Creative Writing Program hosts trio of October author readings

Compiled by Jefferson Beavers, communication specialist, Department of English | Image: Meg Day, Lars Horn and Brian Turner.

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Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing will host three author readings in the month of October — one featuring the program’s faculty authors, one a celebration of contemporary queer literature, and one welcoming back to campus an alumni author with three new poetry collections being published this fall. 

Admission to each event is free, and the readings are open to the public. 

Author Reading: Fresno State MFA Faculty

For the first time since 2019, the Creative Writing Program faculty will gather as a group to perform from their latest works. The annual Fresno State MFA Faculty reading, as part of the Fresno Poets’ Association series, had been paused since the COVID-19 pandemic began.

The reading is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 4 in the Alice Peters Auditorium (PB 191), inside the University Business Center. Parking costs $5 in recommended lots P5 and P6.

Faculty authors featured will include Venita Blackburn, Steven Church, Ra Jarrar, Brynn Saito, Tim Skeen, Mai Der Vang, and Brenna Womer. Books will be for sale, and a book signing will follow.

For more information, contact Brynn Saito at bsaito@mail.fresnostate.edu or 559.278.1569.

Author Reading: Meg Day and Lars Horn

Venita Blackburn, an associate professor of English, will host a celebration of contemporary queer literature in honor of LGBTQ+ History Month, featuring authors Meg Day and Lars Horn. The reading is supported by the LGBTQ2+ Studies Minor, the LGBTQ+ Allies Faculty and Staff Network, and Fresno State’s Instructionally Related Activities fund.

The event is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 16, in the Leon S. Peters Ellipse Gallery, inside the Fresno State Library, on the second floor of the library’s north wing. Parking costs $5 in recommended lots P1 and P20.

Day, the author of the poetry collection “Last Psalm at Sea Level,” published by Barrow Street in 2014, is a National Endowment for the Arts fellow in poetry. Horn is the author of the nonfiction book “Voice of the Fish,” which won the 2020 Graywolf Nonfiction Prize. The event will include a book signing.

For more information, contact Venita Blackburn at blackburn@mail.fresnostate.edu or 559.278.1569.

Author Reading: Brian Turner

Graduate students from The Normal School literary magazine will host an evening with alumni author Brian Turner. In addition to performing from his trio of new books, Turner will be in conversation with California Poet Laureate Lee Herrick after the reading, which is supported by Fresno State’s Instructionally Related Activities fund.

The event is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 24, in the Alice Peters Auditorium (PB 191), inside the University Business Center. Parking costs $5 in recommended lots P5 and P6.

A native of Madera, Turner earned his bachelor’s degree in English literature from Fresno State. He is the author of five collections of poetry, including three newly published this fall from Alice James Books: “The Wild Delight of Wild Things,” “The Goodbye World Poem,” and “The Dead Peasant’s Handbook.” Books will be for sale, and a book signing will follow.
For more information, contact Steven Church at stchurch@mail.fresnostate.edu or 559.278.1569.