THE NEW SCHOOL PUBLIC PROGRAMS: LITERARY EVENTS

Spring 2009

NEW YORK, January 16, 2009—This spring, The New School and its Writing Program present a wide range of literary events, including readings by bestselling authors Wally Lamb (Feb. 23), George Packer (March 2), and Annette Gordon-Reed (March 23).

Several writers of note will give readings as part of the school’s fiction, non-fiction, and poetry forums, including Mary Jo Bang (Feb. 5), Lore Segal (Feb. 9), Kate McMullan (Feb. 10), Trevor Winkfield (Feb. 24), Tracy Daugherty (Feb. 26), Lee Upton (March 3), Kevin Prufer (March 10), Mary Gaitskill (March 25), Paul Violi (April 7), Michael Dumanis (April 14), Matthew Sharpe and Scott Heim (April 15), Kyoko Mori (April 29), and Leonard S. Marcus (May 5). As part of the school’s ongoing partnership with Barnes and Noble, New School Writing Program director Robert Polito and film director Guy Maddin (April 20) will read from and discuss their latest works at Barnes and Noble Union Square.

The New School will also host important events in the literary world. The Story Prize Awards Ceremony (March 4) will feature readings by finalists Jhumpa Lahiri, Joe Meno, and Tobias Wolff, and the National Book Critics Circle Reading and Awards Ceremony (March 11-12) will feature readings by finalists (to be announced). The Poetry Society of America Chapbook Prize Reading (April 28) will include readings by recent winners John Estes, C.J. Evans, Jean Hartig, and Christopher Nelson. The Publishing Triangle Awards (May 7) will honor the year’s best gay and lesbian writing with a ceremony and public reception. The New School will celebrate the publication of the food anthology Eat, Memory with Food Writing Forum: Eat, Memory (Feb. 18), featuring a reading by editor Amanda Hesser and contributors Henry Alford, Dan Barber, and Alex Prud'homme.

The New School will also hold a series of panels on breaking into the publishing industry, including Getting Published in Today’s Market (Feb. 4) with agents Kirby Kim, Sarah Burnes, and Amy Williams; and Getting Published Panel (March 31) with editors and agents Alvina Ling, Ben Tomek, and Anna Olswanger.

About the New School Writing Program

The New School has been a vital center for writing and its instruction since 1931, when Gorham Munson, a Manhattan editor and influential partisan of the Alfred Stieglitz circle, introduced his now-legendary workshop in creative writing. Since 1996, The New School has offered a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree with concentrations in fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and writing for children. Founded by poet and biographer Robert Polito, the MFA program marks the latest transformation in the school’s commitment to creative writing. Over seven decades of steady innovation, The New School’s writing faculty has featured many of America’s most important poets, novelists, literary critics, and editors, including Robert Frost, W.H. Auden, Robert Lowell, and Frank O’Hara. The current faculty includes Francine Prose, Helen Schulman, Stephen Wright, Dale Peck, Vivian Gornick, Susan Cheever, Abigail Thomas, Honor Moore, Suzanna Lessard, and David Lehman. For more information, visit www.writing.newschool.edu.

EDITOR’S NOTE: A FULL CALENDAR OF EVENTS IS AVAILABLE HERE. All public programs are subject to change.

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