LOCK HAVEN, Pa. - Lock Haven University will host the 2010 English Association of the Pennsylvania State Universities (EAPSU) Conference October 1-3. Inspired by LHU’s setting on the banks of the Susquehanna River, between the Alleghenies and Appalachians, the 2010 EAPSU conference theme “A River Runs through Us” invites exploration of the possibilities and permutations of place and its representations wherever we live. Two free public events are being offered in conjunction with the conference.

Julia Kasdorf, poet, biographer, and director of creative writing at The Pennsylvania State University, will read her poetry at Avenue 209 on Friday, October 1 at 7:00. Kasdorf's writing highlights her lifelong residence in PA and her childhood growing up in a Mennonite community. This event is open to the public, but space is limited. The event represents a town-gown partnership and the venue highlights the role of current English majors in the management of the coffee shop.

The public also is invited to attend an event on Saturday, October 2 from 1:00-2:15 in the Hamblin Hall of Flags, Robinson Hall. Five Pennsylvania poets will participate in a reading and discussion of the anthology “Common Wealth: Contemporary Poets on Pennsylvania.” Reading their work and discussing writing about place will be Philip Terman of Clarion University, Heather Thomas of Kutztown University, Craig Czury of Albright College, and co-editors Jerry Wemple of Bloomsburg University and Marjorie Maddox Hafer of Lock Haven University. Copies of the anthology will be available for purchase and signing. This event will include a question-and-answer period and is free and open to the public.

The conference has attracted 100 speakers, primarily from PASSHE faculty and graduate students but also participants from England, Canada, California, Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Washington State, Maryland, and Virginia. In all, as many as 200 people are expected to attend the panels and/or participate as featured speakers.

The theme recalls LHU’s setting on the banks of the Susquehanna, the world's waterways that connect us all, and our mutual obligation to be stewards of place. Presenters employ place-based and ecocritical approaches to literature, landscapes, creative writing, travel writing, and watersheds to celebrate the places where we live and the natural environments that we share.

On October 2, conference registrants will be able to attend panels from 8:00 until 4:00 and to hear the keynote address at 4:00. The keynote speaker is James Prosek, author of numerous nonfiction works usually connected to his passion for trout fishing and advocacy for trout ecosystems. His keynote address will focus on his environmental advocacy most recently on behalf of jeopardized eel population.

Registration for the conference is $40 for graduate students, retired, and community members; $80 for professors. Walk-up registration for the EAPSU conference is possible, but attendance is limited. For information, contact Richard Van Dyke: 570-484-2497 or rvandyke@lhup.edu