The Reading Series
Department of English / Cornell University
Spring 2011 Reading Series
- 2/17 Stewart O’Nan
- 2/24 Nicholson Baker
- 3/03 Peter Balakian
- 3/09 Gabriel Packard
- 3/29 Margaret Atwood
- 4/15 Joseph Klein & Alice Fulton
- 4/21 Laura Furman
ALL EVENTS ARE FREE and open to the public.
These events are made possible by a generous donation from two anonymous Cornell University alumni.
Go to the Writers at Cornell blog to listen to J.Robert Lennon’s interviews with our visiting writers: www.writersatcornell.com
February 17th Reading
- Stewart O’Nan
- When: Thursday 4:30 pm
- Location: Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall
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- Stewart O’Nan, Fiction and Nonfiction Writer
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Stewart O’Nan is currently the Distinguished Visiting Writer at Cornell University. Two decades ago, he left a career in aerospace engineering to pursue an M.F.A. in fiction from Cornell. Since earning his degree in 1992, he has proven himself an accomplished novelist, nonfiction writer, and playwright, identifying as a “horror writer.” He is the author of a dozen novels, including cult favorite A Prayer for the Dying (1999) and the bestselling Last Night at the Lobster (2007), as well as the nonfiction The Circus Fire (2001) and, with Stephen King, the bestselling Faithful (2005). Viking will publish O’Nan’s forthcoming novel, Emily, Alone, in spring 2011.
February 24th Reading
- Nicholson Baker
- When: Thursday 4:30 pm
- Location: Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall
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- Nicholson Baker, Fiction & Nonfiction Writer
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Nicholson Baker is a New York Times bestselling novelist, nonfiction writer, and essayist. As evident in such critically acclaimed novels as The Mezzanine (1988), Room Temperature (1990) and Vox (1992), Baker’s distinctive style is marked by meticulous, stream-of-consciousness ruminations that elevate the mundane. His most recent novel, The Anthologist (2009), has been praised as “startlingly perceptive and ardent” by the New York Times Book Review. Baker earned the National Book Critics Circle Award for his nonfiction book Double Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper (2001). For his activist work surrounding issues of text preservation he was honored with the James Madison Freedom of Information Award.
March 3rd Reading
- Peter Balakian
- When: Thursday 4:30 pm
- Location: Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall
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- Peter Balakian, Poet
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Peter Balakian holds a Ph.D. in American Civilization from Brown University and teaches at Colgate University as the Donald M. and Constance H. Rebar Professor of Humanities. In addition to penning critically acclaimed essays and an award-winning memoir, Armenian Golgotha (2009), Balakian is the author of six books of poems, including, most recently, Ziggurat (2010) and June-tree: New and Selected Poems 1974-2000 (2004). His most recent honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship, and the Emily Clark Balch Prize for poetry from the Virginia Quarterly Review. Engaging with his Armenian roots, Balakian’s poems often blend the political and aesthetic.
March 9th Seminar
- How to Conduct Research For Creative Writing presented by Gabriel Packard
- When: Wednesday 4:30 pm
- Location: Room 258, Goldwin Smith Hall
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- Gabriel Packard, Associate Director, Hunter College Creative Writing MFA Program
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Gabriel Packard holds a BA in English Language and Literature from Oxford University and an MFA in Fiction from Hunter College. He has taught creative writing at numerous schools including Hunter, Wellesley, and Dartmouth, and he has worked as a researcher for novelists E.L. Doctorow and Peter Carey. His journalism has appeared in over 100 publications worldwide.
March 29th Reading
- Margaret Atwood
- When: Tuesday 7:30 pm
- Location: Statler Auditorium
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- Margaret Atwood, Poet, Fiction & Nonfiction Writer
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Margaret Atwood is a prolific writer, crossing genre and form as a novelist, poet, literary critic, librettist, non-fiction writer, and author of children’s literature. Atwood is best known for her work within a genre self-defined as “speculative fiction” or “social science fiction,” with such novels as The Handmaid’s Tale (1985), Oryx and Crake (2003) and most recently The Year of the Flood (2009). Drawing inspiration from myths, fairy tales, and the natural world, Atwood has won over 55 awards internationally for her imaginative narratives.FREE admission. Ticket is required. Tickets to this event will be available at the Willard Straight box office starting on March 1st at 9am.
April 15th Reading
- A Musical Evening of Poetry Featuring composer Joseph Klein with Alice Fulton and Second-Year MFA Poets
- When: Friday 7:00 pm
- Location: Room 165, McGraw Hall
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Composer Joseph Klein will accompany poets Tacey Attsity, Alice Fulton, Benjamin Garcia, Clayton Pityk, and Elizabeth Rogers, with his electronic settings. The evening will include discussion of the collaboration process between Klein and the poets.
- Joseph Klein, Composer
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Joseph Klein is Distinguished Professor at the University of North Texas College of Music, where he has served as Chair of Composition Studies since 1999. In his composition, Klein cites a range of influences, from chaos theory and fractal geometry to the literary works of Franz Kafka. Klein’s compositions have been recognized by such organizations as the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Composers Forum/Jerome Foundation, and American Music Center.
- Alice Fulton, Poet
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Alice Fulton received her M.F.A. from Cornell University in 1982. After teaching at the University of Michigan for nearly 20 years, she rejoined the Cornell community, where she serves as Ann S. Bowers Professor of English. Fulton is the author of eight books, including The Nightingales of Troy: Connected Stories (2008) and Cascade Experiment: Selected Poems (2004). She has received fellowships from the MacArthur Foundation, NEA, Guggenheim Foundation, Ingram Merrill Foundation, Michigan Society of Fellows, and Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown. Her book Felt (2001) was awarded the 2002 Bobbitt Prize for Poetry from the Library of Congress.
April 21st Reading
- Laura Furman
- When: Thursday 4:30 pm
- Location: Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall
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- Laura Furman, Fiction Writer and Editor
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Laura Furman is renowned as editor of the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories collection and as founder of the magazine American Short Fiction. For her own exceptional penmanship, Furman has received such honors as a Guggenheim Fellowship, the Dobie Paisano Fellowship, and the Jesse Jones Award of the Texas Institute of Letters. Currently a Professor of English at the University of Texas at Austin, her books include three collections of short stories, two novels, and a memoir. Her newest story collection is The Mother Who Stayed, published in February 2011.
» For further information about the Spring 2011 Reading Series or about on-campus parking, contact kek77@cornell.edu or call (607) 255-7847.