Book Report: Warren Wilson MFA program readings

Some of the area’s most exciting up-and-coming writers are, actually, still hard at work honing their craft. In summer school, no less. But in this case, the warm months of study are carried out not in the halls and (shudder) locker rooms of some stale primary school, but on the wooded campus of Warren Wilson College (as close to summer camp as you can get while still earning a degree). Yes, Warren Wilson’s low-residency MFA program is in session, and while these wordsmiths of fiction, non-fiction and poetry sharpen their syntax, the literary-loving public can also benefit. How? By checking out any of the free readings and lectures (featuring the program’s fiction and poetry faculty), held between Thursday, July 3 and Saturday July 12.

Events last about an hour and are held in the Fellowship Hall behind the Warren Wilson College Chapel unless otherwise noted.

Thursday, July 3: Readings by Liam Callanan, Michael Collier, Christopher Castellani, Alan Shapiro and Alix Ohlin at 8 p.m.
Friday, July 4: Lecture by Charles Baxter on “Regarding Happiness” at 11:15 a.m.; readings by Robert Cohen, Mary Leader, Laila Lalami, Daniel Tobin and Kevin McIlvoy at 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, July 5: Lecture by Grace Dane Mazur on “Forbidden Looking” at 9 a.m.; readings by Reginald Gibbons, Stacey D’Erasmo, Martha Rhodes, Laura Hendrie and C.J. Hribal at 8:15 p.m.
Sunday, July 6: Readings by Charles D’Ambrosio, Joan Aleshire, Murad Kalam, C. Dale Young and Susan Neville in Warren Wilson’s Cannon Lounge at 8:15 p.m.
Monday, July 7: Readings by Rick Barot, Grace Dane Mazur, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Peter Turchi and Stephen Dobyns (pictured here) at 8:15 p.m.
Tuesday, July 8: Readings by poets Joan Aleshire, Rick Barot, Gabrielle Calvocoressi, Stephen Dobyns, Reginald Gibbons, Heather McHugh, Steve Orlen, Alan Shapiro and Daniel Tobin at Malaprop’s, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, July 9: Lecture by Stephen Dobyns on “Linebreaks” at 9:15 a.m; readings by Heather McHugh, Charles Baxter, Steve Orlen, David Haynes and Ellen Bryant Voigt at 8:15 p.m.
Thursday, July 10: Lecture by Stacey D’Erasmo on “Love Among the Ruins” at 9:15 a.m.; readings by graduating students Laurie Capps, Bryan Furuness, Layla Carroll, Sarah Grano, Abby Wender and Frederick Weihe at 8:15 p.m.
Friday, July 11: Lecture by Heather McHugh on “Rhetoric Rocks, Grammar Matters” at 9:15 a.m.; readings by graduating students Lauren Alwan, Timothy Cook, Ann Knol, Victoria Bosch Murray, Lili Flanders and Ross White at 8:15 p.m.
Saturday, July 12: Lecture by Reginald Gibbons on “The Apophatic in Poetry” at 9:30 a.m.; lecture by Peter Turchi on “If it makes you happy, why the hell are you so sad?” at 10:45 a.m.; readings by graduating students Maudelle Driskell, Christopher Causey, Marie Pavlicek-Wehrli, Janet Crossen, Judith Westley and Krystn Lee at 4:30 p.m. (followed by the MFA program’s graduation ceremony).

For more info, call 771-3715.

—Alli Marshall, A&E report

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About Alli Marshall
Alli Marshall has lived in Asheville for more than 20 years and loves live music, visual art, fiction and friendly dogs. She is the winner of the 2016 Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize and the author of the novel "How to Talk to Rockstars," published by Logosophia Books. Follow me @alli_marshall

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