Literary Stars to Offer Free Readings During 30th Annual Rutgers University–Camden Summer Writers’ Conference
Rutgers University–Camden will celebrate three decades as the premiere literary hub in South Jersey as it presents the 30th Annual Rutgers University–Camden Summer Writers’ Conference from June 22 to July 1.
Gregory Pardlo, a 1999 graduate of Rutgers–Camden who just earned the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Poetry for his poem collection Digest, will return to his alma mater on June 29 to read from his works.
Pardlo headlines a virtual who’s who of critically acclaimed authors and poets who will present free public readings on select days from 1 to 2 p.m. His reading will be held in the Multi-Purpose Room on the main level of the Campus Center, while the remaining readings will be held in the Stedman Gallery, on the Rutgers–Camden campus.
Readings will be held on the following days:
On Tuesday, June 23, Meghan Daum, an opinion columnist for The Los Angeles Times and the author of two essay collections: The Unspeakable and Other Subjects of Discussion and My Misspent Youth, will read with Rafael Yglesias, author of 10 novels, most recently The Wisdom of Perversity.
On Wednesday, June 24, Daniel Bergner, a contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine and the author of four books of nonfiction (What Do Women Want?, The Other Side of Desire, In the Land of Magic Soldiers and God of the Rodeo), will read with Laura Kipnis, author of five books of nonfiction: Men: Notes from an Ongoing Investigation; How to Become A Scandal: Adventures in Bad Behavior; The Female Thing: Dirt, Envy, Sex and Vulnerability, Against Love: A Polemic; and Bound and Gagged: Pornography and the Politics of Fantasy in America.
On Thursday, June 25, Lisa Sewell, the author of two books of poetry: Name Withheld and The Way Out, as well as a Keystone Award-winning chapbook of poetry, will read with Matthew Thomas, author of The New York Times-bestselling novel, We Are Not Ourselves, which has been shortlisted for the Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize from the Center for Fiction and longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award.
On Monday, June 29, the aforementioned Gregory Pardlo, author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning Digest and Totem, winner of the APR/Honickman Prize in 2007, will read.
On Tuesday, June 30, Eduardo Corral, a CantoMundo fellow, whose first book of poems, Slow Lightning, was selected by Carl Phillips as the 2011 winner of the Yale Series of Younger Poets competition, will read with Paul Lisicky, author of five books – Lawnboy, Famous Builder, The Burning House, Unbuilt Projects – and The Narrow Door, forthcoming from Graywolf Press in 2015.
On Wednesday, July 1, selected conference participants will read from their works.
The Rutgers University–Camden Summer Writers’ Conference is an intensive, inspiring, and informative 10-day conference of writing workshops, craft classes, agent and editor presentations, and readings by our nationally known faculty of poets and writers. The conference is open to both Rutgers–Camden students and the public, but prior workshop or professional writing experience is required. Please note: fiction workshops are already full, but a limited number of spaces are still available for creative nonfiction and poetry workshops.
The conference can be attended for graduate and undergraduate credit, as well as on a non-credit, certificate fee basis. The registration deadline is Tuesday, June 2. For more information or to register, visit mfa.camden.rutgers.edu/writers-conference or contact Lisa Zeidner at zeidner@camden.rutgers.edu or 856-225-6490.
The Stedman Gallery is located in the Fine Arts Complex on Third Street, between Cooper Street and the Benjamin Franklin Bridge, on the Rutgers–Camden campus. For directions to Rutgers–Camden, visit camden.rutgers.edu/resources/getting-to-campus.
Accepting only 15 students per year, the competitive Rutgers–Camden MFA program in creative writing requires 42 credits of coursework and completion of a thesis for this terminal degree concentrating in fiction, poetry, and narrative nonfiction. More information about Rutgers–Camden’s MFA program in creative writing is available at mfa.camden.rutgers.edu.
Tom McLaughlin
Rutgers University–Camden
Editorial/Media Specialist
(856) 225-6545
thomas.mclaughlin@camden.rutgers.edu