Books & Literature

Resident Activities

Judith Hawk, Director of Resident Activities, is a former teacher of literature and a poet in her own right.

Judith taught at Stuyvesant High School in New York City from 1982 to 2001. In that capacity Judith designed and taught a poetry workshop class as well as classes in World and American Literature. She is pleased to report her good fortune in teaching with Frank McCourt who introduced her to the techniques needed to teach writing.

Judith's poems have been published in the following periodicals: The Southern Poetry Review, CQ California Quarterly, The Asheville Review, and Slant. P&Q Press in New York City published, The Morning After, a poetry chap book in 1998. Of course we also see her poems from time to time in The Meadow Lark the Meadow Lakes quarterly newsletter. She is currently working on a novel.

At right Judith is shown introducing one of the many plays she has directed at Meadow Lakes.

Below are descriptions of some current programs relating to Books and Literature.

"Reading the Classics"

Tolstoy's Anna Karenina will be the first novel read by residents participating in this new group.

This group will deal with questions such as, "What makes a novel a classic?" "What should I look for in reading a classic novel?"

Several meetings will be devoted to the discussion of the book with Judith Hawk leading the discussions.

Favorite Poems Group

This group enjoys reading poems to one another for the many pleasures it offers—pleasures of sound, image, feeling and thought. Judith says, "The act of reading poetry makes us aware of things we didn’t know or knew only vaguely. In discussing the poems, we touch on our emotion as well as our intellect. How a poem makes you feel is as important as what it means." Poems are often original work of the group members.

Book Discussion Group

Over several years, Anne Seltzer has come to Meadow Lakes to talk with residents about books they have chosen to read. The format consists of folks sitting together, discussing the book and responding to Anne's questions about the book they have just read.

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Book Reviews

Members of a book review group led by resident Barbara Barnett present

reviews of books they have found worthwhile. Recently, Eleanor English reviewed Eaarth by Bill McKibben and Edythe Masten reviewed the biography of Sir Thomas Lipton.

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