The New York University Creative Writing Program’s Spring 2010 Reading Series continues in May with events featuring writer Colum McCann, poet Sharon Olds, and, in a tribute to Dan Halpern, founder of Ecco Press, authors Richard Ford and Joyce Carol Oates.
The New York University Creative Writing Program’s Spring 2010 Reading Series continues in May with events featuring writer Colum McCann (May 1), poet Sharon Olds (May 5) and, in a tribute to Dan Halpern, founder of Ecco Press, authors Richard Ford and Joyce Carol Oates (May 6). All events are held in the program’s Greenwich Village home, the Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House at 58 W. 10th Street, unless otherwise noted. Subways: F, L, V (6th Avenue); 1 (Christopher Street); A, B, C, D, E, F, V (West 4th Street). All events are free and open to the public. For more information, call 212.998.8816 or click here. Note venue change for “Goldwater Hospital Project Reading” on May 5.
Saturday, May 1, 4 p.m.
“NYU Veterans Writing Workshop Reading” with Guest Colum McCann
The evening will feature the writers from the NYU Veterans Writing Workshop, a program founded by Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith to benefit recent veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Participants attend free weekly workshops led by teaching fellows from the NYU Creative Writing Program. This year’s guest reader, Colum McCann, is the 2009 National Book Award winner for his novel Let the Great World Spin. He is the author of two collections of short stories and five novels, including This Side of Brightness, Dancer, and Zoli, all of which were international best-sellers. His fiction has been published in 30 languages and has appeared in The New Yorker, The Atlantic Monthly, GQ, Paris Review, Bomb, and other places.
Wednesday, May 5, 7 p.m.
“Goldwater Hospital Project Reading”: The Golden Writers with Guest Sharon Olds
The evening will feature the Golden Writers sharing original poems alongside program co-founder Sharon Olds. The Goldwater Hospital Writing Project, initiated 25 years ago by NYU professor and poet Sharon Olds, Rose Styron, Ambassador Jean Kennedy Smith, and Very Special Arts, brings together the talented residents of Goldwater Memorial Hospital and teaching fellows from the NYU Creative Writing Program. The heart of the project is a weekly creative writing workshop led by fellows for the Golden Writers, a group of long-term Goldwater residents with severe disabilities. New location: Jurow Lecture Hall, NYU Silver Center (first floor), 100 Washington Square East.
Thursday, May 6, 7 p.m.
“Tribute to Dan Halpern and Ecco”
The evening honors poet and publisher Dan Halpern and Ecco, the press he founded 40 years ago. Guests include: Russell Banks, Anthony Bourdain, Janie Fink, Richard Ford, Jorie Graham, Robert Hass, Campbell McGrath, Joyce Carol Oates, and others. For 25 years, Halpern edited the international literary magazine Antaeus, which he founded in Tangier, Morocco, with Paul Bowles. Halpern is the editor or co-editor of anthologies including The Art of the Tale; The Art of the Story; On Nature: Nature, Landscape, and Natural History (with Dan Frank); Reading the Fights (with Joyce Carol Oates); and Not for Bread Alone: Writers on Food, Wine, and the Art of Eating. Halpern is publisher and president of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. The event is co-sponsored by the Academy of American Poets, Ecco, and the Poetry Society of America.
Note location: NYU’s Kimmel Center for University Life, Rosenthal Pavilion (10th Floor), 60 Washington Square South (at LaGuardia Place). Subways: A, B, C, D, E, F, V (West 4th Street).
Friday, May 7, 5 p.m.
“Fiction Reading by Carole Maso”
Poet, essayist, and novelist Carole Maso is the author of nine books, including the novels The Art Lover, AVA, and Defiance, and a memoir The Room Lit By Roses. Her new fiction title, Mother and Child is forthcoming.
Wednesday, May 12, 5 p.m.
New York Launch of “Voice Recognition: 21 Poets for the 21st Century”
Voice Recognition (Bloodaxe Books, 2009) showcases a new wave of poets from Britain and Ireland. The event will feature Siddhartha Bose, Ailbhe Darcy, Mark Leech, Colm O’Shea, and Sandeep Parmar. Hosted by editor James Byrne.
Editor’s Note:
The NYU Creative Writing Program, among the most distinguished programs in the country, is a leading national center for the study of writing and literature. The undergraduate and graduate programs provide students with an opportunity to develop their craft while working closely with some of the finest poets and novelists writing today. The Creative Writing Program occupies a townhouse on West 10th Street in the same Greenwich Village neighborhood where so many writers have lived and worked. The Lillian Vernon Creative Writers House allows writers--established and emerging--to share their work in an inspiring setting. For more, click here.