How to ignore your inner critic and write without fear
Tue, February 15 2022, 11am
Julie Schumacher
Regents Professor of English and Creative Writing
University of Minnesota
Event to be held via Zoom.
Several years ago, when I was working at the University and living in St. Paul, I read that a University faculty member, a woman who also lived in St. Paul, had won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. The prize in previous years had gone to David Sedaris, Calvin Trillin, Jon Stewart, and Ian Frazier, to name a few. There had been a few women finalists, but never before was a woman awarded the prize.
I bought the book, Dear Committee Members, and if you’d been in the room while I was reading it you’d have heard me laugh out loud and sometimes gasp, thinking, Can she say that? After I finished the book, I did something I hardly ever do. I wrote a fan letter to the author. And she graciously replied.
Julie Schumacher, the author of that book and its sequel, The Shakespeare Requirement, plus novels for young adults and a coloring book for academics (!), will be the featured presenter for the UMRA Living Well Workshop on Tuesday, February 15.
Writing can become enjoyable
She will discuss her own writing process and the ways in which writing—whether fiction, nonfiction, or poetry—can become more enjoyable and even, at times, less of a personal trial.
A member of the University of Minnesota faculty since 1996, Schumacher was named Regents Professor of English and Creative Writing in 2021, one of only two Regents Professors named last year. She was recognized by the College of Liberal Arts as a Scholar of the College for 2016–19, and has received a Distinguished Educator Award from the College of Continuing Education plus awards for the teaching of both graduate and undergraduate students at the U. For 12 years, she directed the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English.
Many UMRA members may remember the previous occasion when she joined us as the keynote speaker for our 2017 Annual Meeting at the Campus Club.
What questions do you have for Professor Schumacher? One of mine will be, Do you ever have a good laugh from your characters as you write your stories, or is it only we, the readers, who get to have that?
Please register for this workshop and join us via Zoom at 11 a.m. on Tuesday, February 15.
— Jan Morlock, UMRA president
Upcoming Events
We will meet at the Mel-O-Glaze bakery on 28th and Minnehaha Parkway and walk to Minnehaha Falls and then back again.
Some of the most valuable and rare maps in the world are held in UMN's own James Ford Bell Library, housed in Andersen Library See https://www.lib.umn.edu/collections/special/bell .
The first meeting of UMRA’s Family History Interest Group for 2023–24 will feature a presentation by Marilyn DeLong about sharing family stories and learning surprising family connections.
UMRA has a special opportunity to engage with the four newest members of the U of M Board of Regents on Wednesday, October 4, via Zoom. The purpose of the event is to share our perspectives as former University employees.
All UMRA members with an interest in photography are welcome to attend the meeting of the UMRA Photo Club on Tuesday, October 10. We welcome photographers of all abilities. Most of us are struggling amateurs. We laugh a lot and learn from sharing and talking about our pictures.
The walk along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis is always changing, with many attractions being added along both sides of the river and, now, the beautiful fall colors.
UMRA’s workshop on Open Enrollment for U of M retiree health plans for 2024 will include a briefing on the choice between Medicare Advantage plans and Medicare Supplement Insurance (Medigap) plans, by Jeff Snegosky of BCBS of Minnesota, followed by an overview of the U of M’s retiree health insurance plans, by Katie Kolodge from the Office of Human Resources.
Mary Jane Towle will lead the discussion of The Dictionary of Lost Words by Pip Williams.
To help us understand the growing movement in the U.S. to ban books, especially children’s literature, and the critical role of libraries to protect intellectual freedom, UMRA will welcome U of M Librarian Lisa Von Drasek (pictured) and Rochester Public Librarian Kimberly Edson as the guest speakers for our October luncheon forum at Midland Hills.
The Fourth Friday Book Club will meet from 2 to 3:30 p.m. CDT on October 27 to discuss the life and narrative of Frederick Douglass.
Join us for a 5 mile moderately paced hike around Pleasant Lake located in the heart of North Oaks. It takes us past some of James J. Hill’s original farm buildings as well as beautiful homes built along the lakeshore. The trail is wide, generally flat and consists of packed dirt and crushed rock.
The documents noted for this event specify your managers and can minimize income taxes now, and estate taxes.
The material world we live in is shaped by design. While popular discussions of design typically focus on fashion and furniture, design is fundamental in art, architecture, and indeed nearly all aspects of the everyday world around us. Goldstein Museum of Design curator Jean McElvain will demonstrate and discuss some of the fascinating and often unexpected holdings before we walk through the current gallery exhibit.
Get an insider's perspective on Santa Fe and Taos alongside local artists, exploring the Georgia O'Keeffe museum, enjoying traditional music and learning about native cultures. The deadline for reserving a space is June 2, 2023.
Please join us for an invigorating hike from The Monument located at the intersection of Mississippi RIver Blvd and Summit Avenue in St. Paul to Minnehaha Falls in Minneapolis and back. This hike is on paved trails, approximately 5.5 miles in length, and will be at a pace suitable to the weather.
Topics include tax changes; tax reducing moves required now and tax management in 2024 & 2025.