The English department’s third contribution to Fanfare in the 2010 school year featured two of its members, Alison Pelegrin and Dr. Norman German.

Both read excerpts from some of their published works, Pelegrin from some of her poetry collections and German from one of his novels.

Pelegrin read several poems, including some from her most recent volume of poetry “Big Muddy River of Stars,” which won the Akron Poetry Prize. The prize, according to the Akron University Web site, is meant for writers who speak in “original and compelling voices.”

Some titles of her poetry included “Hurricane Party,” “Louisiana,” “Your Psychic Powers and How To Develop Them” and “The Family Jewels.”

Pelegrin’s poems highlighted not only miscellaneous times and thoughts from her life, but also many thoughts about her experiences during and the in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Louisiana culture and one poem about the recent oil spill.

German read a chapter from his episodic book entitled “A Savage Wisdom,” a fictional work that is based on the life of criminal Annie Beatrice McQuiston. McQuiston eventually went by the name Toni Jo Henry and was the only woman to ever be executed in Louisiana’s electric chair after being convicted as the murderer of Joseph P. Calloway.

German described his work as illustrating an innocent girl who was deceived and manipulated and eventually went bad and called his work “a study in deception.” According to German, each chapter in the book is an episode that highlights this theme.

“As a Louisiana native I enjoyed both readings,” said Christopher Cook, an English graduate student. “The details from the poems were just dead-on and definitely resonated with me.”

Both writers were born in Louisiana. Pelegrin, born in Gretna, has authored two poetry collections and three chapbooks and has been featured in “Poetry Daily,” “Writer’ s Almanac” and many literary journals.

German, a native of Lake Charles, has taught at Southeastern for 23 years and has written four books and many short stories that frequently appear in magazines such as “Shenandoah,” “Virginia Quarterly Review,” “Salt Water Sportsman” and “Sports Fishing.” German is also a winner of the university’s prestigious President’s Award for Excellence in Artistic Activity.

“I have Dr. German for English class,” said Courtney Donald, a sophomore and business management major. “I’ve heard about his book before, talking in English class. It was really interesting. I really didn’t know what to expect, but it was a pleasant surprise.”

“I really enjoyed the poetry,” Taylor Buckner, a sophomore double majoring in history and Spanish. “I got to learn a lot about Louisiana. I like how [Pelegrin] interpreted her emotions about going through Katrina as opposed to those who only heard about it.”