It’s a busy week for the Seward County Community College’s Humanities Division with two events.

First up is an Open Mic Night tonight at 8:30 p.m. Readings and performances are requested to honor National Hispanic Heritage Month, but anything is welcome. The event will be hosted on zoom. Contact [email protected] for more information.

On Thursday, Janice Northerns will celebrate the release of her new book with poetry reading at 7 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theater. The Liberal resident is a former English instructor at SCCC. She will read selections from her collection of poems entitled “Some Electric Hum” followed by a book signing.

“I am excited to share poems from my new book for the first time at SCCC, which has been such a big part of my life for the last decade,” Northerns said. “I’m also grateful to the folks at the college for arranging an in-person reading that can be done safely.”

Following state and SCCC guidelines, the event will be limited to 45 people, masks will be required, and social distancing will be observed.

“The Fine Arts Theater has plenty of room for 45 people to social distance, so I feel comfortable doing an in-person reading,” Northerns said. “Right now, plenty of spots are left, so I would encourage anyone who’s interested to call and make a reservation,” she added.

The poems in Some Electric Hum are set in Kansas and Texas and interrogate gender and social norms against the backdrop of a stark rural landscape. These brave and carefully crafted poems explore topics of coming of age, womanhood, immigration and human rights.

“My poems are narrative, meaning they tell a story, so I think even folks who don’t consider themselves poetry fans might enjoy the book,” Northerns said.

Janice Northerns taught English at SCCC from 2008 until her retirement in 2019. She and her husband, Bill McGlothing, have lived in Liberal since 1998. Prior to teaching at SCCC, she taught English for USD 480 from 2002 to 2008 and worked for the Southwest Daily Times from 1998 until 2002, first as a reporter and later as managing editor.

The author grew up on a farm in rural West Texas and holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Texas Tech University, where she studied with acclaimed poets Walt McDonald and William Wenthe. Her poetry has been widely published in literary journals and has won numerous awards. Some Electric Hum is her first full-length collection. For more information, visit her web site at www.janicenortherns.com.

The Oct. 8 event will feature Northerns reading selections from her book for around 30 minutes, followed by a brief question and answer session. She will sign books afterwards. Copies of Some Electric Hum will be for sale at the reading for $15.

The event is free and open to the public, but those interested should reserve seats by calling Terri Barnes at 620-417-1451 or emailing her at [email protected]. The event will also be livestreamed on Facebook on the SCCC Humanities Division Facebook page.