Grace College’s School of Arts & Humanities will host two upcoming free and open-to-the-public events. On Thursday, April 23, at 7 p.m., the Institute for Global Studies brings the film “MALENKIJ” to the Little Theater. A Q&A with Hungarian film director and historian István Pekár will follow. Then, on Thursday, April 30, at 7 p.m., award-winning poet and essayist Beth Ann Fennelly will read from her book, “The Irish Goodbye: Micro-Memoirs” in the Grace College Morgan Library.
“The School of Arts & Humanities values bringing talented artists such as Pekár and Fennelly to our campus,” said Dr. Kim Reiff, dean of the School of Arts & Humanities. “Through their works, our worldviews expand, and we are given a new lens to see through, which is an invaluable gift to our students, faculty, staff and greater community.”
The 35-minute film, “MALENKIJ,” is set in Berlin, Germany, in May 1945 and follows Ferenc Ling, who secretly takes his brother’s place in forced labor. His sacrifice leaves deep wounds in his struggling family as Soviet authorities spread terror throughout the community.
“István Pekár’s Malenkij is an incredibly beautiful short film that has great relevance to our world today,” said Dr. Lindsey Richter, director of the Institute for Global Studies at Grace. “Influenced by such greats as Tarkovsky and Bresson, he has a cinematographer’s eye for the perfect framing to tell a deeply important story. We’re so blessed to have this director in our midst for a few months here at Grace College.”
Pekár is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in history. Drawing on classical cinema, his films explore historical memory, faith, identity and trauma. He has won awards at international film festivals across Europe, Asia and the United States.
Beth Ann Fennelly, Poet Laureate of Mississippi from 2016-2021, has also received international honors, including a Fulbright to Brazil. Fennelly teaches in the MFA Program at the University of Mississippi, where she has won four teaching awards. She’s also received grants from the National Education Association, the United States Artists and the Academy of American Poets.
“I met Beth Ann Fennelly in 2004 when we were both fellows at the Sewanee Writers Conference,” said Grace College English Professor John Poch. “While her poems have long been praised for their honesty, beauty, humor and attention to the line, now she is getting a great deal of attention for her powerful, brief essays. I recently listened to one of her interviews on NPR. It was such a delight to hear her discuss about where these essays come from and how they took shape. What a privilege it will be to have her at Grace.”
The reading is the fifth installment of Grace College’s Lila Carson Lecture Series, a donor-funded initiative of the School of Arts & Humanities. The series promotes the understanding and beauty of literature by bringing writers of national and international repute each spring to Grace and inspiring students and faculty to be creative and excel in the literary arts.
Books will be available at the event, but they can also be ordered in advance at www.amazon.com/Irish-Goodbye-Micro-Memoirs-Beth-Fennelly/dp/1324117400.
For more information about the Lila Carson Lecture Series at Grace College, go to www.grace.edu/academics/undergraduate/academic-schools-departments/school-of-arts-and-humanities/department-of-humanities/lila-carson-lecture-series/. To learn about the School of Arts & Humanities at Grace, go to www.grace.edu/academics/academic-schools-departments/school-of-arts-and-humanities/.
