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Summer Author Visits

Each summer, the Plymouth Writing Project invites contemporary authors to visit our summer institutes to talk about their experiences writing, publishing, and teaching. Summer institute fellows are specifically expected to attend, and these events are also typically open to the public within the limits of the available venue. You may contact site director Dr. Meg Petersen for more details. 

All Sessions (*except those on July 1, 8 and 22)  will be held in Frost Commons on the Plymouth State University Campus 1:30-4:00 p.m.

* The author session on July 1 will be held in the multi-purpose room of the Hartman Union Building (HUB).  

*Author sessions on July 8 and 22 will be held at Heritage Commons 1:30-4:00 p.m. 

June 24, 2008 -- Janna Malamud Smith

• Janna Malamud Smith is a writer and psychotherapist. She is the author of three books, Private Matters (1997), A Potent Spell (2003), and My Father is a Book: A Memoir of Bernard Malamud (2006). Her articles and essays have appeared nationally and internationally in newspapers, magazines and literary journals including The New York Times, The International Herald Tribune, The Christian Science Monitor, Family Circle and The Threepenny Review.

July 1, 2008 -- William Lychak

• William Lychack is the author of a novel, The Wasp Eater, and a forthcoming collection of stories, The Architect of Flowers, both published by Houghton Mifflin. His work has appeared in The Best American Short Stories, Ploughshares, and on public radio's This American Life. He is currently the Writer-in-Residence at Phillips Academy and a member of the MFA faculty at Lesley University. * Session will be held in the multi-purpose room of the Hartman Union Building (HUB) *

July 8, 2008 -- Mary Elizabeth Finger

• Mary E. Finger’s first novel for children, Charlotte Bakeman Has Her Say, was published in 2007 by Little Pear Press. Finger grew up in the secure surroundings of small-town New Hampshire during the years of the Depression and the advent of World War II. In the 1940's she got a degree from Radcliffe College and after graduating worked for the the Harvard Press. Mary taught college English for twenty-five years, spent a sabbatical year in Sicily, hiked and canoed hundreds of miles, and made stabs at saving people and the environment. Presently she is experiencing the joys of retirement, time to be outdoors, time to be with grandchildren, and especially time to write. *Session will be held at Heritage Commons*

July 15, 2008 -- Liz Ahl

• Liz Ahl teaches poetry and creative writing at Plymouth State University, where she is the Chair of the English Department.  She has published poetry in various literary magazines, including Prairie Schooner, Crab Orchard Review, The American Voice, The Formalist, Southern Poetry Review, The Pittsburgh Quarterly, 5AM, Sundog, and The Woman’s Review of Books.

July 22, 2008 -- Leila Christenbury

• Leila Christenbury taught high school English before becoming a professor of English Education at Virginia Commonwealth University. She teaches young adult literature, the teaching of writing, teaching methods for both secondary and middle school, and instructional theory and design. She is co-author of Writing on Demand and A Student's Guide to Writing on Demand.   Some of her other publications include Making the Journey: Being and Becoming a Teacher of English Language Arts, now in its third edition, and Retracing the Journey:  Teaching and Learning in an American High School. She is a well-known writer and researcher in English education, past English Journal editor, and past president of the National Council of Teachers of English.  She is the first woman to win the Virginia Commonwealth University, University Award of Excellence which is the highest faculty honor offered by VCU. In addition, she won the Rewey Belle Inglis Award for Outstanding Woman in the Teaching of English. *Session will be held at Heritage Commons*