Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series Celebrates Literature and Creative Thought

The 2008-09 Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series launched its 11th season on Sept. 12 with a reading by poet Claudia Rankine. The schedule for the remainder of the series follows.

Sept. 29
Maxine Hong Kingston
8:30 p.m., David Lawrence Hall

A writer of fiction and nonfiction, Kingston is the author of China Men (Knopf, 1980) and The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts (Knopf, 1976).

Oct. 15
Drue Heinz Literature Prize Reading and Award Ceremony With Anthony Varallo and Scott Turow
7:30 p.m., Frick Fine Arts Auditorium

Varallo, the 2008 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner for the short story collection OutLoud (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008), is also the author of the story collection This Day in History (University of Iowa Press, 2005).
Turow, the 2008 Drue Heinz Literature Prize judge, is the author of Limitations (Picador, 2006), Ordinary Heroes (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2005), and Reversible Errors (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2002), as well as several other books.

Oct. 29
Russell Banks
8:30 p.m., David Lawrence Hall

A writer of both fiction and poetry, Banks is the author of The Reserve (Harper Collins, 2008), Cloudsplitter (Harper Collins, 1998), and Rule of the Bone (Harper Collins, 1995), as well as other books.

Nov. 13
Fred R. Brown Literary Award Reading and Award Ceremony
8:30 p.m., Frick Fine Arts Auditorium

Novelist Sabina Murray, the author of Forgery (Grove Press, 2007), A Carnivore’s Inquiry (Grove Press, 2004), and The Caprices (Houghton Mifflin, 2002), will read.

Feb. 6
Microconference on African American Poetry
Opening Remarks by Arnold Rampersad
Noon, 501 Cathedral of Learning

Rampersad, a biographer and literary critic, is the author of several books, including Ralph Ellison (Knopf, 2007), Jackie Robinson: A Biography (Knopf, 1997), and Days of Grace: A Memoir (Knopf, 1993).
Panel Discussion: Tradition and the New
2 p.m., 501 Cathedral of Learning

Mendi Obadike, a poet and interdisciplinary artist, is the author of Armor and Flesh (Lotus Press, 2004). Her work has appeared in such publications as the Art Journal, Artthrob, and Black Arts Quarterly.

G.E. Patterson, a poet and freelance writer, is the author of To and From (Ahsahta Press, 2008) and Tug (Graywolf Press, 1999). His work has appeared in such publications as Bum Rush the Page, Poetry 180, and American Letters and Commentary.

Carl Phillips, a poet, is the author of Quiver of Arrows: Selected Poems 1986-2006 (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2007), Pastoral (Graywolf Press, 2000), In the Blood (Northeastern University Press, 1992), and other books.

Poetry Readings
7 p.m., Giant Eagle Auditorium, Carnegie Mellon University’s Baker Hall, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland
Obadike, Patterson, Phillips, and Rampersad

Feb. 26
William Henry Lewis
8:30 p.m., 501 Cathedral of Learning

A writer of fiction and nonfiction, Lewis is the author of the short story collection I Got Somebody in Staunton (Amistad/Harper Collins, 2005) as well as In the Arms of Our Elders (Carolina Wren Press, 1995). His works of fiction have appeared in such publications as Ploughshares, African American Review, and Best American Short Stories 1996. His works of nonfiction have appeared in Black Issues in Higher Education, Washington Post Book World, and O Magazine.

April 2
2008-09 William Block Sr. Writer Reading and Presentation With Paul Muldoon
8:30 p.m., Frick Fine Arts Auditorium

Muldoon, a poet and editor, is the author of more than 25 collections of poetry and two children’s books and has served as an editor of various anthologies and literary publications. He has been described by The Times Literary Supplement as “the most significant English-language poet born since the Second World War.”

The 2008-09 Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series season is cosponsored by Pitt’s University Center for International Studies, Asian Studies Center, China Council Confucious Institute, Cultural Studies Program, Women’s Studies Program, and Book Center, and by the Carnegie Mellon University Creative Writing Program.

All events in the Writers Series are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Nicole Wolinsky at nrw1@pitt.edu or Jeff Oaks at oaks@pitt.edu.