Hello again! Annie Hoffman here, Student Journalist for the Libraries. This is week four of online classes, and we’ve all gotten pretty adept at Zoom. Here’s what else I’ve been up to!

I am grateful for music this week! A friend and I made a playlist called Quarantunes, with all the happy songs that we need right now. If you are looking for study music, I encourage you to check out the University Libraries music collection. The Music Library offers online access to databases with audio and video of music performances, as well online scores and sheet music.

Reading Ella Minnow Pea

The University Libraries has extended due dates on library materials and is not charging overdue fees.

I’m enjoying the extra time with books I checked out early in the semester. I recommend Mark Dunn’s Ella Minnow Pea: A Novel in Letters. It’s a lipogrammatic epistolary novel about a small town that starts banning specific letters of the alphabet.

Manuscript in Kerlan Collection inspired her

Lastly, writing is an important part of my life. As the world changes around us, however, I am struggling to stay inspired.

Last month I visited the Kerlan Collection in Andersen library to view corrected typescripts for Christopher Paul Curtis’ novel The Watsons Go To Birmingham – 1963. These manuscripts are covered with notes by Curtis and his editor. They offered a powerful, tangible connection to a writer I admire and an art form I love. And they inspire me to keep writing so that I can publish a book someday.

I’ll check in again as the weather gets warmer and I get to spend more time reading outside. Stay home, stay healthy, and keep reading!

—Annie Hoffman