Abi Curtis

Tuesday, April 2nd
7:30pm
Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall
This reading is free and open to the public.

Abi Curtis is the author of the poetry books Unexpected Weather and The Glass Delusion. Her beautifully crafted and highly accessible writing has been described by crtitics as “wondrous and unexpectedly funny.” Her work has been published in various journals and anthologies, including The London Review of Books, Magma, Ambit, Long Poem Magazine, Poetry South and Lung Jazz: Young British Poets for Oxfam.

Abi Curtis is a professor at York St. John University in England and directs their master’s programs in creative writing and literature studies.

This event will take place April 2 at 7:30 p.m. in Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall, free and open to the public. This event is sponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the English Club. Contact Professor Kathlene Postma for more information at kathlene_postma@pacificu.edu

First Novel Night

Thursday, March 7th
7:30pm
Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall
This reading is free and open to the public.

Pacific’s Visiting Writers Series continues with readings from three local authors.

NASEEM RAKHA is an award-winning author and journalist whose stories have been heard on NPR’s All Things Considered, Morning Edition, Marketplace Radio, Christian Science Monitor, and Living on Earth. Her first novel, The Crying Tree, tells the story of loss and forgiveness when a family loses a son. She lives in Oregon with her husband, son, and many animals.

LOIS LEVEEN dwells in the spaces where literature and history meet. Lois has taught at UCLA and at Reed College, and is a regular contributor to Disunion, the New York Times, and her poetry and essays have appeared in numerous books, literary journals, and on NPR. Lois’ latest novel, The Secrets of Mary Bowser, has received positive reviews from Publishers’ Weekly, Kirkus Review, and The Oregonian.

ALEXIS MARGARET SMITH, author of the novel Glaciers, grew up in Soldotna, Alaska, and Seattle, Washington. She attended Mount Holyoke College, Portland State University, and Goddard College, where she earned an MFA in Creative Writing. Her writing has appeared in Tarpaulin Sky and on Powells.com.

This event will take place on March 7th, at 7:30 pm in Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall, free and open to the public. This event is sponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the English Club.   Contact Professor Kathlene Postma for more information at kathlene_postma@pacificu.edu

Karen An-Hwei Lee

Thursday, February 21st
7:30pm
McGill Auditorium in Marsh Hall
This reading is free and open to the public.

KAREN AN-HWEI LEE is the author of Phyla of Joy, Ardor and In Medias Res, winner of the Norma Farber First Book Award.  The recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Grant, she lives and teaches in southern California, where she is a novice harpist. She earned an M.F.A. from Brown University and  Ph.D. in English from the University of California, Berkeley.

This reading will take place in McGill Auditorium in Marsh Hall on Thursday, February 21st, at 7:30 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the English Club. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Kathlene Postma at kathlene_postma@pacificu.edu.

Writing Professors Read From Their Work

Thursday, November 15th
7:30pm
Milky Way
This reading is free and open to the public.

Pacific’s Writers Series continues on November 11th, with readings by Professors Darlene Pagán, Kathlene Postma, and Brent Johnson.

DARLENE PAGÁN has recently published a chapbook of poems, Blue Ghosts, with Finishing Line Press.  Her poems have most recently appeared in journals such as Calyx, Hayden’s Ferry Review, Poet Lore, Hiram Poetry Review, and Hawaii Pacific Review.  Her essays have appeared in Memoir(and), Brevity, and Literal Latté.  She is at work on three full length projects, two in poetry, one in memoir.

In her latest fiction, KATHLENE POSTMA draws on her experiences working with orphaned children in China.   She will read a chapter from her novel draft Take Clare.  Her fiction, nonfiction and poetry have appeared in Zyzzyva, Los Angeles Review, Willow Springs, Hawaii Review, Green Mountains Review, Natural Bridge and other magazines.  She edits Silk Road Review.

BRENT JOHNSON was born and raised in East Tennessee and asks that you not hold this against him.  He received his MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Idaho and has published nonfiction essays on fly fishing, male salons, and instructional manuals on how to loaf through your early twenties.  He is also a published poet, a cyclist, a father and husband.

This event is free and open to the public. Pacific’s Writers Series is ponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the English Club. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Kathlene Postma at kathlene_postma@pacificu.edu.

Stephen Kuusisto

Thursday, October 11th
7:30pm
Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall
This reading is free and open to the public.

STEPHEN KUUSISTO is both a memoirist and poet. His works include Eavesdropping: A Memoir of Blindness and Listening, Planet of the Blind, and Only Bread, Only Light. Blind since birth, Kuusisto speaks largely on diversity, education, public policy, and disability. He has been featured in such publications as Harper’s, The New York Times Magazine, Poetry, Partisan Review, The Washington Post Magazine, and many more.

This reading will take place in Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall on Thursday, October 11th, at 7:30 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the English Club. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Kathlene Postma at kathlene_postma@pacificu.edu.

Cheryl Strayed

Thursday, May 3rd
7:30pm
Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall
This reading is free and open to the public.

CHERYL STRAYED’S memoir Wild, just released to critical acclaim, gives a vivid account of Strayed’s eleven-hundred-mile solo hike of the Pacific Crest trail when she was 26 after the death of her mother.  Her bitingly honest and compassionate nonfiction and fiction have won her recognition from sources as disparate as Poets & Writers and Vogue magazine. She is a Pushcart Prize recipient, the popular columnist “Sugar” on the TheRumpus.net, and a founder of the organization VIDA, Women in Literary Arts. Her essays and stories can be found in a wide array of journals and anthologies including The Best American Essays, Best New American Voices, and other publications.

This reading will take place in Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall on Thursday, May 3rd, at 7:30 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the English Club. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Kathlene Postma at kathlene_postma@pacificu.edu.

Debra Gwartney

Thursday, April 19th
7:30pm
Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall
This reading is free and open to the public.

DEBRA GWARTNEY is the author of of the memoir Live Through This, a harrowing story of Gwartney’s search for her two daughters who ran away from home when they were in their teens.  Live Through This was a 2009 finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the National Books for a Better Life Award and the Oregon Book Award. With her husband Barry Lopez, Gwartney is the co-editor of  Home Ground: Language for an American Landscape. Her essays have been featured in publications including American Scholar, Prairie Schooner, Salon, Crab Orchard Review, and The New York Times.

This reading will take place in Taylor Auditorium in Marsh Hall on Thursday, April 19th, at 7:30 p.m. This event is sponsored by the Department of English, the College of Arts and Sciences, and the English Club. It is free and open to the public. For more information, contact Professor Kathlene Postma at kathlene_postma@pacificu.edu.