Friday, October 9, 2009

Reading by Thomas King

UW MFA Series Brings Celebrated Native American Writer Thomas King to Laramie. The University of Wyoming’s MFA Visiting Writers Series will present a reading by the novelist and short story writer Thomas King on October 12th. Called a “fresh, inventive, funny, and vastly entertaining” writer by Publishers Weekly, King will read from his work beginning at 5 pm in the Family Room of the Wyoming Union. The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature a book-signing with the author after the reading.

Thomas King has written articles, stories and poems that have appeared in journals such as World Literature Written in English, The Hungry Mind Review, and The Journal of American Folklore. He has published two collections of short stories and the novels Medicine River, Green Grass, Running Water, and Truth and Bright Water. Library Journal called Medicine River “a wild tale with a serious heart;” and Green Grass, Running Water was a finalist for the Governor Generals Award in Canada.

A prolific writer, King has also penned two mysteries under the name Hartley GoodWeather and the children’s books A Coyote Columbus Story, nominated for the Governor Generals Award, and Coyote’s New Suit. King also created and wrote for the CBC Radio show “The Dead Dog Café Comedy Hour.”

King’s participation in the Visiting Writers Series is co-sponsored by the MFA Creative Writing program, the American Indian Studies program, the Wyoming Humanities Council, the University Bookstore, a private donor, and the President’s Advisory Council on Minorities’ and Women’s Affairs.

Each semester, The MFA’s Visiting Writers Series brings distinguished writers and emerging new voices to Wyoming. Recent guests have included James Salter, B.H. Fairchild, Chris Bachelder, Neela Vaswani, and Evie Shockley. This year’s Visiting Writers Series also includes upcoming readings by John D’Agata, Nicole Walker, Glen Porciau Pourciau, Gaby Calvocoressi, and the MFA program’s Eminent Writers In Residence Philip Gourevitch and Edward P. Jones. For more details, please visit the MFA website at www.uwyo.edu/creativewriting or contact Beth Loffreda at loffreda@uwyo.edu.