McNeese State University - Log Yearbook (Lake Charles, LA)

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In his seminars on poetry taught across the nation, David Bottoms instructs would-be poets in The Art of Expression “If | were to give advice to inexperi- enced and younger writers,’’ said poet David Bottoms, ‘I'd tell them to have some patience and determination be- cause so many people become discour- aged when those first few rejection slips come in.” Bottoms, winner of the 1979 Walt Whit- man Award of the Academy of American Poets, was a guest of the McNeese Mas- ter of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writ- ing. While on campus he held individual conferences with poets in the program. He also presented a public reading of his poems at the Lether E. Frazar Memorial Library. Bottoms is the author of three books of poems; he has published Jamming With the Band at the VFW, Shooting Rats at the Bibb County, and In a U-Haul North of Da- mascus. Shooting Rats at the Bibb Coun- ty was chosen by Robert Penn Warren as winner of the Walt Whitman Award. ‘| have memories of writing during high school,'’ Bottoms said, ‘‘but | didn't start publishing until | was in graduate school.” His first book, Jamming With the Band at the VFW, was released in 1973. ‘When | was in school, there weren't any poetry workshops. In fact, | didn't at- tend workshops until | went away to work on my doctorate, and | had already pub- lished a book by that time.’ Presently, Bottoms teaches creative writing at Georgia State University in At- lanta; he instructs poetry and fiction work- shops. ‘‘In my poetry workshops,” Bot- toms commented, ‘I usually try to blend writing and (the study of) literature so that we always focus on something.’ Bottoms admires such writers as James Dickey, Robert Penn Warren, James Wright and Theodore Roethke. Bottoms is currently editing an antholo- 218 Seniors Graduates ee oe me eR 6 mie ee cilia PS ii ie ; Bie mt oy a 92 ih 08 i ® ir ane me fi ie, ge tS ‘a8 de ee U4 % @ i i me | i we 4 @ a © ¥ oe Cj a tk BS) 00 ig |? hee ete ere | David Bottoms, a visiting lecturer, instructed stu- dents and faculty on writing poetry and offered them hints on how to achieve satisfaction through their works. (Photo by Coppelman) gy with Dave Smith, a Virginian poet. The Morrow Anthology of Younger American Poets, of which Bottoms is also a contrib- utor, was released in February. It features 105 American poets born in 1940 and after. Bottoms has served on the Literary Ad- visory Panel to the Georgia Council for the Arts and is currently serving on the Callan- wolde Poetry Committee of the Callan- wolde Fine Arts Center in Atlanta. He was a featured reader at the 1983 South Atlan- tic Modern Language Association con- vention and in ‘‘Ten Poetry Readings in 1980, ’ sponsored by the Academy of American Poets.

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If the books contain any risque subject matter which might be offensive, someone will always be trying to Keep them off the Shelves — The Crucible contains ‘sick words from the mouths of demon-possessed peo- ple’’ This was the general attitude of a group of people who challenged the right of a Pennsylvania high school library to allow the Arthur Miller play to be accessi- ble to the students. In their opinion, “‘It should be wiped out of the schools, or the school board should use it to fuel the fire of hell.’ September 8-15, 1984 was named Banned Book Week by the American Li- brary Association. The Lether E. Frazar Memorial Library at McNeese participat- ed in Banned Book Week with a display of books thought to be “immoral and dan- gerous.” Avideo conference on intellectu- al freedom and the consequences of ban- ning books was also available for viewing at the reference desk. Various groups of people concerned about the ‘‘moral decay of America’s youth” have attempted to have books re- moved from circulation. In 1982, J. D. Salinger's Catcher in the Rye was removed from school libraries in Morris, Manitoba (Canada) because it vio- lated the committee’s guidelines con- cerning ‘‘excess vulgar language, sexual scenes, things concerning moral issues, excessive violence, and anything dealing with the occult.” On the other hand, however, there are many individuals and groups who oppose this kind of censorship. They point out that the U. S. Constitution grants ‘‘free- dom of speech and the press,” and that this freedom of expression is the back- bone of the American political system. Some of the books challenged at var- ious libraries, ironically, are also consid- ered literary masterpieces by scholars. After all, when the average person hears about Shakespeare, Homer, William Faulkner, or Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the idea of censorship doesn’t seem logi- cal. There are other challenged books in which the question of literdry merit is not necessarily relevant. An example of this is Jim Miller's The Rolling Stone Illustrated History of Rock and Roll. This work was challenged in Jefferson County, Kentucky (1982) because, according to some, it “will cause our children to become immor- al and indecent.’ Although some special interest groups actually pinpoint particular books they consider dangerous, there are also groups who don't go that far. The Catholic Church, for example, sug- gests that any affiliation (reading, buying, selling) with books which can be morally dangerous is against what is considered to be ‘“‘natural law,’’ and ‘‘the Christian faithful have the duty and right to de- nounce writings which harm correct faith or good morals.’ The book banning issue has been a problem in many parts of the world for a long time. It has become a moral issue, and like most moral issues, nO one answer seems to satisfy everyone. On one side of the fence, there are those who wish to ‘“‘protect our children from immorality and indecency.’ On the other side are those who, like Oscar Wilde, think ‘There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book.” Seniors Graduates 21 7

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| | Gui - Hay Guillory, Debra M. — Lake Charles, Sr. Guillory, Mary J. — Lake Charles, Sr. Guillory, Mylinda F, — Lake Charles, Sr. Guillory, Rosa D. — Lake Charles, Sr. Guillory, Samuel B. — Ville Platte, Sr. Guinn, Beth L. — Lake Charles, Sr. Guinn, Deborah S. — Lake Charles, Sr. Gunn, Lacey S$. — Orange, TX, Sr. Guzman, Mark S. — Lake Charles, Sr. Guzzino, Phillip A. — Lake Charles, Sr. Hagen, Molly W. — Moss Bluff, Sr. Haifley, Barbara L. — Sulphur, Sr. Hair, Opal M. — Lake Charles, Sr. Hale, Lynda L. — Lake Charles, Sr. Haley, Catherine R. — Evans, Gr. Haley, Sharon E. — Roanoke, Sr. Hallin, Johan A. — Sweden, Sr. Hammitt, Steve A. — Sulphur, Sr. Hand, Brenda J. — Sulphur, Sr. Handy, Kathy N. — Lake Charles, Sr. Handy, Robert — Lake Charles, Gr. Hanks, Loretta J. — Lake Charles, ‘Sr. Hannen, Kevin P. — Lake Charles, Sr. Harb, Maher M. — Palestine, Sr. Hardin, Christopher D. — Orange, TX, Sr. Hardy, Mary K. — Vinton, Gr. Hardy, Theresa F. — Crowley, Sr. Harlan, Beverly R. — San Angelo, TX, Sr. Harless, Steve C. — Lake Charles, Sr. Harmon, Donna M. — Lake Charles, Sr. Harper, Rebecca A. — Welsh, Sr. Harrington, Rhonda, B. — Pecan Island, Sr. Harris, Chery! A. — Lake Charles, Sr. Harris, Dorothy C. — Lake Charles, Sr. Harris, Kathy — Lake Charles, Sr. Harris, Rebekah M. — Lake Charles, Sr. Harris, Timothy L. — Lake Charles, Sr. Hart, Bobbie G. — Moss Bluff, Sr. Hart, Steven K. — Sulphur, Sr. Hartley, James S. — Lake Charles, Sr. Harts, Veronica S. — Lake Charles, Gr. Harvey, Patricia P. — DeRidder, Sr. Hatcher, Jeanne M. — Lake Charles, Sr. Hatef, Ali — Iran, Sr. Havens, Russell W. — Singer, Sr. Hawkins, Macrland J. — Lake Charles, Sr. Hawkins, Marie G. — Lake Charles, Sr. Hawn, Betty |. — Nederland, TX, Gr. Hayes, Betty J. — Oakdale, Sr. Seniors Graduates 219