Friday, February 5, 2010

Edward P. Jones is new eminent writer in residence at UW MFA Program


One of the top contemporary African American writers, Edward P. Jones, will read and sign his books Thursday, Feb. 18, at 5 p.m. in the University Wyoming Union ballroom.

His Wyoming visit is sponsored by UW's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing Eminent Writer in Residence Program. During his residency at UW, Jones will teach a writing workshop, visit numerous university classes and offer readings on campus and elsewhere in the state.

Novelist Dave Eggers writes, "Jones' short stories have the ability to stun on every page; there are too many breathtaking lines to count."

Jones' first collection of short stories, "Lost in the City," won the 1993 Pen/Hemingway Award and was short-listed for the National Book Award. His novel, "The Known World," won the 2004 National Book Award, Pulitzer Prize for fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award and the Lannan Literary Award.

His most recent collection of short fiction, "All Aunt Hagar's Children," was a finalist for the 2007 Pen/Faulkner Award. Jones also publishes regularly in The New Yorker.

The Eminent Writer in Residence Program is funded by the Excellence in Higher Education Endowment. For more information, visit the MFA Web site at www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting or e-mail Associate Professor Beth Loffreda at loffreda@uwyo.edu.