VANCOUVER, Wash. – Washington State University Vancouver invites community members to attend the Professional Writers Series. Six Northwest writers will talk about the trajectory of their careers including their achievements and setbacks. Gain insight into the writing process and the ways these artists intersect with their creative communities. You may even find new ways to navigate your own literary career path.
Free and open to the public, the Professional Writers Series will be held from 7 – 9 p.m. Thursday evenings from Feb. 7 – April 11 in the Library, room 264.
Feb. 7
Peter Ames Carlin, “Putting the Pop into Pop Culture”
Biographer and pop-culture writer Peter Ames Carlin’s latest book, “Bruce,” is a biography of “the Boss,” Bruce Springsteen.
Rolling Stone said “Interviews with band mates, family members, and exes paint an unflinching portrait of the rock icon...Dives into Springsteen’s personal life in unprecedented depth...No previous biographer has uncovered as much about Springsteen’s family.”
Carlin has also written two other biographies focusing on musical icons, “Paul McCartney: A Life” and “Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of The Beach Boys’ Brian Wilson.” A former senior writer for People magazine, and television critic for The Oregonian, he has also written for the New York Times Magazine and the Los Angeles Times Magazine.
Feb. 21
Chelsea Cain, “Doing the Mystery Dance”
Chelsea Cain is the New York Times best-selling author of the thriller detective novels “Heartsick,” “Sweetheart,” “Evil at Heart” and her latest, “Kill You Twice.” Pitting detective Archie Sheridan against serial killer Gretchen Lowell, these mysteries, set in Portland, Ore., combine taut psychological character studies with adrenaline-driven plots. Translated into 25 languages, two of these novels have been named among Stephen King’s top 10 favorite books of the year. “Heartsick” is now in development for television on FX.
“With Gretchen Lowell, Chelsea Cain gives us the most compelling, most original serial killer since Hannibal Lecter,” said Chuck Palahniuk, author of Fight Club.
Feb. 28
Kim Stafford, “Making Memories Matter”
Poet, essayist and memoirist Kim Stafford moves across writing genres to find the core of human experience in the imagined and the real. His latest book, “100 Tricks Every Boy Can Do: How My Brother Disappeared,” confronts the death of his brother.
Poet Naomi Shihab Nye calls “100 Tricks,” “a stunning book of exquisite consolation and understanding, not so much about loss as discovery.”
Stafford is the recipient of two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships and a Western States Book Award. Founding director of the Northwest Writing Institute at Lewis & Clark College, his books include “Having Everything Right: Essays of Place,” “The Muses Among Us: Eloquent Listening and other Pleasures of the Writer’s Craft,” “A Thousand Friends of Rain: New & Selected Poems” and “Early Morning: Remembering My Father, William Stafford.”
March 7
Gina Oschner, “Paths to the Short Story”
Short story writer Gina Oschner, is the author of two collections, “The Necessary Grace to Fall,” winner of the Flannery O'Connor Award, and “People I Wanted to Be.”
Irish novelist Colum McCann said, “Oschner manages, with almost every story, to capture the sundry human moments and make raw and unforgettable music of them.”
Ochsner has been awarded grants from the John L. Simon Guggenheim Foundation and the National Endowment of Arts and is a recipient of a Raymond Carver Prize. She is also author of the novel, “The Russian Dream Book of Colour and Light.” Her stories have appeared in The New Yorker, Tin House, Glimmertrain, The Kenyon Review and Prairie Schooner.
March 28
Eric A. Kimmel, “Serious Fun: Writing for Young People”
Drawing upon an international array of folk stories, legends and mythology, Eric A. Kimmel is the author of more than 50 books for children. He is the recipient of The Caldecott Honor Award, the Newbury Honor and the Sydney Taylor Book Award. Among his best known works are “Hershel and the Hanukkah Goblins,” “Gershon’s Monster,” “Anansi and the Talking Melon,” and “The Runaway Tortilla.” A master storyteller, Kimmel was born on a street in Brooklyn, New York where five languages were spoken.
April 11
Brian Doyle, “Doyle’s Book of Unwritten Rules”
Brian Doyle is an award-winning novelist, essayist and editor of the University of Portland's Portland Magazine, annually ranked among the 10 best university magazines in America. His recent novel, “Mink River,” has been compared to Dylan Thomas's “Under Milk Wood” and Sherwood Anderson's “Winesburg, Ohio.” His latest work “Grace Notes,” engages the spirit in 37 essays. Doyle's other books include “Saints Passionate & Peculiar, Credo,” and “Two Voices,” winner of a Christopher Award and a Catholic Press Association Book Award. The author’s essays have appeared in The American Scholar, The Atlantic Monthly, Orion, Commonweal and Harper’s, among other periodicals.
91ԹϺ is located at 14204 N.E. Salmon Creek Ave. east of the 134th Street exit from either I-5 or I-205. Parking is free after 7 p.m.
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MEDIA CONTACTS
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu