WCSU’s M.F.A. in writing program to host authors in Danbury

DANBURY, CONN. — The winners of the 2015 Housatonic Book Awards in Poetry and Fiction will read from their work along with a host of other poets and writers in Danbury during the first week of January.

On Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, poet Matthea Harvey will read from her award-winning collection of poems and images, “If the Tabloids are True What are You?” at 7 p.m. at the Ethan Allen Hotel, 21 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury.

Author John Katzenbach will read from his award-winning novel “Red 1-2-3” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5, at the Ethan Allen Hotel.

The Housatonic Book Awards are sponsored by the Master of Fine Arts in Creative and Professional Writing program at Western Connecticut State University. The awards honor excellent work by contemporary authors who serve as role models for professional writing students. The winners of the Housatonic Book Awards in Nonfiction (Leslie Jamison) and Writing for Young Adults and Middle Grades (Tawni Waters) will appear at the August 2016 residency.

The schedule of readings, in collaboration with the M.F.A. program’s January residency, also will include Z. Z. Boone and Don Snyder at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 3, in Room 218 of the Classroom Building on the WCSU Westside campus, 43 Lake Ave. Extension in Danbury. Boone will read from his new collection of short stories, “Off Somewhere.” Snyder’s career includes the novels “Fallen Angel” and “Winter Travelers: A Christmas Fable” and the memoirs “The Cliff Walk” and “Of Time and Memory.”

At 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 6, M.F.A. Coordinator and poet Brian Clements will read from his recent collection, “A Book of Common Rituals,” in Room 218 of the Westside Classroom Building, along with poet Melissa Gordon, who will read from her recent manuscript, “Fifth Force.”

The readings are free and open to the public.

The M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing is a low-residency program designed to provide writers-in-training with hands-on learning experiences and training across a wide variety of genres and fields so that they are well prepared for careers as professional writers.

For more information, visit www.wcsu.edu/writing/mfa.

Western Connecticut State University offers outstanding faculty in a range of quality academic programs. Our diverse university community provides students an enriching and supportive environment that takes advantage of the unique cultural offerings of Western Connecticut and New York. Our vision: To be an affordable public university with the characteristics of New England’s best small private universities.