Literary events on tap for autumn MFA residency

Community invited to attend MFA program lectures, readings this fall

Contact: David Axelrod | Professor of English/Writing
541-962-3633  | daxelrod@eou.edu

September 29, 2014

LA GRANDE, Ore. (EOU) – Another two weeks of literary events related to Eastern Oregon University’s innovative low-residency Master of Fine Arts degree are on tap for October.

Twice a year, EOU’s MFA Program sponsors a two-week series of graduate-level workshops and seminars in creative writing. The program also invites writers and scholars to deliver readings, craft talks, lectures and panels.

Oregon East editor and MFA student Theresa Hammon kicks things off Monday Oct. 6, hosting the annual Oregon East Gala celebrating the publication of this year’s magazine.

The Gala starts at 7 p.m. in the Alumni Room in Ackerman Hall and includes readings by published students writers and art talks by published student artists. It also features music by EOU music major and published fiction writer Trever Clark.

The following day, MFA faculty member Jennifer Boyden delivers a lecture on “White Space and Collaboration” at 1 p.m. Oct. 7 in the Alumni Room.

EOU English faculty member Nancy Knowles will lecture on “Write Now: Youth and Community Writing Activities” at 11 a.m., Oct. 8 in the Hoke Union Building, Room 301.

At 7:30 that evening, MFA faculty will join the irrepressible Lidia Yuknavitch for a panel moderated by MFA director David Axelrod in the Alumni Room.

Axelrod will also be speaking at 1 p.m. Oct. 9 in the Alumni Room, where he will discuss “Poetry and ‘Philosophical Faith.’”

At 11 a.m. Oct. 10, MFA faculty member Carter Sickels lectures “On Intimacy and Writing” in Zabel Hall, Room 109.

That evening, MFA faculty member Justin Hocking will give a reading from Herman Melville’s “Moby Dick” and discuss its influence on his memoir, “The Great Floodgates of the Wonderworld.” Hocking’s reading will be in the Alumni Room.

Week two of the autumn residency will feature several visiting writers delivering lectures and readings.

Kerry James Evans, veteran and former combat engineer in the Army National Guard, will discuss “The Poet’s Vision” in the Alumni Room at 11 a.m., Oct. 13.

At 1 p.m., Travis Mossotti will deliver a lecture on “The Poet’s Market,” also in the Alumni Room.

That evening, Evans and Mossotti will read together from their recent collections at 7:30 in the Pierce Library Reading Room. Evans is the author of “Bangalore,” which draws on his experiences with the Army National Guard. Mossotti’s second full-length collection “Field Study” won the 2013 Melissa Lanitis Gregory Poetry Prize.

At 11 a.m. Oct. 15, Artist Ian Boyden will lecture on “The Elimination of the Self Self-Portrait” in Zabel Hall, Room 256. Anyone interested in the synergies of art, biology and geology won’t want to miss this spirited talk.

That evening the Roundhouse Reading Series will host Diane Raptosh, sharing her recent book of poems, “American Amnesiac,” long-listed for the 2013 National Book Award. The reading begins at 7 at Looking Glass Books at 1118 Adams Ave.

A craft lecture with visiting novelist and essayist Vanessa Veselka is at 1 p.m. Oct. 16 in the Alumni Room. The topic is “Beyond Sympathy: Writing Past the Cliches of Class, Race and Subculture.”

Vesleka is the author of the award-winning novel “Zazen” and she will read from her work at 7:30 that evening in the Pierce Library Reading Room. Her essays are highly regarded and appear widely.

The autumn residency wraps up Oct. 17 with EOU English faculty member Cori Brewster lecturing on “Blogging of ‘Women in Ag”: Ethos, Ag Media and the Gendered Production of Food.” Her talk begins at 11 a.m. in Zabel Hall, Room 109.

The students in the MFA program finish the schedule of events that evening, giving a reading of their own recent works at 7:30 in the Alumni Room.

All lectures and readings are free and open to the public. Books will be available for sale and signings will occur at the readings and in the EOU Bookstore.

For more information about the MFA program visit eou.edu/mfa. Anyone interested in taking courses as an un-enrolled graduate student should contact Axelrod at 541-962-3633.