It’s my pleasure to announce this spring’s Hallie Ford Literary Series at Willamette University. The following events are free and open to the public. All will take place at 7:30 p.m. in the Hatfield Room of Willamette’s library. Books will be for sale, courtesy of the Willamette Store. I hope to see you there.
Spring 2019 Hallie Ford Literary Series
New Voices / Alumni Showcase with Lena Khalaf Tuffaha & Gabriel Tallent
Wednesday, February 6
Two of our own return to campus to read from their first books, both published last year. Palestinian-American poet Lena Khalaf Tuffaha, who studied at Willamette in the mid-1990s, recently won the Washington Book Award for her poetry volume Water and Salt. Gabriel Tallent, a 2010 graduate, published his first novel, My Absolute Darling, to great acclaim, receiving praise in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and National Public Radio.
The Art of Editing with Gary Fisketjon
Thursday, March 7
Legendary editor and Salem native Gary Fisketjon will discuss his career in editing and book publishing. Fisketjon, who created the Vintage Contemporaries series for Random House, has published some of contemporary literature’s best-known writers, from Raymond Carver and Richard Ford to Donna Tartt and Haruki Murakami. He is currently editor-at-large for Alfred A. Knopf.
Teppola Distinguished Visiting Professor, Justin Taylor
Thursday, April 4
Fiction writer Justin Taylor, who is currently serving as Willamette University’s Teppola Distinguished Visiting Professor in the Department of English, is the author of two collections of short fiction, Flings and Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever, and a novel, The Gospel of Anarchy. His work has appeared in The New Yorker, The Sewanee Review, and n+1, and he has taught at New York University, Columbia University, and the University of Southern Mississippi.
Information
For more information, contact Hallie Ford Chair in Writing Scott Nadelson.
