Major Conlang Exhibit at Cleveland Public Library

From May through August, Cleveland Public Library will
be presenting a ground-breaking exhibit entitled
“Esperanto, Elvish, and Beyond: The World of
Constructed Languages” at the Main Library, 325
Superior Avenue East, Cleveland, Ohio.

The exhibit celebrates constructed languages and those
who take part in the art and craft of conlanging. Don
Boozer, a former librarian in the Literature
Department at Cleveland Public Library and now the
statewide online reference services coordinator for
Ohio, organized the exhibit and wrote the majority of
the text and captions. However, conlangers from around
the world graciously submitted photos and biographies
for the exhibit including Suzette Haden Elgin, Marc
Okrand, John Quijada, David J. Peterson, Doug Ball,
Carsten Becker, Måns Björkman, Sonja Elen Kisa, and
many others. Proofreading was kindly done by
conlangers in Britain, Australia, Canada, and the
United States. The project was truly a collaborative
effort encompassing several continents. A companion
booklet will also be available at the exhibit: “A
Conlanger’s Bookshelf” compiled by Don Boozer. A
selection of conlanging resources is available at
http://del.icio.us/CPL_languages_imaginary.

Encompassing the entire exhibition corridor of the
second floor of the Main Library in downtown
Cleveland, the display encompasses six large cases,
two smaller cases, and two flat panel cases. The six
large cases contain:
- “Conlangers’ Inspiration: Languages & Linguistics”
includes information on phonology, affixes, word
order, noun classes, and more.
- “Early Conlangs and Universal Languages: From
Ancient Greece to 20th-Century America” highlights
early conlangers and language theorists like Plato (in
“Cratylus”), Athenaeus of Naucratis (in “The
Deipnosophists”); St. Hildegarde of Bingen; Lewis
Carroll; Jonathan Swift; Edward Powell Foster and
James Ruggles of Ohio; and more.
- “The Shakespeare of Conlangs: J.R.R. Tolkien”
includes a timeline of Tolkien’s life and work; Quenya
and Sindarin highlights; the significance of his essay
“A Secret Vice”; biographies of Helge Fauskanger, Måns
Björkman, and David Salo; and much more.
- “International Conlangs: Esperanto & Other Auxiliary
Languages” covers the development of Esperanto, a
photo and biography of L.L. Zamenhof, the history of
Amikejo “the Esperanto nation that almost was,” two
native-speaking Esperantists, some phrases and
grammar, and more.
- “The Warrior’s Conlang: Klingon” highlights tlhIngan
Hol a brief introduction to the language and alphabet,
photos and biographies of Lawrence Schoen and Marc
Okrand, the Klingon Language Institute, the Klingon
Translation Project, the “art” of Klingon cursing, and
much more.
- “Meet the Conlangers: The World-wide Community of
Language Creators” introduces viewers to Suzette Haden
Elgin, Sonja Elen Kisa, David J. Peterson, Mark “The
Zompist” Rosenfelder, Sai Emrys, Carsten Becker, and
several other well-known conlangers as well as
provides information on the Conlang Flag, the Language
Creation Conferences, CONLANG-L, and more.
One smaller case at the beginning of the exhibit
provides an introduction to the subject for the
public. The other smaller case includes conlangs in
films and fiction other than the “big three”
(Esperanto, Elvish, and Klingon).

One flat panel includes a Conlang Glossary and “The
Conlanger’s Manifesto” (courtesy of David J.
Peterson). The other includes a collection of Babel
Texts in various conlangs and English.

Parking is available in several garages and surface
lots surrounding the library. For more information,
call the Literature Department at Cleveland Public
Library at 216-623-2881 or by contacting Don Boozer at
donaldboozer@yahoo.com. Photographs of the exhibit
will be forthcoming and access to these will be posted
in a subsequent posting to CONLANG.



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