News release Public Information Office   SLU 10880   Hammond, LA 70402   phone: 985-549-2341   fax: 985-549-2061 publicinfo@selu.edu     www.selu.edu/news Contact: Christina Chapple Date: 3/21/03   Click on image for publication quality photo Left, Southeastern graduate and author Olympia Vernon WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH CONCLUDES WITH LECTURES, AUTHOR       HAMMOND -- The final events of Southeastern Louisiana University’s Women’s History Month celebration will include four faculty lectures, a special dance performance, and a talk by a Southeastern graduate who has written a critically-acclaimed first novel.       Sponsored by the Southeastern Women’s Coalition, the Women’s History Month events are free.       The lecture series hosted by the Department of History and Political Science continues on Monday, March 24, with history professor Judith Fai-Podlipnik’s "Keeping up Appearances--European Women, Power  and Beauty." On Tuesday, March 25, her colleague Andrew Traver will discuss "Women and Heresy in Thirteenth Century France." The month’s final lectures will be presented on Thursday, March 27, by Monique Rhodes Monac, whose timely topic is "Women and War," and Monday, March 31, by History and Political Science Department head Bill Robison, who will talk on "Power Behind the Throne -- Medieval English Queens."         The lectures are all scheduled for 12:30 p.m. on the third floor of Sims Memorial Library.       At noon on Wednesday, March 26, in the War Memorial Student Union Ballroom, Southeastern dance faculty member Greta Sharp and her dance company, Sharp Edges, will present  "Hereafter Known as….a Study in Losing and Gaining Definition."       According to Sharp, “The performance leaves one with a feeling of hope and light. It speaks to every woman. It asks the question how do we define ourselves now in 2003? ”        Dancers include Sharp, Karolena Belak and Michele Cudd, Hammond; Dianna Figueroa, Covington; Lesley Kernan, Prairieville, and Stacie Sabathe, Chalmette.        Also on Wednesday at 12:30 p.m. in the Student Union Theatre, Southeastern graduate Olympia Vernon will read from her new novel, “Eden.” She will autograph books after  her presentation.       Vernon’s novel conjures a world that is both intoxicating and cruel, and illuminates the bittersweet transformation of the young girl who must bear the burden and blessing of its secrets too soon. Critics have called “Eden” “a haunting, memorable novel propelled by the poetry and power of a voice that is complex, lyrical, and utterly true.”       Vernon, who grew up in Mt. Hermon and Osyka, Miss., gives credit to her Southeastern English professors, William Dowie and Carole McAllister, for encouraging her writing talent. Her original career goal was law enforcement, “They took time to tell me that I had it, that I was a writer,” Vernon said. “Now thousands and millions of people share all these things that came out of one breath.”       McAllister said Vernon’s writing “had the originality, the passion and the eye for detail that made me absolutely stop in my tracks.”       For additional information about Women’s History Month events, contact McAllister at 985-549-2044 or Mary Pirosko at 985-549-2330. Return to News Releases