# valerie (blogs) — RSS Amplifier Recent posts from the 1 feeds in the RSS Amplifier directory that cover valerie. Page: Feed: --- ## [What I’m Reading: July 2026](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12310) _2026-08-02 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Conquering the Canon by Scott Kaiser You can find my review here. An excellent look at Kaiser’s career, the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and the craft of theatre. The Quiet Boy by Ben H. Winters I’ve been a Ben Wibter’s fan Continue reading ## [Review of Conquering the Canon by Scott Kaiser](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12304) _2026-07-09 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Scott Kaiser aimed to be part of all of Shakespeare’s play—38 of them, if you don’t count The Reign of King Edward III. It’s a quest he started on in high school and with what must be a much-dog-eared copy Continue reading ## [What I’m Reading, May-June 2026](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12297) _2026-06-29 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ I’ve taken a break from academic reading for much of May and June, preparing myself for summer mode: Revenge Prey by John Sanford – Russian spies and an engaging CIA agent. I always enjoy Sanford, but did not feel this Continue reading ## [Review of How Deeply Human is Language: Chomsky, The Brain, and the AI Fantasy by Yosef Grodzinsky](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12293) _2026-06-11 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Review of How Deeply Human is Language: Chomsky, The Brain, and the AI Fantasy by Yosef Grodzinsky In this short and lucid work, Grodzinsky (Director of the Neurolinguistics Lab at the Edmond and Lily Safra Center for the Brain Sciences) Continue reading ## [Review The Politics of Language by David Beaver and Jason Stanley](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12289) _2026-05-14 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ The Politics of Language by David Beaver and Jason Stanley Published in 2025, The Politics of Language, by David Beaver and Jason Stanley convincingly makes the case that most speech has ideological meaning and that the connotations of words evoke Continue reading ## [What I’m reading March and April 2026](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12283) _2026-05-09 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Muscle Man by Jordan Castro A colleague who I run into the gym recommended this. It’s the quirky story of Harold, an unhappy literature professor who finds solace from a mundane career in weight lifting. The key scenes are his Continue reading ## [Review of Valerie Fridland, Why We Talk Funny](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12265) _2026-04-23 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Review of Valerie Fridland, Why We Talk Funny Contrary to popular belief, we’ve all got an accent. In Why We Talk Funny, linguist Valerie Fridland digs deep into the notion of accent, offering an engaging tale of how they arise, Continue reading ## [An Interview with Valerie Fridland, author of Why We Talk Funny](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12268) _2026-04-22 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Valerie Fridland is a professor of linguistics in the English Department at the University of Nevada, Reno and the author of Like Literally Dude: Arguing for the Good in Bad English and the 2026 release Why We Talk Funny: The Continue reading ## [An Interview with Renee Owen, author of Becoming a Transformative Leader from the Inside Out](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12274) _2026-04-14 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Renee Owen is an associate professor in the SOU School of Education and the co-author of a recently released book titled Becoming a Transformative Leader from the Inside Out (Bloomsbury Publishing, November 2025). Owen earned her bachelor of fine arts degree Continue reading ## [100,000 Bonus Points Await You (Sponsored)](https://crawlproof.com/a/NgRZIaJIHsl1) _2026-04-14 · **Sponsored**_ Earn 100,000 bonus points after spending $5,000 in the first 3 months. ## [Interview with Michelle St. Romain, author of Song of Belonging](https://literaryashland.org/?p=12259) _2026-03-13 · Ed Battistella · Welcome to Literary Ashland_ Michelle St. Romain is the co-author of two poetry collections, Promised Fruit and Water’s Edge, and her debut novel, Song of Belonging, will be released in April 2026 by She Writes Press St. Romain earned a B.A. in English from Continue reading