Spalding University’s Festival of Contemporary Writing, the state’s largest fall-spring reading series, will be held November 16-23, featuring readings by faculty, guests, and alumni of Spalding University’s brief-residency Master of Fine Arts in Writing program. Tickets are required for the This I Believe Kentucky book launch on Sunday, November 17. All other readings are free, ticketless, and open to the public.
Festival of Contemporary Writing events will be held at the Brown Hotel (335 W. Broadway), the University Center Building (824 S. Fourth St.), and Spalding’s Egan Leadership Center (ELC) (901 S. Fourth St.), as noted. Plenty of free parking is available for the campus readings. Authors may or may not read from the work listed.
4:30-6:30 p.m. Saturday, November 16. Celebration of Recently Published Books by Faculty (ELC Lectorium, 901 S. Fourth St.) No ticket required.
- Eleanor Morse (fiction), White Dog Fell from the Sky
- Greg Pape (poetry), Four Swans
- Julie Brickman (fiction), Two Deserts: Stories
- Susan Campbell Bartoletti (writing for children & young adults), Down the Rabbit Hole: The Diary of Pringle Rose, 1871
- Sena Jeter Naslund (fiction), The Fountain of St. James Court; or, Portrait of the Artist as an Old Woman
- Helena Kriel (screenwriting), Skin
There will be a brief intermission during the reading. Book signing to follow. Books provided by Follett Bookstore.
2:00-4:00 p.m. Sunday, November 17. This I Believe Kentucky book launch gala. (University Center Building auditorium, 824 S. Fourth St.) Advanced tickets available at thisibelieve.org. Tickets are also sold at the door. General admission seating is $20.
Public radio personality Bob Edwards hosts the book launch gala, interviewing noted Kentucky essayists from the book, including the following Spalding MFA faculty and alumni:
- Frank X. Walker, Kentucky Poet Laureate and Spalding MFA alum
- Tori Murden McClure, President of Spalding University and Spalding MFA alum
- Sena Jeter Naslund, Spalding MFA Program Director
- Silas House, Spalding MFA faculty
- Dianne Aprile, Spalding MFA faculty
6:15-7:15 p.m. Monday, November 18. (ELC Lectorium, 901 S. Fourth St.) No ticket required.
- John Pipkin (fiction), Woodsburner
- Jeanie Thompson (poetry), The Seasons Bear Us
- Roy Hoffman (creative nonfiction), Alabama Afternoons: Profiles and Conversations
- Lesléa Newman (writing for children & young adults), A Sweet Passover
- Kira Obolensky (playwriting), Vasa Lisa
6:00-7:00 p.m. Wednesday, November 20. (Brown Hotel, Crystal Ballroom, 335 W. Broadway.) No ticket required.
Featured author presentation. Molly Peacock, The Paper Garden: An Artist Begins Her Life’s Work at 72. Book signing to follow. Books provided by Carmichael’s Bookstore.
5:00-6:15 p.m., Thursday, November 21. (ELC Lectorium, 901 S. Fourth St.) No ticket required.
- Pete Duval (fiction), Rear View: Stories
- Neela Vaswani (creative nonfiction) You Have Given Me a Country
- Robert Lehrman (writing for children & young adults), Separations
- Maureen Morehead (poetry), Late August Blues: The Daylily Poems
- Gabriel Dean (playwriting), The Transition of Doodle Pequeño
- Leslie Daniels (fiction), Cleaning Nabokov’s House
5:00-6:15 p.m. Friday, November 22. (ELC Lectorium, 901 S. Fourth St.) No ticket required.
- Robin Lippincott (fiction), In the Meantime
- Dianne Aprile (creative nonfiction), The Eye Is Not Enough: On Seeing and Remembering
- Shane McCrae (poetry), Blood
- Sam Zalutsky (screenwriting), How to Make It to the Promised Land
- Rachel Harper (fiction), Brass Ankle Blues
- Charlie Schulman (playwriting), The Fartiste
- Kathleen Driskell (poetry), Peck and Pock: A Graphic Poem
2:45-3:45 p.m. Saturday, November 23. (ELC Lectorium, 901 S. Fourth St.) MFA alumni read from works in progress. No ticket required.
- Bill Goodman (’12)
- Mary Knight (’13)
- Eric Cravey (’11)
- Josh Franklin (’13)
- Betty Jean Wolfe (’13)
- Ted Chiles (’13)
The reading schedule may change without notice. Check the website for updated information: spalding.edu/mfa. For more information, call 502-873-4400 or 800-896-8941, ext. 4400, or email mfa@spalding.edu.
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