Southeastern NEWS

                                                       Southeastern Louisiana University
                                           Public Information Office
                                           publicinfo@selu.edu
                                           SLU 880, Hammond, LA 70402
                                           504/549-2341/fax 504-549-2061
    Date: 10/6/99
      Contact:                           Christina Chapple   46

READINGS WILL CELEBRATE NEW SLU ANTHOLOGY OF LOCAL STUDENT,
TEACHER WRITING
     HAMMOND -- The Southeast Louisiana Writing Project at Southeastern Louisiana
University is celebrating the publication of "A Sense of Place," an anthology of writing by area
teachers and students. 
     SLWP and Books-a-Million will host public readings from the new anthology at 7 p.m. at
Books-a-Million in Hammond on Oct. 21 and in Covington on Oct. 28.
     "A Sense of Place" includes approximately 70 selections of all types of writing from
teachers and students at schools in Tangipahoa, St. Tammany, Washington, Livingston and St.
Helena Parishes. 
     At the Books-a-Million readings, student authors and their teachers will be recognized
and those authors attending will receive a free copy of the anthology. Several writers will read
their pieces and the audience also will hear a brief except from an upcoming public radio
program featuring selections from "A Sense of Place." Refreshments will be served.
     Additional copies of "A Sense of Place" will be on sale for $10 for families, friends and
school officials.
     School represented are:
     Tangipahoa Parish: Sumner High School (Kentwood), Ponchatoula High School,
Ponchatoula Junior High School, Champ Cooper School (Robert), and Southeastern classes. 
     St. Tammany Parish: Clearwood Junior High School (Slidell), William Pitcher Junior
High (Covington), Mandeville High School, Carolyn Park Middle School (Slidell),
Fontainebleau High School (Mandeville), Fontainebleau Junior High School (Mandeville), Alton
Elementary (Slidell).
                             (MORE)
NEW ANTHOLOGY   Add One
     Washington Parish: Franklinton Elementary.
     Livingston Parish: Freshwater Elementary (Denham Springs), Denham Springs High
School, Holden High School.
     St. Helena Parish: St. Helena Central High School, St. Helena Central Middle School,
St. Helena Central Elementary School.
     SLWP Director Richard Louth, a member of Southeastern's English Department faculty,
said the anthology is an outgrowth of SLWP's three-year Rural Voices, Country Schools grant
from the National Writing Project and Annenberg Foundation.
     "The purpose of the grant was to allow small teams of National Writing Project rural
teacher-researchers to document and showcase successful teaching practices in rural schools,"
Louth said. "This anthology is one product of our team's work in 1998-99."
     Louth said SLWP's team includes Coordinator Joan Anderson and Beth Calloway,
Southeastern faculty members; Mary Beth Crovetto, Ponchatoula High School; Leslie Gilliland,
Clearwood Junior High; Linda Greene, William Pitcher Junior High; Luora McNabb, Albany
Middle School; Gary Porter, St. Helena Central High School, and Lynn Vance, Sumner High
School.
     From January to May 1999, Louth said SLWP received hundreds of submissions from
teachers and students impacted by SLWP writing workshops. "Making final selections was not
easy," he said. "The RVCS team read every one and met frequently to discuss, select, edit and
type the contents. In selecting the anthology's contents, the team looked for good writing,
striking stories, memorable details and diverse voices."
     "The anthology is more than a package of writings about southeast Louisiana," Louth
said. "It is a culmination of several RVCS initiatives and demonstrates how our RVCS team has
documented as well as affected the teaching of writing in our area."  
                             -SLU-
     This press release is available on the World Wide Web:
       www.selu.edu/NewsEvents/PublicInfoOffice/newsf99.htm