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American writers remember WWI

Winchester Academy is celebrating its 600th Monday evening program with a presentation by Scott Emmert, professor of English at the University of Wisconsin-Fox Valley.

Emmert will discuss “American Writers Remember the First World War,” at 6:30 p.m. Monday, April 6, at the Waupaca Area Public Library.

Emmert’s says his program “will show how American writers remembered the First World War in a variety of often contradictory ways.”

Before 1914, very few writers who described war or wrote poetry about it had ever seen battle themselves. The First World War was the first time war was seen and understood by writers, by a whole generation of them, who didn’t see it remotely, but in the mud and the blood and the shrapnel.

A common subject for fiction following the war was the effect of the war on individuals and society.

“Unlike later wars, such as World War II (the ‘Good War’) and the Vietnam War (a ‘quagmire’),” Emmert said, “no single, overriding view of the First World War dominates in American culture in the post-war years, from 1918 until 1941.”

Emmert received his bachelor’s degree degree from Minnesota State University in Moorhead. He earned a master’s degree in English from the University of Iowa, as well as both a master’s degree in American Studies and a doctorate in English from Purdue University.

Emmert’s program is free and open to the public.

In celebration of Winchester Academy’s 600th Monday evening program, everyone is invited to arrive at 6 p.m. for cake and ice cream. The presentation will begin at 6:30 p.m.

Winchester Academy programs are funded through sponsors and tax-deductible donations.

Emmert’s program, however, will be sponsored by everyone who has ever donated to Winchester Academy. The Board of Trustees believes it is important to recognize that all donations, including small checks, dollars in the cookie basket, and volunteer labor stacking chairs, make up a significant portion of the annual budget, allowing Winchester Academy to continue to offer free programs.

For more information about Winchester Academy of Waupaca and the winter/spring 2015 series, check winchesteracademywaupaca.org or contact Executive Director Ann Buerger Linden at 715-258-2917 or [email protected].

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