Behind the Read

Today we are joined by Kelsey Sivertson, a recent graduate of Hope College. Kelsey is a dear friend of mine, and truly one of the most intelligent people I have ever met. While at Hope College, Kelsey majored in Creative Writing. She also was very involved in the Theater department, with her most recent role as Gloria Mitchell in the play, By The Way, Meet Vera Stark. In 2022, Kelsey was the recipient of the distinguished award, the Trustee Scholar for Hope College’s English Department in Creative Writing. In 2023, Kelsey received the Lotz Prize in Creative Writing. In 2024, Kelsey received the Jennifer Young Award for Creative Writing.

After graduating in 2024, Kelsey became a published poet--you can see her poetry in the latest edition of the Oakland Review. She is also a member of Pear Tree Society, a post-graduate Christian community focused on the study of theology and the practice of spiritual disciplines.

In part two of this podcast episode, we are joined by Dr. Michael Van Dyke, an English professor at Hope College. Dr. Van Dyke joined the Hope faculty in August 2023, but he taught at several universities and colleges before coming to Hope College. When asked about his favorite part of teaching, he responded by saying that he finds it most rewarding when students discover books they might not have initially chosen but end up loving. Dr. Van Dyke received his PhD from Michigan State University. His scholarly interests include 20th-century American literature, film studies, and the intersection of faith and the arts. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the poet Kenneth Rexroth and continues to be inspired by his poetry and essays. Outside of academia, Dr. Van Dyke enjoying painting (pictures, not houses), watching films from the 1970s, and following Michigan State basketball.

To learn more about the Big Read, visit our website at bigreadlakeshore.com

In part one of today’s podcast episode, we are joined by Dr. Michael Van Dyke, an English professor at Hope College. Dr. Van Dyke joined the Hope faculty in August of 2023, but he taught at several universities and colleges before coming to Hope College. When asked about his favorite part of teaching, he responded by saying that he find it most rewarding when student discover books they might not have initially chosen but end up loving. Dr. Van Dyke received his PhD from Michigan State University. His scholarly interests include 20th-century American literature, film studies, and the intersection of faith and the arts. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the poet Kenneth Rexroth and continues to be inspired by his poetry and essays. Outside of academia, Dr. Van Dyke enjoys painting (pictures, not houses), watching films from the 1970s, and following Michigan State basketball.

To learn more about the Big Read, visit our website at bigreadlakeshore.com

Today we are joined by Dr. Steven McMullen, an economics professor at Hope College. In this episode he discusses the economics of the 1920s and how it pertains to The Great Gatsby. One of Dr. McMullen’s academic passions is to explore Christian thinking about economics. He is the host of the podcast Faithful Economy and executive editor of the journal Faith & Economics, both associated with the Association of Christian Economists. Dr. McMullen is also a published author, and you can check out his multiple publications on his website: https://stevenmcmullen.com/

In this first episode of season three, the host for this season, Addie Wilcox, talks with Dr. David “Mike” Owens. Dr. Owens is a retired professor of American Literature. He taught at Hope College starting in 2017, and before he taught at Valparaiso University in Indiana. While at Hope, Dr. Owens also served as the founding/interim director of college writing. Dr. Owens received his PhD in American Literature from Purdue University in 2001, and since then he has published a book titled The Devil's Topographer: Ambrose Bierce and the American War Story, and multiple articles including “Where the Ground was the Enemy: Setting as Character in The Things They Carried,” “Back From ‘That Literary Hell, the Footnote’: Sarah B. Cooper's Overland Monthly Writings,” and “The Last Campaign of John Brown's Body: West Point and America's Forgotten Civil War Epic.” Mike’s primary area of expertise is American Literature from mid-19th until mid-20th centuries. He has additional areas of interest in American short fiction, African American literature, workplace and professional writing, and composition. Before becoming a professor, Dr. Owens was an Army officer, having spent 21 years as an infantryman with many of those in the 82nd Airborne Division. He was a Master Parachutist and a Ranger as well.

If you want to learn more about about The Great Gatsby or The Big Read program, be sure to check out the website: https://bigreadlakeshore.com/

In this episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with Joe Goodkin, a Chicago-based singer/songwriter and modern traveling bard. Joe tours the country performing his one-man folk-opera interpretation of Homer's Odyssey (over 300 performances in 43 US states, Canada, Greece, Italy, and The Netherlands) and for years released music under the name Paper Arrows (five records total). In 2020, he premiered a new classically-inspired work, The Blues of Achilles, a 17 song reimagining of Homer’s Iliad and released it in 2022, tracked by Steve Albini at Electrical Audio Studios. Joe performed both classically-inspired works extensively during the pandemic in the Zoom environment. From 2015 through 2017 he released a trio of EPs entitled Record of Life/Loss/Love and in 2019 a collection of live recordings entitled (somewhat confusingly) Paper Arrows.

Learn more about our program at bigreadlakeshore.com and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on all things Big Read!

The Blues of Achilles

The Odyssey

In this episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with George O’Connor, an author, illustrator and cartoonist. Above all, George is a Greek mythology buff and a classic superhero comics fan, and he's out to remind us how much our pantheon of superheroes (Superman, Batman, the X-Men, etc) owes to mankind's original superheroes: the Greek pantheon. Now he has brought his attention to Olympians, an ongoing series retelling the classic Greek myths in comics form.

​In his New York Times bestselling Olympians series, O'Connor draws from primary documents to reconstruct and retell classic Greek myths. These stories are action-packed, fast-paced, high-drama adventures, with monsters and romance. O'Connor's vibrant, kinetic art brings ancient tales to undeniable life, in a perfect fusion of super-hero aesthetics and ancient Greek mythology.

George's first graphic novel, Journey Into Mohawk Country, is about the actual historical journal of the seventeenth-century Dutch trader Harmen Meyndertsz van den Bogaert.

In addition to his graphic novel career, O'Connor has published several children's picture books, including the New York Times best-selling Kapow!, Sally and the Some-Thing, If I Had a Raptor and If I Had a Triceratops.

Learn more about our program at bigreadlakeshore.com and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on all things Big Read!

O’Connor’s Book Suggestions:

The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony

D'aulaires' Book of Greek Myths

In the episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with Liv Albert, the host, creator, writer, editor, and producer of the “Let’s Talk About Myths, Baby!” podcast. Liv has a degree in English Literature & Classics from Concordia University in Montreal where she studied ancient Greece and Rome broadly. Now, she researches new details and versions of Greek mythological stories to tell in her podcast, and especially loves speaking with experts on various ancient world subjects. Liv is devoted to the world of Greek and Roman mythology, even, in her own words, if it is full of bloodshed and horrible men. Liv is also the author of the #1 New Release and Bestselling book that came out in 2021, Greek Mythology: The Gods, Goddesses, and Heroes Handbook, and her newest book came out in April, Nectar of the Gods which is a book of 75 Greek mythology themed cocktails created with Thea Engst and illustrated by Sara Richard.

Learn more about our program at bigreadlakeshore.com and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on all things Big Read!

In this episode, my co-host, Addie and I have a conversation with two middle and high school teachers at Black River Public Schools, Brent and Karen Rowe. Karen Rowe has taught middle and high school English at Black River Public Schools since 2005. She has her Masters of Arts in English Literature from Grand Valley State University. Karen has participated in NEA Big Read Lakeshore for all of its 8 years and serves as our Big Read teacher leader along with Audra Bolhuis. Brent Rowe graduated from Hope College in 1999 and has his Masters in Coaching and Athletic Administration from Concordia College of Irvine. He taught in the Dominican Republic and Berkeley, California before his current teaching position of 21 years at Black River Public School.

Learn more about our program at bigreadlakeshore.com and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on all things Big Read!

In this episode, my co-host, Addie, and I have a conversation with two professors at Hope College, Dr. Bram ten Berge and Dr. Margaret Burr. Dr. ten Berge has his Ph.D. in classics from the University of Michigan. As part of his postgraduate training, Dr. ten Berge did the Regular Year Program at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, and has worked on archaeological projects in England, Greece, and Italy. He joined the Hope faculty in 2017 where he teaches language, history, and classical civilization classes across the classics and history curricula.

Dr. Burr has her Ph.D. in archaeology from the University of Oxford, and has been teaching at Hope since 2020. Her courses have included Introduction to Classical Archaeology, Introduction to Ancient Civilization, and two travel-themed First Year Seminars. Dr. Burr loves being engaged in fieldwork, and most recently worked as the finds supervisor on a project excavating a Roman “small town” near Oxford. She has also worked on field projects in Italy, Greece, Romania, and the United States.

Learn more about our program at bigreadlakeshore.com and follow us on social media to stay up-to-date on all things Big Read!