Montana Committee for the Humanities June, 2004, E-Newsletter

Welcome to the Montana Committee for the Humanities monthly e-newsletter. Here you will find links to MCH, Montana Center for the Book, and Montana Festival of the Book news, grant guidelines and deadlines, calendar of events, and much more. Please send queries, address corrections, changes, subscription and unsubscription requests, etc., to Mark Sherouse .

MCH Receives NEH “We The People” Grant

The Montana Committee for the Humanities has received a $43,500 “We The People” http://www.wethepeople.gov/ grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov/ . The grant will support a variety of programs in American history in 2004 and 2005, through the Speakers Bureau, grants, OpenBook, One Book Montana, and other programs.

High Plains Bookfest, July 9-11

The High Plains Bookfest, one of several book festivals around the state for which MCH provides grant support, will occur July 9-11 in Billings. Full information on the three-day literary celebration is at the Downtown Billings Cultural Partners High Plains Bookfest website http://www.downtownbillings.com/PARTNERSHIP/bcpartners/bookfest1.htm .

Montana Festival of the Book, September 30-October 2

“The first rule about bookfest is that you don’t talk about bookfest.” Well, not exactly. We will say that this year’s Montana Festival of the Book will feature Chuck Palahniuk, Chris Crutcher, Mark Spragg, Landon Jones, James Lee Burke, Marcus Stevens, Pete Fromm, Sharon Butala, William Kittredge, Guy Vanderhaeghe, Diane Smith, and scores of other writers, scholars, publishers, civic and cultural leaders. The Festival’s festivities will kick off Thursday evening, September 30, with a special edition of National Public Radio’s popular “Selected Shorts” program, presented in association with Montana Public Radio. The full schedule of events will appear in August at the Festival website http://www.bookfest-mt.org/ .

Lewis and Clark Scholar-in-Residence 2004

The Portage Route Chapter of the Lewis and Clark Heritage Trail Foundation, with support from MCH, will feature five weekly lectures, a seminar at the annual L&C Festival in Great Falls, and talks in Helena, Chester, Kalispell, Billings, and Dillon, by Dr. Jay Buckley, on the significance of William Clark and his work in the historic times leading up to and following the Louisiana Purchase. The presentations will occur June 21-July 23, 2004. For further information check the MCH event calendar (see below) or contact Dale Gorman at 452-4822.

Governor’s Humanities Awards Nominations Requested

At its September 11-12 meeting in Missoula, the Committee will consider nominations for the 2005 Montana Governor’s Humanities Awards http://www.humanities-mt.org/governor.htm , to be presented in the Capitol Rotunda in Helena in February, 2005. Deadline for nominations is August 20, 2004.

Fellowship and Book Subvention Grant Deadlines

August 20, 2004, is the deadline for 2005 MCH fellowship http://www.humanities-mt.org/fellowship.htm and book subvention http://www.humanities-mt.org/mtpublinit.htm grant proposals. Funds for these grants will be available for projects beginning November 1, 2004. Other grant proposal deadlines and guidelines are on the website http://www.humanities-mt.org/Grants.htm .

2004 One Book Montana

MCH and the Montana Center for the Book have announced that James Welch’s novel Fools Crow will be the 2004 One Book Montana selection. Read more from the media release http://www.montanabook.org/onebook.htm . Discussion guides and other materials will appear on the One Book Montana website http://www.montanabook.org/onebook.htm in July. If your book group or organization is reading Fools Crow, please let us know .

Help Plan the Future of Public Humanities in Montana

2004 is MCH’s quintennial planning year and will include a Self-Study and visit from NEH in September. You can help us understand Montana’s needs, review and assess our programs, and chart MCH’s future course by completing the 2004 MCH Public Questionnaire http://www.humanities-mt.org/questionnaire.htm .

Calendar of MCH and Montana Center for the Book Events

Looking for a Speakers Bureau program, an OpenBook session, or other MCH event nearby? Check the regularly updated MCH calendar of events http://www.humanities-mt.org/calendar.htm .

For More Information…

The Montana Committee for the Humanities is Montana’s independent nonprofit affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities http://www.neh.gov/ . Much more information on MCH, the Montana Center for the Book, the Montana Festival of the Book, and our many other programs and services, is available on our websites, http://www.humanities-mt.org, http://www.montanabook.org, http://www.bookfest-mt.org, and http://www.civicmontana.org. Write us at 311 Brantly, The University of Montana, Missoula, MT, 59812, or at , or call us at 406-243-6022, toll-free in Montana, 800-624-6001.