Pitt Presents Poets, Novelists, and a Nature Essayist As Part of The Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series' Fifth Season MacArthur "genius" award recipient Campbell McGrath opens series Sept. 19

August 27, 2002

PITTSBURGH—The fifth season of the University of Pittsburgh Writing Program's Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series will include an evening series of poetry readings and presentations by a novelist and two essayists, as well as two afternoon panel discussion "dialogues." The season will open with a reading by poet Campbell McGrath, a MacArthur "genius" award recipient, at

8:30 p.m. Sept. 19 in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, Schenley Drive, in Oakland.

All of the events are free and open to the public. The other evening events also will take place at 8:30 in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium. The dialogues will take place at 3 p.m. in Room 501 of the Cathedral of Learning.

McGrath is the author of five collections of poetry: "Capitalism" (Wesleyan University Press, 1990), "American Noise" (Ecco Press, 1993), "Spring Comes to Chicago" (Ecco Press, 1996), "Road Atlas" (Ecco Press, 1999), and "Florida Poems" (Ecco Press, 2002). His awards, in addition to the MacArthur, include the Kingsley Tufts Award, the Cohen Prize, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Witter-Bynner Fellowship from the Library of Congress. McGrath teaches creative writing at Florida International University.

A complete list of the evening readings and afternoon dialogues follows.

Sept. 19 Evening Reading

Campbell McGrath, poet

Oct. 9 Evening Reading

Debra Magpie Earling, novelist. Author of the novel "Perma Red"

(Bluehen Books, June 2002), Earling is a member of the Confederated

Salish and Kootenai Tribes of the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Oct. 23 Evening Reading

Jo Ann Beard, essayist. Beard, recipient of the Whiting Foundation Award, is the author of "Boys of My Youth" (Little, Brown & Company, 1999), a widely praised collection of autobiographical essays.

Nov. 6 Afternoon Dialogue

"Editors to Writers: A Dialogue About Creative Nonfiction."

A panel discussion featuring editors from Esquire, Real Simple,

and other periodicals.

Feb. 3 Evening Reading

Terry Tempest Williams, essayist. The 2001 William Block Sr. Writer, Williams' most recent book is "Red: Patience and Passion in the Desert" (Pantheon, 2001). She is one of America's best-known essayists and

environmental activists.

March 13 Afternoon Dialogue

"Remaking Contemporary American Poetry." A dialogue with award-

winning poets D.A. Powell, Larissa Szporluk, and Kevin Young.

Powell, author of "Tea" (1998) and "Lunch" (2000), both from Wesleyan

University Press, has won awards from the Academy of American Poets

and the James Michener Foundation. Szporluk is author of "Dark Sky

Question" (Beacon Press, 1998), winner of the Barnard New Women Poets

Prize, and "Isolato" (University of Iowa Press, 2000), winner of the Iowa

Poetry Prize. Young is author of "Most Way Home" (William Morrow,

1995), which was selected for the National Poetry Series.

March 13 Evening Reading

Poetry reading by D.A. Powell, Larissa Szporluk, and Kevin Young.

The Contemporary Writers Series is cosponsored by Pitt's Asian Studies Program and The Book Center, and the Wyndham Garden Hotel-University Place.

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