Renowned Authors to Highlight Ashland University Master of Fine Arts Summer Program

Renowned authors Tobias Wolff and Natasha Trethewey highlight a number of outstanding writers who will present at Ashland University’s Master of Fine Arts Summer Residency Program this summer. The events, which are free and open to the public, will begin July 25 and continue through Aug. 6.

Wolff, who wrote This Boy’s Life, which was made into a feature film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, will be on campus Aug. 2 to present a craft seminar titled “Some Thoughts on the Memoir, Embarrassed and Otherwise” at 1 p.m. and a reading at 7 p.m. Both events will be located in Room 138 of the Ashland University Dwight Schar College of Education.

Wolff is the Ward W. and Priscilla B. Woods Professor in the School of Humanities and Sciences at Stanford University, where he has taught classes in English and creative writing since 1997. He also served as the director of the Creative Writing Program at Stanford from 2000 to 2002.

Trethewey, who won a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry in 2007, will present a reading on July 26 at 7 p.m. in Schar 138 and will conduct a craft seminar titled “Geography is fate”: Writing about place and the intersections of public and personal history” on July 27 at 1 p.m. in Schar 138.

Trethewey won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize in poetry for her 2006 collection, “Native Guard.” She is professor of English and holds the Phillis Wheatley Distinguished Chair in Poetry at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga. She is the recipient of the 2008 Mississippi Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts for Poetry and also was named the 2008 Georgia Woman of the Year. She will be inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in spring 2011.

Other public events during the summer residency program include:

-- A craft seminar by Peter Campion in conjunction with the opening of an art exhibit featuring the work of Catherine Kirby and Erica Meuser on July 25 at 2:30 p.m. in the Coburn Art Gallery and a 7 p.m. faculty reading by Sonya Huber, creative nonfiction, and Kathryn Winograd, poetry, in Schar 138.

-- A craft seminar, “Lies, We Must Tell: The Art of Shaping Creative Nonfiction,” by Steve Harvey on July 26 at 1 p.m. in Schar 138.

-- An MFA faculty reading on July 27 at 7 p.m. in Schar 138 featuring Mark Irwin, poetry, and Bob Cowser Jr., creative non-fiction.

-- An MFA faculty reading July 28 at 7 p.m. in Schar 138 featuring Ruth Schwartz, poetry, and Dan Lehman and Jill Christman, creative nonfiction.

-- A faculty craft seminar, “Lyric + Essay = X: Two Perspectives on Crossing Genre,” July 29 at 1 p.m. in Schar 138 featuring Robert Root and Kathyrn Winograd followed by a reading by Richard Jackson and Brenda Miller at 7 p.m. in Schar 138.

-- A craft seminar, “‘The Hermit Crab Essay’: Trying on New Forms for Your Personal Story,” by Brenda Miller July 30 at 1 p.m. in Schar 138.

-- A craft seminar, “Truth and Beauty,” by Ruth Schwartz Aug. 3 at 1 p.m. in Schar 138.

-- A faculty reading Aug. 3 at 7 p.m. in Schar 138 featuring Stephen Haven and Angie Estes, poetry, and Robert Root, creative nonfiction.

-- A reading by Enid Shomer and Thomas Larson on Aug. 4 at 7 p.m. in Schar 138 and the two will conduct a craft seminar on Aug. 5 at 1 p.m. in Schar 138.

-- An MFA faculty reading on Aug. 5 at 7 p.m. in Schar 138 featuring Peter Campion, poetry, and Steve Harvey, creative nonfiction.

-- A craft seminar, “Rendering Real Places,” by Bob Cowser on Aug. 6 at 1 p.m. in Schar 138.

Further information about the program, including a detailed schedule of events and biographies of the award-winning visiting writers, is available at www.ashland.edu/graduate/mfa.

Ashland University (www.ashland.edu) is a mid-sized, private university conveniently located a short distance from Akron, Cleveland and Columbus, Ohio. Ashland University values the individual student and offers a unique educational experience that combines the challenge of strong, applied academic programs with a faculty and staff who build nurturing relationships with their students.