait.

O'Connor is known as a Southern Gothic writer and is the author or two novels - Wise Blood (1952) and The Violent Bear It Away (1960) - but she is best known for her collections of short stories A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories (1955) and Everything That Rises Must Converge (published posthumously in 1965).

Photo by Sue Minassian

The Flannery O'Connor Home is located at 207 E. Charlton St., Savannah, Georgia. The house itself dates from 1856 and is a part of the Savannah area which has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

Professor Michael Minassian at the Flannery O'Connor Home, December 2007

Photo by Sue Minassian

The house is open to the public on weekends only from 1-4 P.M. On December 23, 2007, we visited the house and spoke to Docent Toby Aldrich. After a tour of the living quarters, we set up our camera in front of the fireplace and Toby answered questions about O'Connor's life and career. The house is maintained by The Flannery O'Connor Childhood Home Foundation. For more information visit:

http://www.flanneryoconnorhome.org/index.html

Another good site for information about Flanner O'Connor's life is the web site of the Andalusia Farm in Milledgeville, Georgia where she spent the last thirteen years of her life:

http://www.andalusiafarm.org/

Podcast #19 - Marge Piercy's poem "Barbie Doll"

2007-11-06T14:05:00.001-08:00

Poet Marge Piercy

Professor Michael Minassian and Prof. Carolyn Barr of the English Department at the Central Campus of Broward Community College discuss poet Marge Piercy and her poem "Barbie Doll."

A good place to start for information about Piercy would be her own website:

http://www.margepiercy.com/

Another good site is the Academy of American Poets which provides a bio and several excellent links:

http://www.poets.org/

To listen to the podcast, click on this link:

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/MinassianBarrPiercyBarbieDoll.mp3

Professor Carolyn Barr of the Broward Community College Central Campus English Department. Prior to joining BCC, Prof. Barr taught English for over ten years to a diverse array of students such as speakers of English as a Second Language, learning disabled students, graduate students, and prison inmates. She was also an adjunct instructor of English at Miami-Dade College, St. Thomas University, and at Northwood University, where she also worked as an academic advisor.

Eye On Literature #17 - Raymond Carver's Cathedral

2007-10-30T15:36:00.000-07:00

Author Raymond Carver (1938-1988)

Professor Michael Minassian and Professor Jessica Higgins of Broward Community College discuss Raymond Carver and his short story "Cathedral."

To listen to this podcast, click on:

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/MinassianHigginsCarverCathedral.mp3

For more information about Carver, check out the New York Times Featured Author Series:

http://www.nytimes.com/books/01/01/21/specials/carver.html

Another good source of information, including links and a video from PBS is:

http://www.carversite.com/

The 1993 film Short Cuts directed by Robert Altman was based on some of Carver's short stories. For more about the film, visit:

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108122/

Professor Jessica Higgins of the Broward Community College Central Campus English Department is originally from Colorado. She attended college in northern Minnesota where she received her BA and MA in English from Bemidji State University. She moved to South Florida three years ago and lives with her husband and her dog, Scooter. In 2006, she was the BCC Central Campus Adjunct of the Year. Currently she is an Associate Professor in the English Department. Outside of teaching she is a member of the Gold Coast Runner's Club and in 2007 completed the Disney marathon.

Eye On Literature #16 - Frost's "The Road Not Taken"

2007-10-07T15:59:00.001-07:00

Professor Michael Minassian and Dr. Xiao Wang of the English Department at the Central Campus of Broward Community College discuss poet Robert Frost and his poem "The Road Not Taken."

To listen to the podcast, click on this link:

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/MinassianFrostRoadNotTaken.mp3

For more information about Frost and his poetry visit the Academy of American Poets:

http://www.poets.org/

Another good site is The Friends of Robert Frost:

http://www.frostfriends.org/

To hear a report on the recent vandalism at the Frost Cottage in New England click on this link:

http://www.nytimes.com/packages/html/us/20080128_LAND_FEATURE/index.html

20 May 1957 - Frost arriving at London Airport
Photo by Keystone/Getty Images

Eye on Literature #15-Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism Q & A

2007-10-06T16:49:00.001-07:00

Photo by Lois Avrick

Professor Michael Minassian and Geshe Konchag Kyab at Broward Community College on April 13, 2007.

Today’s show is the Question and Answer portion of a special podcast on the subject of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. It was recorded live at Broward Community College in Davie, Florida on April 13, 2007. The guest speaker that day was Geshe Konchog Kyab of the Tubten Kunga Center for the Study of Tibetan Buddhism, in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

You can visit the Tubten Kunga Center at: http://tubtenkunga.org/

Tubten Kunga Center for the Study of Tibetan Buddhism

201 SE 15th Terrace
Deerfield Beach, FL 33441

Phone: 954-421-6224

To listen to the Question and Answer session, follow this link:

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/GesheQ&ATibetanBuddhism.mp3

Eye on Literature #14 - Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism Part III - A Teaching by Geshe Konchag Kyab

2007-10-06T16:33:00.000-07:00

Photo by Sue Minassian

Today’s show is Part III of a special podcast on the subject of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. It was recorded live at Broward Community College in Davie, Florida on April 13, 2007. The guest speaker that day was Geshe Konchog Kyab of the Tubten Kunga Center for the Study of Tibetan Buddhism, in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

You can visit the Tubten Kunga Center at: http://www.tubtenkunga.org/

In Part III, Geshe talks about Nirvana, Karma, and the meaning of the mantra Om Mani Padme Hum. Geshe also demonstrates and leads the group in chanting practice.

To listen to Part III, follow the link here:

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/Geshepart3TibetanBuddhism.mp3

Coming soon will be the Question and Answer session that followed Geshe's teachings.

Eye on Literature Podcast #13 - Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism Part II - A Teaching by Geshe Konchog Kyab

2007-09-04T15:34:00.000-07:00

Geshe Konchag Kyab

Today’s show is Part II of a special podcast on the subject of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. It was recorded live at Broward Community College in Davie, Florida on April 13, 2007. The guest speaker that day was Geshe Konchog Kyab of the Tubten Kunga Center for the Study of Tibetan Buddhism, in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

You can visit the Tubten Kunga Center at: http://tubtenkunga.org/

In Part II, Geshe talks about the Four Noble Truths, the miracle of human birth, and how we can train our minds through meditation.

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/Geshepart2TibetanBuddhism.mp3

Look for part III coming soon.

Eye on Literature Podcast #12 - Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism Part I - A Teaching by Geshe Konchog Kyab

2007-08-08T14:16:00.001-07:00

Geshe Konchag Kyab

Photo: Tubten Kunga Center

Today’s show is a special podcast on the subject of Tibet and Tibetan Buddhism. It was recorded live at Broward Community College in Davie, Florida on April 13, 2007. The guest speaker that day was Geshe Konchog Kyab of the Tubten Kunga Center for the Study of Tibetan Buddhism, in Deerfield Beach, Florida.

You can visit the Tubten Kunga Center at:

http://tubtenkunga.org/

In Part I, Geshe talks about his childhood, basic Buddhist tenets, and how he became a monk:

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/phase1geshe.mp3

Look for parts II and III coming soon.

Eye on Literature podcast #11 - A conversation with Professor and Poet Gary Kay

2007-04-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Professor Michael Minassian and Professor Gary Kay talk about Kay's poetry and the writing process.

Professor Gary Kay

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/garykay.mp3

Eye on Literature podcast #10 - Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake

2007-04-25T17:59:00.000-07:00

Author Jhumpa Lahiri

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/thenamesake.mp3

In this podcast, Professor Savena Budhu and Prof. Michael Minassian discuss Jhumpa Lahiri's novel The Namesake. Lahiri won the 2000 Pulitzer Prize for her collection of short stories Interpreter of Maladies.

Professor Savena Budhu

Eye on Literature podcast #9 - "The Emperor of Ice Cream"

2007-04-03T17:01:00.000-07:00

Poet Wallace Stevens (1879-1955)

Professor Michael Minassian and Professor Tai Houser discuss Wallace Stevens and his poem "The Emperor of Ice Cream."

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/stevens.mp3

Professor Tai Houser of Broward Community College

For more about Wallace Stevens visit the Academy of American Poets:
www.poets.org

Eye on Literature podcast #8-John Updike's A & P

2007-02-11T14:45:00.000-08:00

Author John Updike

Professor Michael Minassian and Professor Jessica Higgins of Broward Community College discuss Pulitzer Prize winner John Updike and his short story "A & P."

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/updike.mp3

Professor Jessica Higgins of the Broward Community College Central Campus English Department

Eye on Literature podcast #7 - John Steinbeck

2007-01-31T16:17:00.000-08:00

Author John Steinbeck (1902-1968)

Professor Eunice Hargett and Professor Michael Minassian of Broward Community College discuss Nobel Prize winner John Steinbeck and his short story "The Chrysanthemums."

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/steinbeck.mp3

Professor Eunice Hargett of the Broward Community College Central Campus English Department. Professor Hargett is the 2007-2008 Central Campus Professor of the Year.

Eye on Literature podcast #6 - Wordsworth

2007-01-31T16:09:00.000-08:00

Dr. Xiao Wang and Professor Michael Minassian of Broward Community College discuss the English Romantic Poet William Wordsworth and his poem "I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud."

Dr. Xiao Wang, English Department, Broward Community College

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/wordsworth.mp3

Professor Michael Minassian

2007-01-26T11:22:00.001-08:00

Eye on Literature is produced by Professor Michael Minassian with a special thank you to Professor Robert Buford of Broward Community College's South Campus. Visit The bobCast Podcast at:

http://thebobcast.blogspot.com/

To see my posting on the Jack Kerouac House in Orlando, Florida, visit my personal blog at:

http://michaelminassian.blogspot.com

To see and hear the poems of Armenian poets in the United States and abroad, visit:

http://armenian-poetry.blogspot.com/

Eye on Literature podcast #5 - Langston Hughes

2007-01-26T11:18:00.000-08:00

Professor Michael Minassian discusses the influential Langston Hughes and the structure of his poem "Harlem" including the layout of the poem, stanza breaks, line lengths, and his use of enjambment and punctuation.

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/langston.mp3

Eye on Literature podcast #2 - Emily Dickinson

2007-01-26T11:13:00.000-08:00

Emily Dickinson

Emily Dickinson was born in 1830 and died in 1886 and lived most of her life in Amherst, Massachusetts. Along with Walt Whitman, she is considered one of the most original and influential American poets of the 19th Century. Only seven of her poems were published during her lifetime, but her sister found hundreds of poems among her possessions after her death.

She is buried in Amherst. My daughter Liana, a film and theatre major at the University of Miami, visited the gravesite in March 2007 and took this photograph.

Photo by Liana Minassian

Professor Michael Minassian and Professor Rocco Ditello discuss the poem "Because I Could Not Stop For Death" by Emily Dickinson.

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/dickinson.mp3

Professor Rocco Ditello of the Broward Community College Central Campus English Department

For information about the Emily Dickinson Museum and House in Amherst, MA:
http://www.emilydickinsonmuseum.org/index.html

For more on Emily Dickinson visit my blog:

http://michaelminassian.blogspot.com/

Eye on Literature podcast #3 - Theodore Roethke

2007-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

Poet Theodore Roethke

Professor Michael Minassian and Professor Carolyn Barr discuss the poem "My Papa's Waltz" by Theodore Roethke.

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/roethke.mp3

Professor Carolyn Barr of the Broward Community College Central Campus English Department

Eye on Literature podcast #1 - Andrew Marvell

2007-01-26T11:00:00.000-08:00

Poet Andrew Marvell (1621-1678)

Podcast #1 - Professor Michael Minassian and Professor Gordon Maddison discuss the poem "To His Coy Mistress" by the 17th century Cavalier poet Andrew Marvell.

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/marvell.mp3

Professor Gordon Maddison of the Broward Community College Central Campus English Department.

Eye on Literature podcast #4 - William Carlos Williams

2007-01-26T10:53:00.000-08:00

Podcast #4 - Professor Michael Minassian discusses William Carlos Williams and his two short imagist poems: "This Is Just To Say" and "The Red Wheelbarrow."
Williams was an influential 20th century American poet who used the language of the common people to create poetry that centered on American life.

http://podcast.broward.edu/~mminassi/williams.mp3