A presentation by British novelist Rachel Seiffert on May 30 will highlight Spalding University’s upcoming Festival of Contemporary Writing, the state’s largest fall-spring reading series. It will take place May 26-June 1 and also feature faculty and alumni of Spalding’s low-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing program.
Seiffert, the MFA program’s Distinguished Visiting Writer, is one of the most critically acclaimed contemporary novelists in the United Kingdom. Her book The Dark Room, which is about the Holocaust and the Third Reich, was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize in 2001. Her 2017 novel, A Boy in Winter, which also explores the Holocaust and World War II, was among The New York Times’ 100 Notable Books of last year. She’s also written Field Study, a collection of short stories published in 2004, and the novels Afterwards (2007) and The Walk Home (2014).
Festival events will be held at Spalding’s Egan Leadership Center and the Brown Hotel, as noted below. Free parking is available for the campus readings. All readings and events are free and ticketless.
4:00-4:45 p.m. Saturday, May 26. (Egan Leadership Center, 901 S. Fourth St.)
Robin Lippincott (fiction, creative nonfiction), In the Meantime; Blue Territory; Rufus + Syd
Larry Brenner (playwriting, screenwriting), Saving Throw vs. Love
Jody Lisberger (fiction), Remember Love
Michael Roberts (playwriting), Goldstein
4:45-5:45 p.m. Sunday, May 27. (Egan Leadership Center, 901 S. Fourth St.)
Dianne Aprile (creative nonfiction), The Book: A Collaboration with Photographer Julius Friedman
Charlie Schulman (playwriting, screenwriting), Goldstein
Beth Bauman (writing for children & young adults), Jersey Angel
Crystal Wilkinson (fiction), The Birds of Opulence
Kathleen Driskell (poetry), Blue Etiquette
5:30-6:45 p.m. Monday, May 28. Celebration of Recently Published Books by Faculty. Book signing to follow. Books provided by Follett Bookstore. (Egan Leadership Center, 901 S. Fourth St.)
Douglas Manuel (poetry), Testify
Lesléa Newman (poetry, writing for children and young adults), Lovely
Pete Duval (fiction), Strange Mercies
Kiki Petrosino (poetry), Witch Wife
5:30-6:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 29. Selected readings by MFA alumni. (Egan Leadership Center, 901 S. Fourth St.)
Sonja de Vries (’09), The Hour of Departure
Danette Haworth (’16), A Whole Lot of Lucky
Michael Premo (’14)
Janet Harrison (’16)
Kelly Hill (’13)
Leslie Lynch (’17), Hijacked
5:30-6:30 p.m. Wednesday, May 30. Distinguished Visiting Writer presentation. Book signing to follow. Books provided by Follett Bookstore. (Egan Leadership Center, 901 S. Fourth St.)
Rachel Seiffert, The Dark Room
5:30-6:45 p.m. Friday, June 1. Celebration of Recently Published Books by Alumni. Book signing to follow. Books provided by Carmichael’s. (Brown Hotel, 1st fl., Citation Room, 335 W. Broadway)
Erin Chandler (’17), June Bug vs. Hurricane
Holly Gleason (’15), Woman Walk the Line: How the Women of Country Music Changed Our Lives
Gayle Hanratty (’06), Gray Hampton
R.J. Harris (’12), The Spirit Breather
Claudia Love Mair (’17), Don’t You Fall Now
Aimee Mackovic (’05), Love Junky
Barbara Sabol (’10), Solitary Spin
Sara Truitt (’15), More: A Memoir of Hungers
The reading schedule may change without notice. Check Facebook for updated information: Facebook.com/SpaldingMFA. For more information, call 502-873-4400 or email [email protected].
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About Spalding’s MFA in Writing: Recognized as a top-10 program of its kind by Poets & Writers, Spalding’s four-semester, low-residency MFA in Writing program offers concentrations in fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, writing for children and young adults, screenwriting and playwriting. Students begin the semester in the spring, summer or fall with a residency in Louisville or abroad, then return home for an independent study with a faculty mentor for the rest of the semester. Students may customize the location, season and pace of their studies. A post-baccalaureate certificate in creative writing is also available. See spalding.edu/mfa for more information.