Rutgers-Camden MFA in Creative Writing Program Hosts Second Annual Visiting Writers Series

CAMDEN – The Rutgers–Camden master of fine arts (MFA) program in creative writing announces the celebrated authors in its 2009-10 Visiting Writers Series.

All readings, which are free and open to the public, will take place at 7 p.m. in the Stedman Gallery, located in the Fine Arts Building on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge on the Rutgers–Camden Campus. A Q&A session and reception will follow each reading.

For more information, call 856-225-6021; for directions to Rutgers-Camden, visit camden.rutgers.edu.

Wednesday, September 23

Novelists Jane Allison and Ru Freeman will read.

Allison is the author of a new memoir, The Sisters Antipodes. Her debut novel, The Love-Artist, was translated into seven different languages, and The Marriage of the Sea was a New York Times Notable Book of 2003.

Freeman is a Sri Lankan-born activist whose political writing and debut novel, A Disobedient Girl, have appeared in English and in translation. Her creative work has also appeared in numerous literary magazines.

Wednesday, October 14

Poet Gabrielle Calvocoressi and novelist Daniel Alarcón will read.

Calvocoressi has been the recipient of numerous awards and fellowships, including the 2006 Book Award in Poetry for her first poetry collection, The Last Time I Saw Amelia Earhart. Apocalyptic Swing is her most recent collection.

Alarcón is the associate editor of Etiqueta Negra, an award-winning magazine published in his native Peru. He is also the author of War by Candlelight, a 2006 PEN/Hemingway award finalist, and Lost City Radio, which has been published in more than a dozen countries.

Wednesday, November 18

Novelists Lauren Grodstein and Adam Mansbach will read.

An assistant professor of English at Rutgers–Camden, Grodstein is the author of the forthcoming novel A Friend of the Family. Her previous work has been translated into many languages and her essays and stories have been widely anthologized.

Mansbach, the New Voices Professor at Rutgers–Camden, is the author of the award-winning and best-selling book Angry Black White Boy. His latest novel, The End of the Jews, won the California Book Award for Fiction.

Wednesday, December 9

Novelist Madison Smartt Bell will read.

Bell is the author of 13 novels, including the award-winning All Souls’ Rising and Doctor Sleep, which was adapted for film. His most recent novel, Devil’s Dream, is based on the career of Confederate Cavalry General Nathan Bedford Forrest.

The Visiting Writers Series will continue through the spring semester. For a complete list of the participating writers, visit the Rutgers–Camden MFA website at mfa.camden.rutgers.edu.

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Written by Courtney Preston.