Tuesday, May 29, 2007
RopeWalk Writers Retreat offers free readings
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The public is welcome to attend free readings offered by the RopeWalk Writers Retreat faculty and guest artist during the 2007 retreat, June 10-16 in New Harmony, Indiana. Jennifer S. Davis, author of Her Kind of Want and winner of the Iowa Award for Short Fiction, said there is a fundamental difference between reading from the page and hearing a piece read. “A reading of prose or poetry is a performance, and that performance changes the material being performed. I never fail to be surprised at how a piece of writing affects me when the author reads it aloud. Even if I've read the piece before, it becomes new to me. “Also, as a native of rural Alabama, I have enjoyed a rich legacy of oral tradition. To me, stories and poems are meant to be shared aloud.” Her second collection of stories, Our Former Lives in Art will be published by Random House in July 2007. Davis and the poet Michael Waters each are participating in the retreat for the first time. Waters, the author of eight books of poetry and recipient of a Fellowship in Creative Writing from the National Endowment for the Arts and three Pushcart Prizes, has been aware of RopeWalk’s reputation as “the premier summer literary retreat,” he said. Waters was a finalist for the 2006 Los Angeles Times Poetry Book Prize for Darling Vulgarity. The reading schedule is as follows: • June 10: Marianne Boruch (poetry). Boruch has published five books of poetry, most recently Poems: New and Selected. • June 11: Jennifer S. Davis (fiction). Davis, author of Her Kind of Want, is the winner of the Iowa Award for Short Fiction. • June 12: Michael Waters (poetry). Waters has published eight books of poetry, including Darling Vulgarity and Parthenopi: New and Selected Poems. • June 13: Bich Minh Nguyen (guest artist). Nguyen is winner of the 2005 PEN/Jerard Award in nonfiction and author of a forthcoming memoir, Short Girls. • June 15: Kevin McIlvoy (creative nonfiction). McIlvoy has published three novels and the recent collection The Complete History of New Mexico: Stories. All readings except June 15 will be held in the Atheneum at 7 p.m. and will be followed by a reception. The final reading on June 15 will be held at 6 p.m. and followed by a picnic dinner at a cost of $20. There also will be free craft lectures offered during the week. For more information, call USI Extended Services at 812/464-1989 or go to www.ropewalk.org. |
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