Susan B. Anthony, Harriet Tubman, Marie Curie, Helen Keller, Margaret Thatcher. When thinking of strong females who changed history, perhaps one of these names comes to mind. What about powerful women in literature? Any of Jane Austen's female characters, Shakespeare's Juliet or Nathaniel Hawthorne's Hester Prynne might come to mind. But Sydney Aboul-Hosn, a senior lecturer comparative literature at Penn State, sees strength in female characters oftentimes overlooked.

The Penn State Americanist group will be holding the event "Writing the Americas, Writing World Literature" at 6:30 p.m. on April 11 in 112 of the Kern Building on Penn State's University Park campus. The event will feature a symposium on literature of the Americas today with renowned authors Luisa Valenzuela, Joao Almino, and Zulfikar Ghose. The event is open to everyone and there will be a reception to follow. For more information, contact Dawn Taylor (dit5003@psu.edu) or Leisa Rothlisberger (lxr240@psu.edu) or visit http://www.clubs.psu.edu/up/psuamericanists/PSU%20Americanists%202009/sp... online.

Edgar Allan Poe is considered the inventor of the modern detective story, and like Poe's fictional detective Dupin, Richard Kopley's tireless and focused investigations have uncovered innovative discoveries about Poe the writer, and Poe the man. Kopley, distinguished professor of English at Penn State DuBois, presents a concentrated and original view of the timeless works of Edgar Allan Poe. Author of the book "Edgar Allan Poe and the Dupin Mysteries," Kopley's understanding of Poe is the result of years of diligent research and analysis. His work reveals some unique insights about Poe's sources of inspiration and his creative process.

How did you first become interested in your specialty?

I became interested in Poe in around 1977, when I was a graduate student at SUNY Buffalo reading The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym with Leslie Fiedler. I was amazed by the mysterious vision at the end of the novel and convinced that there was a solution to be found. It took me nine years to work it out.

What is the most exciting or fascinating part of your job?

A team of researchers, including John Johnson, Penn State DuBois professor of psychology, have discovered that literature may inspire readers to be ethical members of society. "As an evolutionary psychologist," said Johnson, "I am especially interested in the impact of literature on the emotions of the reader, and in what function these emotions serve."