Lesley University welcomes National Book Award-winner Nikky Finney to Reading Series
Lesley University
Details:
Renowned visiting writers join MFA Writing Faculty and graduating students for Reading Series, June 22-30
Cambridge, Mass. – The MFA Program in Creative Writing at Lesley University welcomes community members and the public to enjoy the work of its distinguished faculty, students, and award-winning visiting writers from June 22 to 30, 2012.
The Reading Series features two exceptional visiting poets on Wednesday, June 27 at 6:30 pm: Nikky Finney, winner of the 2011 National Book Award and Distinguished Writer in Residence for Lesley’s June residency; and Melanie Henderson, a program alumna whose debut collection won the 2011 Main Street Rag Press Poetry Award.
The Program also hosts playwright Molly Smith Metzler, author of Elemeno Pea, Close Up Space, Carve, and Training Wisteria, and two-time recipient of the Le Comte du Nouy Prize from Lincoln Center.
The Reading Series corresponds with the residency period for Lesley University’s Low-Residency MFA Program in Creative Writing, recognized by Poets & Writers as one of the top ten low-residency MFA programs in the country. Students visit Cambridge twice a year, at the beginning of each semester, to spend nine days working on their writing with fellow students and faculty advisors.
The MFA Writing Faculty presenting during the Reading Series are Jami Brandli, Jane Brox, Tony Eprile, Laurie Foos, and Susan Goodman. The series will also honor the late Katherine Russell Rich, MFA Writing Faculty whose second book, Dreaming in Hindi, was an Oprah Summer Pick. The residency will close out with readings from this year’s Creative Writing MFA graduates.
All events will be held on Lesley’s Doble Campus in Marran Theater, 47 Oxford Street (entrance on Mellen Street), Cambridge. The series is free and open to the public.
Reading Series Schedule
Friday, June 22 – 7:15 pm
Susan Goodman, faculty, writing for young people
Jami Brandli, faculty, writing for stage and screen
Saturday, June 23 – 6:30 pm
Jane Brox, faculty, nonfiction
Laurie Foos, faculty, fiction
Sunday, June 24 – 7 pm
A memorial tribute to Katherine Russell Rich, MFA Writing Faculty in nonfiction
Monday, June 25 – 6:45 pm
Tony Eprile, faculty, fiction
Molly Smith Metzler, visiting playwright, writing for stage and screen
Wednesday, June 27 – 6:30 pm
Nikky Finney, Distinguished Writer in Residence, poetry
Melanie Henderson (’10), poetry
Thursday, June 28 – 6:30 pm — Graduating Student Readings
Friday, June 29 – 4:30 and 7:00 pm — Graduating Student Readings
Saturday, June 30 – 2:30 pm — Graduating Student Readings
Image Caption Information
Nikky_Finney — Nikky Finney won the National Book Award in 2011 for Head Off & Split (2011), her fourth collection of poetry. She also edited The Ringing Ear: Black Poets Lean South (2007), and co-founded the Affrilachian Poets. She is a Professor of English and creative writing at the University of Kentucky.
Melanie_Henderson — Melanie Henderson graduated from Lesley’s MFA in Creative Writing Program in 2010, and soon thereafter won the prestigious the 2011 Main Street Rag Press Poetry Award for her debut book of poetry, Elegies for New York Avenue. Henderson lives in Washington, DC.