DANBURY, CONN. — Award-winning novelists, poets and nonfiction authors will read from and discuss their works during the Master of Fine Arts in Creative and Professional Writing winter residency in January at Western Connecticut State University.
A series of programs each evening from Friday, Jan. 3, through Monday, Jan. 6, 2020, will feature distinguished writers whose achievements include selection as recipients of the Housatonic Book Award as well as major national honors in the fields of fiction, nonfiction, memoirs and poetry. All readings will begin at 7:30 p.m. in the Juniper Room at Hotel Zero Degrees, 15 Milestone Road in Danbury. Admission will be free and the public is invited.
Following is the program schedule:
- Friday, Jan. 3: Recent graduates John Bonanni, Gabbie Frulla, Mattea Heller and Lisa Peterson each will share an excerpt from their thesis. Genres include memoir, horror, literary fiction, and true crime/memoir.
- Saturday, Jan. 4: Readings by Suzanne Strempeck Shea and Tommy Shea.
- Sunday, Jan. 5: A reading by Sean Thomas Dougherty, 2019 Housatonic Book Award winner for poetry.
- Monday, Jan. 6: Readings by M.F.A. program mentors Onnesha Roychouduri and Sonja Mongar.
The evening series is presented as part of the winter residency for graduate students currently enrolled in the M.F.A. in Creative and Professional Writing program. Launched in 2005, the M.F.A. program at WCSU enables participants from across the nation to pursue master’s degree studies in a diverse range of creative and professional writing genres through a comprehensive distance learning program complemented by summer and winter on-campus residencies. The coordinator of the WCSU M.F.A. program is Anthony D’Aries, a widely published essayist and author of “The Language of Men: A Memoir,” winner of the PEN/New England Discovery Prize and Foreword magazine’s Memoir of the Year Award.
For more information, visit the M.F.A. program website at www.wcsu.edu/writing/mfa or call the Office of University Relations at (203) 837-8486.
Western Connecticut State University changes lives by providing all students with a high-quality education that fosters their growth as individuals, scholars, professionals and leaders in a global society. Our vision: To be widely recognized as a premier public university with outstanding teachers and scholars who prepare students to contribute to the world in a meaningful way.