It’s that time of year again! Each fall, as the leaves change and the weather finally cools, one thing remains the same on Colorado State University’s campus: The Creative Writing Reading Series continues to welcome distinguished literary voices to share their work and to engage with the local community here in Fort Collins.
In partnership with CSU Libraries and the Department of English, the popular series will return on Thursday, Sept. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the University Ballroom of the Lory Student Center with readings by award-winning writers Eula Biss and Mira Jacob.
Ramona Ausubel, director of the series and assistant professor, is thrilled to spotlight the politically engaged work of each writer as part of CSU’s Thematic Year of Democracy and Civic Engagement.
“Eula Biss is one our most exciting thinkers on the entire idea of ownership, property and belongings,” Ausubel said. “She asks us to rethink what belongs to us and how we belong, or don’t, to each other.”
Mira Jacob’s graphic memoir Good Talk is about an Indian American mother raising a bi-racial child in the lead-up to the 2016 election.
“The drawings are inventive and inviting — and the story, which is funny and heartbreaking, asks us to consider history as a present-tense narrative that we are writing together,” Ausubel said.
About the authors
Eula Biss is the author of four books: Having and Being Had (2020), On Immunity (2014), Notes from No Man’s Land (2009), and The Balloonists (2002). Her work has been translated into a dozen languages and has been recognized by a National Book Critics Circle Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a 21st Century Award from the Chicago Public Library. As a 2023 National Fellow at New America, she is at work on a collection of essays about how private property has shaped our world.
Mira Jacob is a novelist, memoirist, illustrator, and cultural critic. Her graphic memoir Good Talk: A Memoir in Conversations was shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award, longlisted for the PEN Open Book Award, named a New York Times Notable Book, as well as a best book of the year by Time, Esquire, Publisher’s Weekly, and Library Journal. It is currently in development as a television series with Film 44. Her novel The Sleepwalker’s Guide to Dancing was a Barnes & Noble Discover New Writers pick, shortlisted for India’s Tata First Literature Award, longlisted for the Brooklyn Literary Eagles Prize and named one of the best books of 2014 by Kirkus Reviews, the Boston Globe, Goodreads, Bustle, and The Millions.
Introducing CSU Libraries’ new writer-in-residence
In addition to collaborating on this year’s programming, the Libraries and Creative Writing program also recently came together to name a new writer-in-residence at the Libraries. First established in 2021, the position was created to help build partnerships and relationships that enhance local artistic and literary communities.
This year’s writer-in-residence is Amy Gordon, a second-year graduate student studying creative nonfiction in the Creative Writing MFA program. Gordon will help coordinate and facilitate CWRS salons at the Morgan Library. Salons are a great opportunity for students to gather informally with visiting authors to ask questions about their practice, publication experience, and more. Often, writers will also bring a prompt or writing exercise for participants to complete during the session.
Gordon is excited to step into her new role.
“I grew up before the internet age and have fond memories of learning to use the card catalogue in my town’s public library and, later, of spending hours in libraries doing research for high school and college papers,” she said. “I’m grateful for this opportunity and am excited to both act as a bridge between the Libraries and the CSU community and discover new ways to incorporate library resources into my own work.”
Gordon is also an associate editor at Colorado Review. She was the recipient of the 2022-2023 Tremblay-Crow-Kern Creative Writing Fellowship.
Fall and Spring schedule
All events are free and open to the public. Check the Creative Writing Reading Series website for the most up-to-date information.
Sept. 21, 2023 – Eula Biss, Mira Jacob
Oct. 6, 2023 – Franny Choi, Kaveh Akbar
Nov. 2, 2023 – Writer’s Harvest: Ramona Ausubel, Dan Beachy-Quick, Matthew Cooperman, and Camille T. Dungy
Nov. 9, 2023 – Adrian Lürssen, Leonora Simonovis
Dec. 7, 2023 – MFA Readings: Anna Emerson, Julia Marquez-Uppman, Grant Helzer
Feb. 1, 2023 – MFA Readings: Nicole Piasecki, Carolina Bucheli, Bianca Melendrez Valenzuela
Feb. 29, 2024 – Kazim Ali, Vauhini Vara
March 7, 2024 – Mary Crow Alumni Reading: Samantha Tucker, Kristin George Bagdanov
March 21, 2024 – MFA Readings: Ben Freedman, River Grabowski, Laura Roth
April 4, 2024 – Gale Marie Thompson, winner of the 2023 Colorado Prize for Poetry
April 25, 2024 – MFA Readings: Lauren Furman, Tashiana Seebeck, Nicole Pagliari
About the Creative Writing Reading Series
The CSU Creative Writing Reading Series is made possible by the Organization of Graduate Student Writers, the CSU Department of English, the College of Liberal Arts, the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment, the donor sponsor of the Crow-Tremblay Alumni Reading Series, the CSU Libraries and other generous support.
For more information about the authors and the series, visit the Creative Writing Reading Series website.
