Tuesday, July 16, 2019

submitted by matthewk@augsburg.edu

Augsburg University MFA in Creative Writing department’s 2019 Summer Residency will be on campus from Thursday, July 18 through Sunday, July 28. Please join us in welcoming our group of very talented students and acclaimed writers for this festival of craft talks, workshops, evening readings and more.

Forty writing students will be attending the ten-day residency, with about half of them living on campus. During the fall and spring semesters they work with their mentors and fellow writers from their homes in various parts of the country, with one student coming from Finland.

Sixteen graduating MFA students will be giving public readings of their works, and we invite you to join us:

Friday, July 19 – Graduating Writers
Adriana Estrada (Poetry), Richard Gangelhoff (Fiction), Kayla Hambek (Playwriting), Kathleen Kanne (Creative Nonfiction), and Jacob Schornak (Fiction)
7:15 p.m., Foss Center Theater. Reception follows.

Saturday, July 20 – Graduating Writers
Jeffrey Boldt (Fiction), Ned Dougherty (Playwriting), Shelbi Gesch (Creative Nonfiction), Colin Mustful (Fiction), Jamie Randall (Poetry), and Sharon Sobotta (Creative Nonfiction/Screenwriting)
7:15 p.m., Foss Center Theater. Reception follows.

Sunday, July 21 – Graduating Writers
Stephanie Fleck (Fiction), Diana Lopez Jones (Poetry), Jeremy Moberg (Fiction), Tracy Ross (Poetry), and Jannet Walsh (Creative Nonfiction)
7:15 p.m., Foss Center Theater. Reception follows.

submitted by matthewk@augsburg.edu

This summer’s MFA Summer Residency guests include Lisa Van Orman Hadley, winner of the Howling Bird Press Fiction Award, and poet Danez Smith, playwright Stacey Rose, creative nonfiction writer Tessa Fontaine, and screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine. Learn more about this impressive lineup on the MFA website.

We invite you to the following free public events:

Sunday, July 21
Howling Bird Press Party with Fiction Prize Winner
Lisa Van Orman Hadley, author of Irreversible Things

Reception in Foss Center Atrium: 4:30-5 p.m.
Public Reading / Q & A in Sateren Hall: 5-6 p.m.

The 2019 Howling Bird Press Fiction Prize book officially releases in November; in honor of our summer residency, attendees get a sneak peek at this reading, with limited advance copies available for purchase and signing.
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Reading by Visiting Playwright Stacey Rose
Monday, July 22, 7:15 p.m.
Foss Center Theater
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Reading by Visiting CNF Writer Tessa Fontaine
Tuesday, July 23, 7:15 p.m.
Sateren Auditorium, Anderson Music Building
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Reading by Visiting Poet Danez Smith
Thursday, July 25, 7:15 p.m.
Sateren Auditorium, Anderson Music Building
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Screening of the film THE KEEPING HOURS
with Visiting Screenwriter Rebecca Sonnenshine
Friday, July 26, 7:15 p.m.
Sateren Auditorium, Anderson Music Building

A book signing and reception will follow each event, with books available for purchase.

MFA Visiting Writers

submitted by matthewk@augsburg.edu

Panel: Awarding Value
Julia M. Brown, Sherrie Fernandez-Williams, and Shannon Gibney
Co-Moderated by Alayne Hopkins and Lindsay Starck
Saturday, July 20, 10:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
Hagfors 150

From the Pushcart Prize to the Pulitzer Prize, from the “Best American” series to the Minnesota Book Awards, it’s clear that literary communities are constantly comparing, judging, and awarding value. What does it mean to evaluate a text or a writer? How do we determine which book, fellowship application, script, or screenplay is the best? To what degree is literary appreciation subjective, and what criteria do we use to make these judgments? After we hear from a panel of writers who have judged and/or been judged, Jim Cihlar, publisher of Augsburg’s Howling Bird Press, will provide an overview of how the MFA student editors choose our annual prize winner and do the work of publishing and promoting the resulting book.

Julia M. Brown is Artistic Programs Administrator at the Playwrights’ Center.

Shannon Gibney won the 2019 and 2016 Minnesota Book Award in Young Peoples’ Literature.

Alayne Hopkins is Assistant Director of Programs & Services at The Friends of the Saint Paul Public Library, overseeing the statewide activities of the Minnesota Center for the Book, which include the Minnesota Book Awards program and other initiatives.

Lindsay Starck is associate director of Augsburg’s MFA program.