Four upcoming events at Midwestern State University will provide an opportunity for the community to gain a deeper appreciation for the avian world and the “Birds in Art” exhibition currently on display at the Wichita Falls Museum of Art at MSU Texas.

The James Hoggard Reading Series and Speakers & Issues will present Dr. Jennie Case, Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Central Arkansas, at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12, at the WFMA. She will read from her memoire, Sawbill: A Search for Place.

Case grew up along the river valleys of Minnesota, in a family that took weekend backpacking trips on Lake Superior’s Superior Hiking Trail. The North Shore’s red rock, pine, and lichen have continued to resonate with her even after moving to Nebraska, where she earned a master’s degree in poetry, and upstate New York, where her doctoral work focused on creative nonfiction, environmental writing, and place-based composition. As a writer, teacher, and scholar, she is interested in the ways the landscapes and environments around us – whether urban or rural, natural or human-made – influence who we are in the world, as well as the effects of writing and story on place-attachment.

Case’s essays, poetry, and prose have appeared in journals such as Orion, ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment, Zone 3, North American Review, Poet Lore, and Stone Canoe, which awarded her work the 2014 Allen and Nirelle Galson Prize in Fiction. She serves as the assistant nonfiction editor of Terrain.org, a nonprofit literary magazine.

On Saturday, Feb. 15, Dr. Marcy Brown Marsden, Dean of the McCoy College of Science, Mathematics & Engineering, and Associate Professor of Biology, will instruct visitors in the Audubon Great Backyard Bird Count at 10 a.m. at the WFMA plaza at Sikes Lake. The nationwide count is held annually for one weekend in February. The count is an event, held Feb. 14-17, in which birdwatchers of all ages and levels can participate.

Also on Saturday, the WFMA will host a free walk-in art lesson on watercolor birds from 1:30-4:30 p.m. The lesson is part of Weekend Workshops, free walk-in art lessons for the public ages 7-adult.

On Thursday, Feb. 20, the WFMA will present “Art and Literature Bear Witness to Nature” with artist and poet Judith Segura at 6 p.m. in the WFMA art lounge. Segura is a private consultant who advises clients on history and archives projects, historical exhibits, and fine art acquisition and installation. She has written a history of Dallas-based media corporation A.H. Belo, Belo: From Newspapers to New Media. Her poetry was selected for the Dallas Area Rapid Transit “Poetry in Motion” project. She is also a visual artist with a commissioned public art project for the University of North Texas at Dallas, incorporating three of her designs into the architectural planning of the permanent campus.

These events are free and open to the public. Contact Dr. John Schulze at 940-397-6249 for more information on the James Hoggard Reading Series, or call the WFMA at 940-397-8900 for more information.

About the Hoggard Reading Series

James Hoggard retired in 2013 as the Perkins-Prothro Distinguished Professor of English after teaching at MSU since 1966. In honor of his contributions to MSU Texas, Wichita Falls, and the broader literary community, the James Hoggard Reading Series brings award-winning writers and poets from across the nation to campus. Visiting writers give a public reading of their creative work and interact with students in the classroom, providing valuable insight and guidance into the world of publishing, contemporary literature, and the writing life. It is supported by the Bryan L. Lawrence Endowment; the Department of English, Humanities, & Philosophy; and the Prothro-Yeager College of Humanities and Social Sciences.

About Speakers & Issues

The Speakers and Issues Series began in 2001 with the idea of bringing informed and creative speakers to the academic and municipal communities. Since then, more than 20 speakers have come to MSU from all corners of the country. It is supported by the Libra Foundation, MSU’s Prothro-Yeager College of Humanities and Social Sciences, the Wichita Falls Times Record News, KCCU-FM NPR Radio, and KFDX-TV3.