Radford University’s English Club will host its Second Annual Highlander Literary Festival on Thursday, April 15, at 7:30 p.m., in McGuffey Auditorium 203. The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature writers from around the region, and will be held in conjunction with the Undergraduate/Graduate Engagement Forum, sponsored by the Honors Academy. (more…)

Local author Tom Angleberger has folded more than 1,000 Origami Yodas to promote his new kids’ book, The Stange Case of Origami Yoda. Now he’s ready to teach Star Wars fans of all ages how to make their own paper Yoda finger puppet.

We decided to ask Angleberger a few questions about his new project. (more…)

Sam G. Riley, professor of communication in the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences at Virginia Tech, has edited a new book entitled Star Struck: An Encyclopedia of Celebrity Culture. Riley’s 17th book, published by Greenwood Press (now owned by ABC-CLIO), examines America’s modern celebrity culture from various perspectives.

“This book takes a balanced look at the roles celebrity plays in our lives—how on one hand it sometimes causes us to live in a world of make believe, diverting us from more important matters,” Riley said, “but also acknowledging that the output of America’s enormous entertainment industry (including sports) very likely is our nation’s biggest export.”

Riley penned 35 of the 86 entries. Seven present or former Department of Communication faculty members contributed to Star Struck including Jimmy Ivory, Nancy Jurek, Robert Magee, Stephen Prince, Edd Sewell, John Tedseco, and Beth Waggenspack.

Small business owners and business development professionals have given high marks to the “Online Business Guidebook,” produced by Pamplin College of Business and other students at Virginia Tech. (more…)

For the second year in a row, the task of moving almost 10,000 books from Blacksburg to the NRV Mall got easier thanks to Premier Transfer and Storage, who donated use of a driver and semi truck to the cause.

Literacy Volunteers of the New River Valley (LV-NRV) is preparing for its 12^th Annual Used Book Sale at the New River Valley Mall Feb. 25-28.

The four-day sale runs during mall hours. The driver and the semi will also return on Sunday night to transfer unsold books back to Blacksburg. The books are currently being stored at the Old Blacksburg Middle School.
Many more volunteers are needed for the event so anyone interested in volunteering to help move or help during the sale is encouraged to call Literacy Volunteers of the NRV at 540.382.7262 or e-mail them at lvnrv@verizon.net. More information about the book sale can be found at www.lvnrv.org.
LV-NRV trains volunteers to tutor reading and writing to low-literate NRV adults and adults that cannot speak English.

In his new book Birthright, Virginia Tech professor of history A. Roger Ekirch brings to life an extraordinary story of intrigue and scandal, corruption, betrayal, and redemption.

Ekirch details the story of an orphaned aristocrat—freed from years of indentured labor in America to claim his rightful place as a peer of the realm—an ordeal that captivated 18th-century Britain. The saga inspired no fewer than five novels, including Robert Louis Stevenson’s classic adventure tale, Kidnapped.

Ekirch, the award-winning author of At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, recounts the conflicts of the Annesley family, evoking the scents, sights, and sounds—the ancient rituals and violent debauchery—of life in Georgian Ireland.

Birthright is based upon research in Ireland, the United Kingdom, and the United States, where Ekirch draws upon courtroom transcripts, newspapers, personal correspondence, and nearly 400 rarely seen yet remarkably detailed legal depositions. “An extraordinary work of history by one of America’s most imaginative historians, a true story more fascinating than fiction,” proclaims Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, Gordon S. Wood.

Per the publisher, W.W. Norton and Company:
“In 1728, at 12 years of age, Jemmy Annesley was kidnapped from Dublin and shipped by his uncle to the colonies as an indentured servant. Uncle Richard, his blood rival, usurped the boy’s inheritance of five aristocratic titles belonging to the mighty house of Annesley, together with sprawling estates in Ireland, England, and Wales. Only after 12 more years, in the American backwoods, did James successfully escape to Jamaica, then to England and Ireland where he set about reclaiming his birthright, all the while defying accusations of being a “pretender,” the bastard son of a maidservant, in addition to repeated attempts on his life. How, after such a long absence, in an age without DNA laboratories, fingerprint records, or photographs could an impoverished prodigal prove his identity, let alone his legitimacy? At stake during the epic trial held in Dublin—the longest in memory—was the greatest family estate ever put before a jury. Thus began a tortuous quest on the road to redemption – full of unforeseen twists and turns—followed closely by a rapt public, including George II, king of England.”

Now modern readers can experience for themselves the story of James Annesley’s journey. Ekrich’s book (W. W. Norton & Company; $24.95 cloth) will be released on Jan. 25. Ekirch will be discussing Birthright at the Library of Congress in the Mary Pickford Theater on April 15 at noon.

Jean Elliott is a communications manager for Virginia Tech’s Department of University Relations.