MCLAC 2009-2010 SCHEDULE
Please put these dates on your calendar today.

Whether you write fiction, non-fiction or poetry, this outstanding series is for you. Featured authors read from and discuss their work, followed by Q & A, refreshments and opportunities for book signing. All events are free and open to the public.

October 15, Thursday, 7:00 PM
LSC-MONTGOMERY B-102
LOWELL MICK WHITE is the author of two forthcoming books: a story collection, Long Time Ago Good (Slough Press, 2008), and a novel, That Demon Life (Gival Press, 2009). His work has been published in over two dozen journals, including Callaloo, Iron Horse Literary Review, and Short Story. In 1998, he was awarded the Dobie-Paisano Fellowship by the University of Texas at Austin and the Texas Institute of Letters. White is currently a PhD student at Texas A&M University, where he specializes in creative writing and regional literatures, and teaches creative writing and freshman composition.

November 4, Wednesday, 5:00 PM Reception/Signing, 6:00-8:00 PM Reading,
Univ. of ST. THOMAS, JONES HALL
November 5, Thursday, 7:00 PM, 8:00 PM Signing
Lone Star College-MONTGOMERY B-102

BENEFIT READING & BOOK SALE for THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION
Holly Hughes,, editor of BEYOND FORGETTING: Poetry & Prose About Alzheimer is Disease (Kent State University Press with an Introduction by the distinguished poet Tess Gallagher); will lead readings of the poignant responses to Alzheimer by distinguished writers from through out the United States and abroad.

Among the readers will be poets 2008 Texas Poet Laureate, Larry Thomas, Carolyn Dahl, and Sherl Nelms, Dave Parsons, and Poet in Residence, Janet Lowery, University of St. Thomas. ALL PROCEEDS FROM BOOK SALES WILL GO TO THE ALZHEIMER’S ASSOCIATION OF SOUTH TEXAS.

December 9, Wednesday, 7:00 PM
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WENDY BARKER has published six collections of poetry. Her book, Way of Whiteness, won the Writers League of Texas Violet Crown Award for Poetry in 2000 and was nominated for the National Book Critics Circle Award for Poetry

Barker, Poet in Residence at UTSA, will read from her award winning poetry books and poems from her newest books, Things of the Weather and Nothing Between Us: The Berkley Years.

December 10, Thursday,
ANNUAL EMILY DICKINSON BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
3:00 PM PANEL, LSC- MONTGOMERY LIBRARY
2009 ANNUAL EMILY DICKINSON BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION
A panel of distinguished Dickinson scholars led by poet Wendy Barker will discuss Emily Dickinson’s relationship with the men in her life. Brenda Wineapple’s new book that details her remarkable friendship with Thomas Wentworth Higginson, White Heat, will be the catalytic source to the discussion of WHITE HEAT: THE MEN IN DICKINSON’S LIFE.

7:00 PM GATHERING OF POETS READING,
THE CORNER PUB ( on the square in Conroe) We will again have twenty distinguished poets, creative writing professors, the panel and community literary leaders, lead by Montgomery County Poet Laureate Dave Parsons, read their favorite Emily Dickinson poem as well as one of their own works.

MARION RUSSELL DICKSON will kick of the event with a performance of opera pieces written to the words of Emily Dickinson’s poems. Ms. Dickson’s most recent of many honors was her recital debut in Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall, which took place in March of 2009. Currently, Ms. Dickson is a Guest Artist with New York City based Distinguished Concerts International, New York and is on the music faculty at The University of St. Thomas.

February 18, Thursday, 7:00 PM,
LSC-MONTGOMERY Library
BEN FOUNTAIN’S fiction has appeared in Harper's, The Paris Review, and Zoetrope: All Story, and he has been awarded an O. Henry Prize, two Pushcart Prizes, the PEN/Hemingway Award. Brief Encounters With Che Guevara earlier won the 2007 Hemingway Foundation/PEN Award for a distinguished first book of fiction, and Barnes & Noble honored Mr. Fountain with a "Discover Great New Writers Award." The book was also awarded the prestigious $50,000 Whiting Award. He lives with his wife and their two children in Dallas, Texas.

MARCH 27- THE STATE OF PUBLISHING:
UNIVERSITY & SMALL PRESS SYMPOSIUM & BOOK FAIR (Details TBA)

April 8, Wednesday, 7:00 PM
LSC-MONTGOMERY B-102
EDWARD HIRSCH President of the Guggenheim Foundation and McArthur Genius Grant recipient will be our program for NATIONAL POETRY MONTH. He will read from his newest book of the Living Fire: New and Selected Poems (Knopf). He is the author of eight books of poems: Lay Back the Darkness (2003); On Love (1998); Earthly Measures (1994); The Night Parade (1989); Wild Gratitude (1986), which received the National Book Critics Circle Award; and For the Sleepwalkers (1981). which received the Lavan Younger Poets Award from The Academy of American Poets and the Delmore Schwartz Memorial Award from New York University.

May, Date TBA,
2010 Annual Walt Whitman Birthday Celebration
3:00 PM, LSC- MONTGOMERY LIBRARY
Dr. Michael Robertson will read and discuss his book, Worshipping Walt: the Whitman Disciples (Princeton Univ. Press). Professor Robertson is the author of the award winning Stephen Crane, Journalism, and the Making of Modern American Literature, and the coeditor of Walt Whitman, Where the Future Becomes Present. A former freelance journalist, he has written for the Village Voice, the New York Times, Columbia Journalism Review, and numerous scholarly journals. He lives in Princeton with his wife and daughter.

7:00 PM GATHERING OF POETS,
THE CORNER PUB ( on the square in Conroe) Montgomery County Poet Laureate, Dave Parsons, with twenty distinguished published poets, college creative writing professors, scholars, and community poetry leaders will read their favorite Walt Whitman poem and one of their own works. An Open Mike will follow with students and attendees will be invited to read their favorite Walt poem. Birthday cake will be served.

For more information, contact Dave Parsons (936) 524-6537.

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