MFA in Creative Writing summer residency offering series of events open to the public

ASHLAND, Ohio – In conjunction with Ashland University’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing summer residency program, there are a series of readings, book signings and craft seminars by award-winning authors and editors that are open to the public. The events, which run from Monday, July 13, through Wednesday, July 22, are detailed below.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for those with a literary interest to hear and meet award-winning authors right here in Ashland,” said Nadya Williams, Ph.D., interim director of the MFA in Creative Writing program. “We are building something unique and truly beautiful in the Midwestern literary scene.”

Williams also noted these events are made possible by support from the Ohio Arts Council.

On Monday, July 13, Amit Majmudar, who served as Ohio’s first poet laureate and is an author of novels, poetry collections, translations and a memoir, will visit Ashland for two events. He will present “Creating Nonfiction in the Age of A.I.: Strategies for Beating the Machine” at the Ashland Public Library (224 Claremont Ave.) from 1:30-2:30 p.m. And, at AU’s Ronk Lecture Hall (401 College Ave.) at 5 p.m., Majmudar, who also works as a diagnostic nuclear radiologist, will read from “Twin A: A Memoir,” a 2024 finalist in the Next Generation Indie Book Awards (memoir category), followed by a book signing.

Dr. Jon Parrish Peede, the current president of Ashland University and a former visiting editor for the MFA program, will give a public lecture on Tuesday, July 14, at the Seminary Library (910 Center Street), starting at 7 p.m.

On Wednesday, July 15, Jonathan Geltner, a faculty member within the MFA program and the translator of Paul Claudel’s “Five Great Odes,” will read from his first novel “Absolute Music,” at Ronk Lecture Hall at 7 p.m. The reading will be followed by a book signing.

Frederic Durbin will be featured in two public events. On Thursday, July 16, he will offer a reading from his latest novel, “The Country Under Heaven,” at Ronk Lecture Hall at 7 p.m., with a book signing to follow. He will also give a seminar at the Ashland Public Library on Friday, July 17, at 1:30 p.m., when he’ll take readers and writers behind the scenes to talk about the experimental art of writing compelling fiction that draws on fantasy, history and science-fiction.

Also on Friday, July 17, a pair of Ashland MFA alumni, Joseph Hess and Joy Gaines-Friedler, will give readings from their award-winning works at Ronk Lecture Hall, starting at 7 p.m.

J.C. Scharl, a poet, playwright and critic, will be in Ashland on Monday and Tuesday, July 20-21. On July 20, there will be a staged reading by members of the community of her play “Sonnez Les Matines” at the Seminary Library at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A session and book signing. On July 21, she’ll give a craft talk, also at the Seminary Library, at 1:30 p.m.

Also on Tuesday, July 21, Katie Hartsock, associate professor of English at Oakland University, will give an author reading from “Wolf Trees” and book signing in Ronk Lecture Hall, starting at 7 p.m. “Wolf Trees” is a 2023 poetry collection that weaves motherhood, mythology, the Midwest and managing Type 1 diabetes and won the 2025 Philip H. McMath Post-Publication Award in poetry.

The final event, to be held Wednesday, July 22, at 7 p.m., in the Seminary Library, will feature Thomas Maltman, an MFA faculty member this summer, reading from “Ashes to Ashes,” winner of the 2026 Minnesota Book Award. A book signing will follow the reading.

AU’s Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program consists of three intensive two-week summer residences and four online semesters of creative writing and critical reading, culminating with a thesis that is a book-length manuscript – in many cases a great book of fiction, nonfiction or poetry in the making.