KSC Hosts Readings by Published Writers
KEENE, N.H. 7/20/04 - Seven writers will present public readings during a weeklong Writers Conference at Keene State College Aug. 1-8. Published authors, some of whom teach at Keene State, will read from their works of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction during five afternoon sessions.
Unless otherwise noted, each hour-long session begins at 4:30 p.m. in the Mountain View Room of the Lloyd P. Young Student Center on the KSC campus. Receptions follow the readings on Monday and Wednesday. All readings and receptions are free and open to the public. For further information, contact Keene State’s Continuing Education and Summer Session Office at 603-358-2290.
Monday, Aug. 2: Jack Driscoll, who has written four books of poems, a collection of short stories, and three novels, will read selection from his works. His novel Lucky Man, Lucky Woman won the 1998 Pushcart Book Editors Award and the Independent Book Publishers Award. His story collection, Wanting Only to be Heard, was the recipient of an Associated Writing Programs Award for short fiction. His newest novel, How Like an Angel, will be published this year. Driscoll is currently writer-in-residence at Interlochen Center for the Arts in Michigan.
Tuesday, Aug. 3: Jeff Friedman and Debra Kang Dean will read poetry. Friedman, a Keene State English instructor, is the author of four books of poetry and is anthologized widely in dozens of literary magazines. In addition to Keene State, he has taught writing on campuses from the University of Iowa to Washington University. Dean, who lives in Peterborough, is the author of News of Home, co-winner of the Sheila Margaret Motton Award of the New England Poetry Club. Her poems have been anthologized in The Best American Poems 1999 and The New American Poets: A Bread Loaf Anthology, and other volumes. Dean recently completed a book-length manuscript called “Precipitates.”
Wednesday, Aug. 4, Madison Street Lounge, Young Student Center: Joseph Monninger, the author of eight novels, two nonfiction works, and numerous stories and articles, will read his nonfiction. An associate professor of English at Plymouth State University, Monninger is also a fishing guide and recently released his first memoir, Home Waters: Fishing with an Old Friend, about fishing with his dog Nellie. Among his novels are Mather and Viper Tree.
Thursday, Aug. 5: Ellen Lesser, who is the author of three novels and a collection of short stories, will read fiction. Her fiction, essays, and interviews have appeared in the Village Voice, the Missouri Review, the Mississippi Review, Epoch, and other magazines. Her stories have been performed on National Public Radio and anthologized in Houghton Mifflin’s Images of Women in Literature. She teaches writing at Vermont College and has taught at the Indiana University, Mt. Holyoke, and Stonecoast summer writers conferences.
Friday, Aug. 6, Rhodes Hall room 203: Lesle Lewis and William Doreski will read poetry. Lewis, who teaches at Landmark College in Putney, Vt., won the 2002 Iowa Poetry Prize for her volume Small Boats. Her poems have appeared in journals including American Letters & Commentary and Barrow Street. Doreski, who teaches creative writing at Keene State, has published seven collections of poetry including Pianos in the Woods, Suburban Light, and books of literary criticism and memoir.
Keene State’s Writers Conference is an intensive residency program for established writers and teachers who wish to polish their skills and/or improve their students’ writing. The conference offers workshops in three genres - fiction, poetry, or creative nonfiction - and participants meet individually with instructors and visiting writers, attend readings, and have time to write on their own.
