MFA Faculty Members Mark Irwin and Bob Cowser, Jr. Reading

The MFA program at Ashland University presents the summer residency's summer reading series. MFA Faculty members Mark Irwin (author of six collections of poetry) and Bob Cowser Jr. (author of three collections of nonfiction), give a reading of their work on Tuesday, July 27 at 7 p.m. in Ronk Lecture Hall, Schar College of Education. This event is free and open to the public.

Bob Cowser, Jr.

Bob Cowser, Jr.’s first book, Dream Season, published in 2004 by the Atlantic Monthly Press, was a New York Times Book Review “Editor's Choice” and “Paperback Row” selection and was listed among the Chronicle of Higher Education's best-ever college sports books. It garnered further praise in Sports Illustrated, The Boston Globe, The Chicago Tribune, and on NPR’s “Only a Game.” His second book, Scorekeeping, a collection of coming-of-age essays, was published in October 2006 by the University of South Carolina Press. His third book, Green Fields: Crime, Punishment, and a Boyhood Between is forthcoming in fall 2010 from the University of New Orleans Press.

Mark Irwin

Mark Irwin, poetry, was born in Faribault, Minnesota, and has lived throughout the United States and abroad in France and Italy. His poetry and essays have appeared widely in many literary magazines including The American Poetry Review, The Atlantic, Georgia Review, The Kenyon Review, Paris Review, Poetry, The Nation, New England Review, and the New Republic. A graduate of the Iowa Writer’s Workshop (M.F.A.), he also holds a Ph.D. in English/Comparative Literature. The author of six collections of poetry, including The Halo of Desire (1987), Against the Meanwhile (Wesleyan University Press, 1989), Quick, Now, Always (BOA , 1996), White City (BOA, 2000), Bright Hunger (BOA, 2004), and Tall If (New Issues, 2008), he has also translated two volumes of poetry, one from the French and one from the Romanian. Recognition for his work includes The Nation/Discovery Award; four Pushcart Prizes; National Endowment for the Arts, Colorado and Ohio Art Council Fellowships; two Colorado Book Awards; the James Wright Poetry Award; and fellowships from the Fulbright, Lilly, and Wurlitzer Foundations.

For more information about the MFA program and the summer residency reading series, visit http://www.ashland.edu/graduate/mfa