Upcoming in our Spring Reading Series

Feb 7Bruce Machart is the author of the novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, and a forthcoming collection of short stories entitled Men in the Making, due out from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2011. His fiction has been published in Zoetrope, Story, One Story, Five Points, Glimmer Train, and elsewhere. His short stories have been anthologized in Best Stories of the American West

March 1Jericho Brown, a former speechwriter for the Mayor of New Orleans, has been a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, the Bunting Fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, and two travel fellowships to the Krakow Poetry Seminar in Poland. His first book of poetry, PLEASE (New Issues), won the 2009 American Book Award.March 29Kim Dana Kupperman won the prestigious 2009 Katherine Bakeless Nason Prize in Nonfiction for I Just Lately Started Buying Wings, which was published by Gray Wolf Press in 2010. Her work has also been selected for inclusion into Best American Essays. She is the managing editor of The Gettysburg Review.

April 11John Dufresne is the author of the novels Louisiana Power & Light, Love Warps the Mind a Little, Deep in the Shade of Paradise, and Requeim, Mass. He's written two story collections, The Way That Water Enters Stone and Johnny Too Bad. He has also written two guides to writing fiction, The Lie That Tells a Truth and his newest book, Is Life Like This? He teaches creative writing at Florida International University in Miami.

The Roosevelt Reading Series (2010-2011)

The Roosevelt Reading Series is held in the Gage Gallery, across the street from Millenium Park in downtown Chicago. Unless noted otherwise, readings are from 5-6p.m., with coffee and cake served at 4:30p.m. All readings are open to the public.

Sept 27Prize-winning fiction writer Ben Fountain, winner of the prestigious Pen/ Hemingway Award for Brief Encounters with Che Guevara. He’s also received a Whiting Writing Award, two O. Henry Awards for the short story, and the Texas Institute of Letters Prize for best work of fiction. Fountain has also served as the editor at the Southwest Review.

Oct 27 Tom Grimes’ forthcoming memoir Mentor was named a Barnes and Nobles Discover Great Writers book for 2010. His previous honors include LA Times Dramatist Prize for his plays, a NY Times “notable book” of the year, and two Nelson Algren Award nominations.

Nov 17 Heather Sellers is an award-winning essayist, fiction writer, and poet. She won an NEA award for fiction and her first book of fiction, Georgia Under Water, was part of the Barnes and Noble Discover Great Writers program. She’s published three books of poetry, a children’s book, and her newest book, You Don't Look Like Anyone I Know, is a memoir about face blindness will be published Fall 2010.

Dec 1 Kyle Beachy's debut novel, The Slide, was published in 2009 by The Dial Press. Hailed as “Suspenseful, erotic, and terribly sad,” it is a ghost story, a love story, and a story of the American Midwest (set in St. Louis). He received his M.F.A. from The School of The Art Institute of Chicago. He has taught writing and literature at The School of the Art Institute, the Graham School at The University of Chicago, and the University of Iowa Summer Writing Festival.

Feb 7Bruce Machart is the author of the novel, The Wake of Forgiveness, and a forthcoming collection of short stories entitled Men in the Making, due out from Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 2011. His fiction has been published in Zoetrope, Story, One Story, Five Points, Glimmer Train, and elsewhere. His short stories have been anthologized in Best Stories of the American West

March 1 Jericho Brown, a former speechwriter for the Mayor of New Orleans, has been a recipient of the Whiting Writers Award, the Bunting Fellowship from the Radcliffe Institute at Harvard University, and two travel fellowships to the Krakow Poetry Seminar in Poland. His first book of poetry, PLEASE (New Issues), won the 2009 American Book Award.

March 29 Kim Dana Kupperman won the prestigious 2009 Katherine Bakeless Nason Prize in Nonfiction for I Just Lately Started Buying Wings, which was published by Gray Wolf Press in 2010. Her work has also been selected for inclusion into Best American Essays. She is the managing editor of The Gettysburg Review.

April 11 John Dufresne is the author of the novels Louisiana Power & Light, Love Warps the Mind a Little, Deep in the Shade of Paradise, and Requeim, Mass. He's written two story collections, The Way That Water Enters Stone and Johnny Too Bad. He has also written two guides to writing fiction, The Lie That Tells a Truth and his newest book, Is Life Like This? He teaches creative writing at Florida International University in Miami.

Spring 2010

Thursday, January 14 - Sunday, February 14

The Court Theatre at U of Chicago

Author Joan Didion adapts her own acclaimed memoir to the stage--"The Year of Magical Thinking." A fiercely intelligent, courageous, and witty exploration of loss, this monumental one-woman journey will be performed by Mary Beth Fisher in its Chicago premiere. See www.courttheatre.org/ for information and tickets.

Monday, February 1

6:00pm, Harold Washington Library (Cindy Pritzker Aud.)

T.C. Boyle, one of the most acclaimed American writers of today, will read from and sign his new collection of stories, Wild Child. The fourteen stories gathered here display both Boyle’s astonishing range and his imaginative storytelling. Nature is the dominant player in many of the stories and all are incisive and entertaining with his trademark wit and socially conscious sensibility.

Wednesday, February 3

6:00pm, Harold Washington Library (Authors Room)

Chicago author Jerald Walker reads from and signs his new memoir, Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption. In this moving and masterfully told story, Walker reveals his own struggles growing up in Chicago housing projects, a boy of great promise, his descent into the 'thug life' and the wakeup call that led to him finding himself again. It is an eloquent account of how the past shadows but need not determine the present.

Thursday, February 4

6-7pm, Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago

"Disturb the Universe" - Avant Garde and Modernism: From Guillaume Apolinaire and Gertrude Stein to Bertolt Brecht and Samuel Beckett, avant-garde writers, in sync with artists, including Picasso, charted the future of Modernism as it set off in myriad directions. Excerpts of prose, plays, and poetry presented by Goodman Theatre mainstage actors Barbara Robertson and Larry Yando. Presented by Poetry Foundation and the Art Institute of Chicago. Admission free.

Thursday, February 11

6:00pm, Harold Washington Library (Cindy Pritzker Aud.)

Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman presents best-selling author Wells Tower for a discussion of his writing and his book Ravaged, Everything Burned. When Tower published his first story collection last year, the response was frenzied: Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned sold out within weeks, garnering intense praise and a vast fan-base. Tower's characters experience humiliation, anger, and loneliness, but told with astounding wit and tenderness. Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman is a partnership with the Chicago Public Library and 98.7WFMT Radio. The interview will be broadcast on Sunday, February 14th, at noon.

Wednesday, February 17

5:00pm, Gage Gallery

Oyez Staffers and visiting authors read from Issue 37 of Roosevelt's literary magazine, Oyez Review.

Sunday, February 21

2:00pm, Harold Washington Library (Cindy Pritzker Aud.)

Patti Smith, the world renowned writer, musician and visual artist, discusses and signs her new book, Just Kids, a memoir of her time in New York with Robert Mapplethorpe. It was the summer Coltrane died, the summer of love and riots, and the summer when a chance encounter in Brooklyn led two young people on a path of art, devotion and initiation. Smith would evolve as a poet and performer and Mapplethorpe would direct his highly provocative style toward photography. Just Kids begins as a love story and ends as an elegy. It is a fascinating look at New York City in the late sixties and seventies and a beautiful portrait of two young artists’ prelude to fame. Cosponsored by Borders Books and Music. Please note: Seating is very limited and provided on a first come, first served basis. The Library opens at 1 p.m. and the Cindy Pritzker Auditorium doors open at 1:30 p.m.

Friday, February 26

7:00pm, Quimby's Bookstore (Wicker Park)

Oyez Staffers and visiting authors read from Issue 37 of Roosevelt's literary magazine, Oyez Review.

Friday, February 26

8:00pm, Double Door (Wicker Park)

It’s that time of year again! Time for the 2nd Annual Windy City Story Slam All-City Championships from the Double Door (1572 N. Milwaukee). We’ll be hearing from our finalists Alex Bonner, Fernando Hernandez, Nicolette Kittinger, Maggie Ritchie, and Alexis Thomas. We’ll also have some special guests joining us: 2009 National Book Award finalist Bonnie Jo Campbell, John Patrick Hemingway, John Schultz, and Ben Evans. The night’s musical guest is White Mystery. $7 cover, or $25 for a VIP ticket (admit it, you are a very important person). Read more here.

*RU Visiting Author Series*

Monday, March 1

5:00pm, Gage Gallery

Adam Levin, professor at Columbia College and The Art Institute and also a visiting professor at Roosevelt (teaching Fiction III), will read from his work. He has two books--a novel and a collection of short stories--forthcoming from McSweeney's.

Wednesday, March 3

5:30pm, Columbia College, Hokin Hall

Alan Michael Parker and Matthew Shindell to read from their poetry at this event sponsored by the English Department at Columbia College.

Thursday, March 4
Time T.B.A., DePaul University
Hattie Fletcher, managing editor of literary journal Creative Nonfiction will visit DePaul University for an informal Q&A with any interested students.

*RU Visiting Author Series*

Tuesday, March 9

5:00pm, Gage Gallery

Roosevelt poetry professor Frank Rogaczewski's book release party and reading of The Fate of Humanity in Verse. Dr. Rogaczewski received his Ph.D. in Creative Writing (Poetry) at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Thursday, March 11

6:00pm, Harold Washington Library (Cindy Pritzker Aud.)

American-born writer Lionel Shriver has lived in the UK for two decades, and wrote seven novels before achieving international successes with We Have To Talk About Kevin and The Post-Birthday World. She joins host Victoria Lautman to discuss her anticipated tenth novel, So Much For That, which presents a crumbling marriage resurrected in the face of illness, and one family's struggle to survive the odds. Writers on the Record with Victoria Lautman is a partnership with the Chicago Public Library and 98.7WFMT Radio. The interview will be broadcast on Sunday, March 14th, at noon.

Friday, March 12

7:00pm, Book Cellar Bookstore (Lincoln Square)

Oyez Staffers and visiting authors read from Issue 37 of Roosevelt's literary magazine, Oyez Review.

Thursday, April 1

6-7pm, Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago

Nobel prize winner Derek Walcott considers origins and inevitabilities in reading selections from landmark and recent works, most notably Omeros, his book-length epic about a modern-day Odysseus on St. Lucia, the island of his birth. A booksigning follows. Presented by Poetry Foundation and the Art Institute of Chicago. Admission is free.

*RU Visiting Author Series*

Wednesday, April 14

5:00pm, Gage Gallery

Creative nonfiction editor of Another Chicago Magazine and co-director of Northwestern's MA/MFA creative writing program, Sandi Wisenberg, will visit Roosevelt University to read from her newest creative nonfiction book Cancer Bitch--which started out as a blog. She has two other creative nonfiction books, both collections of essays: The Sweetheart Is In, and Holocaust Girls: History, Memory, and Other Obsessions.

*RU Visiting Author Series*

Tuesday, April 27

5:00pm, Gage Gallery

A reading by Mary Jo Bang, author of six collections of poems, including Elegy, which won the 2007 National Book Circle Award. She will read from her newest collection The Bride of E, and participate in a Q&A at the end of her reading. She teaches at Washington University in St. Louis.

Thursday, May 13

6-7pm, Fullerton Hall at the Art Institute of Chicago

"Disturb the Universe" - American Moderns Abroad and At Home: American artists, such as Marsden Hartley and Georgia O'Keeffe, echoed writers who were responding to European innovations by crafting their own landmark contributions to Modernism. This reading, presented by Goodman Theatre actors and dancers from HS2, features T. S. Eliot, Mina Loy, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, e.e.cummings, William Carlos Williams, and Langston Hughes. Presented by Poetry Foundation and the Art Institute of Chicago. Admission is free.

Fall 2009

Wednesday, Sept 16
7:oopm, Book Cellar
Scott Blackwood, our very own program director will be reading from his lastest touching novel, We Agreed To Meet Just Here, around 7pm at Lincoln Square's Book Cellar, which is hands-down the best bookstore in Chicago.

Monday, Sept 21
5:00pm, Site TBA
Debra Monroe, the Flannery O'Conner award-winning novelist and short story writer (Shambles), will be visiting Roosevelt University to read from and speak about her work as part of the Roosevelt Reading Series.

Wednesday, Oct 7
5:00pm, Site TBA
Frank X. Walker, the world's first "Affrilachian" poet (Black Box), will be reading from his work and talking to our students as part of the Roosevelt Reading Series.

Monday, Oct 19
5:00pm, Site TBA
Allen Wier, author of the Texan epic, Tehano, will be reading from his work and talking to our students as part of the Roosevelt Reading Series.

Wednesday, Oct 28
Halloween Field Trip
Last year, some of our MFA students were brave enough to make the trek to Chicago's Theatre on the Lake, host of the annual Haunted Sanitorium. This year, we know to bring a change of pants.

Spring 2009

Click for directions to the Auditorium Building (AUD) or the Gage Building.

Wednesday, Jan 21

5:00pm-7:30pm Gage Gallery

New Grad Student Orientation

Monday, Jan 26

Spring Classes Begin

Sunday, Feb 1

Our very own Scott Blackwood's AWP Award-winning novel, We Agreed To Meet Just Here, will be released

Wednesday, Feb 11 through Saturday, Feb 14

AWP 2009 Conference in Chicago (Sponsored in part by Roosevelt's MFA program)

Full Conference Schedule

Wednesday, Feb 11

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

Kathryn Lang, Senior Editor of SMU Press

Discussion, Q&A

Wednesday, Feb 11

6:00pm-9:00pm AUD Congress Lounge

AWP: Drunken Boat Open House
Featuring A Public Space, Action Books, Circumference, Drunken Boat, Jubilat, and Words Without Borders

Friday, Feb 13

8:30pm-12:00am Gage Gallery

AWP: Scott Blackwood's novel release reading and reception.

Friday, Feb 13

5:00pm-6:00pm Gage Gallery

AWP: Many Mountains Moving Press reading

Authors include Anne-Marie Cusac, Patrick Lawler, and Jeffrey Ethan Lee

Friday, Feb 13

6:00pm-8:00pm AUD 244

AWP: Autumn House book release and reading for When She Named Fire
Edited by Andrea Hollander Budy

Saturday, Feb 14

7:00pm Ganz Hall, Auditorium Building, 7th Floor

AWP: Reception for Fence Magazine

Monday, Feb 16

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

Janet Burroway, author of eight novels and Writing Fiction
Reading, Q&A, and guest workshop

Tuesday, Feb 17

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

Susan Briante, poet and author of Pioneers in the Study of Motion

Reading, Q&A, and guest workshop

Monday, Feb 23

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

David McGlynn, editor, short fiction writer, and author of The End of the Straight and Narrow

Reading, Q&A, and guest workshop

Monday, Mar 9

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

Lisa Stolley, Frank Rogaczewski

Faculty reading

Tuesday, Mar 10

2:00pm-4:30pm, AUD 514

Yaphet Smith, screenwriter for Disney, Spike Lee

Guest workshop

Monday, Mar 30

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

Lori Rader Day, James Burford

Graduation reading

Friday, Apr 3

7:00pm-8:00pm Quimby's Bookstore

Oyez Review Reading (featuring contributors)

Wednesday, Apr 8

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

Miles Harvey, journalist and author of The Island of Lost Maps

Reading, Q&A, and guest workshop

Monday, Apr 13

6:00pm-7:00pm AUD 308

"The Writer's Life" Seminar

Scott Blackwood and Lori Rader Day on publications, queries, and CV's

Tuesday, Apr 14
5:00pm-6:00pm AUD 244
Graduation Reading
Kelly Hunt and Danny diCrispino

Monday, Apr 20

5:00pm-6:30pm AUD 244

Don Pollock, author of Knockemstiff

Reading, Q&A, and guest workshop

Wednesday, Apr 22

5:00pm-6:00pm Roosevelt Library

Oyez Review Reading

Featuring contributors H. Anne Stoj and Patrick Carr

Friday, May 1

7:00pm The Book Cellar

End of the Semester Reading

Featuring work from our graduate students