George Pelecanos, a detective fiction novelist famous for writing and producing The Wire, visited Georgetown on Tuesday for a reading and Q&A with students. At the event he discussed growing up in the District, beginning his career, and his experiences in television.

The event, sponsored by the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice, began with a video introducing the audience to Pelecanos’s work, namely his 18 novels and his involvement with the television shows Treme, The Pacific, and The Wire. The Q&A portion consisted of questions previously collected from Georgetown students, followed by questions from the audience.

Pelecanos introduced himself by discussing a detective fiction class he took in college at the University of Maryland. While he had previously focused on studying film, he took the class for an “easy grade” and discovered a new passion in the genre.

“It is what I consider to be proletariat literature,” Pelecanos said. Other genres “didn’t speak to [his] world,” which up to that point had mainly consisted of  working at his father’s diner in D.C. during and after the 1968 race riots. He credits his professor, Charles Mish, for having sparked this love of books. Pelecanos published his first novel in 1992 and soon gained notoriety as a writer.

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Though there may be plenty of uncertified prodigies roaming Georgetown’s halls, it’s rare that an alumnus actually gets recognized as a verified Genius. Dinaw Mengestu (C ’00), Georgetown’s Lannan Chair of Poetics, was announced on Monday as one of 23 recipients of a $500,000 “genius grant” of from the MacArthur Foundation. 

What was your first reaction upon hearing that you’d won the grant?

I started sobbing, but then I was by myself so there was no one to share it with so I was just kind of left to absorb it. The main thing, though, is I think I felt a lot of responsibility. I found out in Kenya two weeks ago, and it felt fitting there because I was doing a literary festival promoting literacy. It was the last place I lived before I came to America, and it really felt like the best place to hear about the award because it means I can spend more time in Africa and see how I can help small publishing houses there in Nairobi.

How have things changed for you since you found out?

I have known for a while but it was a secret so nothing has changed, and now everyone else knows so I have people to share it with – friends, family, colleagues. It’s also given me the freedom as a journalist to fund a story and report it well without having to worry about a publication affording it on the other end.

How did you feel about winning alongside Pulitzer Prize winner Junot Diaz?

I was really honored. It would have been embarrassing if I had and he hadn’t, honestly.

I know you were the only two novelists who won the grant. What do you think made you stand out among other novelists?

I have no idea. All my friends are novelists and are great novelists. I have no idea why they chose me instead of somebody else.

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Georgetown has lacked a permanent Amnesty International group since its main leadership graduated a few years ago. This semester, a group of eight proactive students decided to start the organization up again. Although they are not an officially recognized university group yet, they have been holding events and planning throughout this semester and into the fall.

Previous Amnesty groups petered out due to structural problems. “I think Amnesty failed in the past because it had a hierarchical structure. The leader really drove the group so when he graduated, the momentum died out and the group vanished for a couple years. The current board is organized so that we all drive the club collectively, tackling different parts of events, communications. I think that by creating a flat board and attracting members who are really passionate we can keep the club from disappearing after we all graduate,” Sophie Snowden (COL ’14), a board member, said in an email.

Amnesty speakers came to Georgetown last fall to host the “I am Troy Davis” event. Several students resolved to restart the Georgetown Amnesty chapter after this event, and had their initial meetings funded and hosted by the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Justice. “It’s really surprising that [Amnesty] hasn’t really been well established here,” Kayla Corcoran (COL ’15), a member of the board, said. “There are lots of specific groups targeted towards specific causes, but Amnesty is really great because it’s an umbrella organization for human rights, it can really be an outlet for everyone who’s interested in human rights.”

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Introduced by Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice director Carolyn Forché as “one of the most important of the world’s living writers,” Canadian author Margaret Atwood spoke in Gaston Hall Monday about accountability and fairness in today’s political and financial climate.

Atwood is probably best known for her work in the genre she calls “speculative fiction,” which distinguishes itself from science fiction in its discussion of possible potential events, rather than those that could never take place. Or, in Atwood’s words, “no Martians.”

Beginning her talk with a reading of one of her works, “Our Cat Enters Heaven,” from her 2007 collection of short stories entitled The Tent, Atwood captured the audience’s attention with her eloquence and wit.

Continuing with the story’s theme of balance and justice, Atwood proceeded to read from her newest book, Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth. The non-fiction book discusses debt as a motif in literature, religion, and as a more abstract concept in human interaction, and it was the latter topic that Atwood chose to focus on in her talk.

Noting that “the antidote to revenge is not justice but forgiveness,” Atwood remarked on how embracing that phrase would have changed the course of events that followed the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001.

When prompted by audience questions, Atwood commented on issues in contemporary American politics. Comparing income disparities in today’s society to those in the time preceding the French Revolution, she expressed her view that the Occupy movement is succeeding in “call[ing] attention to the growing inequality, the growing gap between a few people at the top who are getting richer and richer and richer, and everybody else, who isn’t.”

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Last night, the Lannan Center Spring Symposium and Literary Festival hosted its first event, proposing a “Blueprint for Accountability” to address the destructive effects of “The Wall Street-Washington Connection.” The event featured a panel of progressive leaders, dramatic readings, and short documentaries that tackled the economic crisis and the relationship of corporate and political power.

The panel was supposed to be moderated by MSNBC host Dylan Ratigan, but due to a last-minute cancellation, MSNBC political analyst Karen Finney led the dialogue. Panelists included former New York governor Eliot Spitzer, Rolling Stone political reporter Matt Taibbi, award-winning journalist and author Ron Suskind, environmental advocate Van Jones, liberal policy advocate Heather McGhee, and Occupy Wall Street protester Jesse LaGreca.

Each topic for the panel was introduced by a short documentary, ranging from “Crash,” which highlighted the causes and effects of the economic crash of 2008, to “Conflict of Interest,” which discussed the tension between Wall Street and Washington and proposed ways to move forward. In addition to the films, actors Anna Khaja (of True Blood), Charles Parnell (All My Children), and Steven Pasquale (Rescue Me) performed dramatic readings during the evening. Khaja theatrically read the story of a woman unable to receive loan modifications in order to pay her mortgage. Pasquale’s performance stressed the importance of voter awareness to understand both sides of the current economic divide.

Parnell’s dramatic reading addressed the issue of poverty, in which he exclaimed:

This is America’s opportunity to help bridge the gap between the haves and have nots, the question is whether America will do it. There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will.

During the panel discussions, LaGreca, the comedian of the group, compared the idea of Wall Street self-regulation to letting zoo animals regulate themselves. Jones stressed economic justice for both sides and the impact of economic decline on the middle class, stating, “The very pillars that we were told were the pillars we were supposed to use to get out of poverty, to build the middle class, those are the two pillars that are being used to crush us—home ownership and a college education.”

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The excitement, or depression, from the Super Bowl might be wearing off, but there will always be free food to keep your spirits up.

Literature and food cravings don’t often go hand in hand, but the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Justice has you covered. On Tuesday, join the 2011 Caine Prize winner NoViolet Bulawayo for a reading of her work, and the reception that follows. Head over to Copley Formal Lounge at 8 p.m. for the chance to intertwine poetry and satisfying your hunger.

It’s not often that the cuisine of free food is of a high caliber, but this week you’re in luck! On Wednesday the 15th, Taiwan’s very own culinary artist Hou Chun-sheng will be serving his celebrated beef noodles at the Smithsonian Institution Freer Gallery of Art before a screening of the film Eat Drink Man Woman. Be sure to check the gallery out starting at 6 p.m., and be early to guarantee yourself some noodles.

Jesuit Heritage Week might be over, but a the festivities continue with the rescheduled Jammin’ Jesuit Java event next Wednesday. Chill out and listen to some of Georgetown’s own Jesuits and students play their eclectic mélange of instruments, complete with refreshments! The event is free, but donations go towards Magis Spring Break trips, so be sure to head over to the Village C Alumni Lounge on the 15th to check it out.

On Tuesday evening, the Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice, the Georgetown Solidarity Committee, and the GU College Democrats presented “I am Troy Davis: The Execution of Troy Davis and the Death Penalty” to a full house in Copley Formal Lounge. Featured speakers included Davis’s sister Kimberly Davis, cofounder of the Campaign to end the Death Penalty and death row exoneree Lawrence Hayes, author, activist, an filmmaker Jen Marlowe, and director of Amnesty International’s US Death Penalty Abolition Campaign Laura Moye.

Troy Davis was convicted and sentenced to death in 1991 for the 1989 murder of a man in Georgia. Since his trial, all but two of the 34 witnesses who testified against him have recanted their testimonies. Davis was scheduled for execution three times, but due to too much doubt surrounding his guilt they were delayed up to his final execution on September 21, 2011. His trial and death sparked sadness, outrage, and demonstrations around the world calling for a change in the justice system.

Kimberly Davis emphasized the human aspect of the trial and execution for her family. She shared stories of her brother’s faith, his love for his family, and how he wanted them “to continue his legacy, to continue to prove his innocence, and to show that there are flaws in the death penalty.” While the twenty years that Troy Davis spent on death row were difficult, Kimberly Davis emphasized the bond that formed because of them.

“Throughout the years our family just grew closer and closer,” she said.

Lawrence Hayes, who was awaiting execution in a prison on New York in the 1970s until Furman vs. Georgia abolished the death penalty in the state, noted that “we need to show more sense of appreciation, value, and respect for life”.

The other speakers urged Georgetown students to get involved in shaping the American judicial system and other social movements. Suggestions included joining the death penalty abolition movements in Virginia and Maryland and establishing an Amnesty International club on campus.

Photo by Max Blodgett.

The University’s Lannan Center for Poetics and Social Practice will invite Zimbabwean writer NoViolet Bulawayo for a month-long residency after she won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing on Tuesday.

The £10,000 Caine Prize, considered one of Africa’s leading literary prizes, was first awarded in 2000. It is named in memory of Sir Michael Caine, who started the Man Booker Prize in order to recognize quality fiction from the British Commonwealth, Ireland, and Zimbabwe. Since 2007, the Lannan Center has invited the winner of the Caine Prize to a month-long residency.

Her prize-winning story [PDF], ”Hitting Budapest,” follows the narrative of a group of shanty town children that scour a wealthy neighborhood looking for food.

“The real story is in the issues,” NoViolet told SW Radio Africa. “Issues like what happens when two different worlds – rich and poor – meet in problematic ways: innocence and the loss of it, violence, humanity and the lack of it.”

Bulawayo was selected from a shortlist of entries submitted by writers South Africa, Botswana, and Uganda.

GUSA goes yummy

We’ve all heard about the GUSA’s plan to reform the student activities fee. If you’re still confused, want to voice your opinion, or just some free pizza and soda, they’ve got you covered.

Tonight from 8 to 9 p.m. in ICC 120, GUSA will host a town hall to discuss fee and endowment reform. Chow down on GUSA’s (i.e. your) dime, and get all the facts about those proposed changes!

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Best. Sampling. Ever.

This Thursday, the Corp will be sampling those F’Real milkshakes and smoothies that are now available at Vital Vittles. (The chocolate milkshake is delicious. We’ve had, like, 15 of them already.)

Stop by Red Square from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m to sample the available flavors, which include strawberry banana, Reese’s, and cookies and cream.

Poetry, school pride, and splendid provisions

Although you might not get the chance to paint your face, the Lannan Center still offers you the chance to show your school spirit listen to some poetry, and chow down for free.

Today, Georgetown’s own David Gewanter will have a formal reading of his work in the Copley Formal Lounge from 8 p.m. Don’t forget to stick around for the reception that follows.

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