Contemporary Writers Series 2010-2011Founded with a grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation, the series continues through the generous support of the Peter Canisius Distinguished Teaching Professorship Program and the Hassett and Scoma Endowments, and with the cooperation of The Buffalo & Erie Country Public Library, Just Buffalo Literary Center, Western New York Writing Project, and Talking Leaves Books. For more information, contact Mick Cochrane, Series Coordinator, 716-888-2662.FALL 2010
Sarah Shun-lien BynumTuesday, September 21, 2010; 7:30 p.m.
Grupp Fireside Lounge
Sarah Shun-lien Bynum is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. Her first novel,
Madeleine is Sleeping, was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2004. Her fiction has appeared in
The New Yorker,
Tin House,
Georgia Review, and
The Best American Short Stories. Her second book,
Ms. Hempel Chronicles, was a finalist for the Pen/Faulkner Award for fiction. She teaches writing at the University of California, San Diego.
Web ResourcesReviews Of Ms. Hempel Chronicles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/01/books/review/Emmons-t.html?_r=1
http://articles.sfgate.com/2008-09-16/entertainment/17157912_1_talent-show-story-prep-school
http://articles.latimes.com/2008/sep/21/entertainment/ca-sarah-bynum21
Audio (Interviews and Readings):
http://www.mshempelchronicles.com/Audio.html
Print Interviews:
http://www.thememagazine.com/stories/sarah-shun-lien-bynum/
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/writers/writerdetails.asp?cid=1305370#interview
Video:
http://www.charlierose.com/view/interview/1124
Ms. Hempel Chronicles’ website:
http://www.mshempelchronicles.com/Welcome.html
“The Erkling,” a new story:
http://www.newyorker.com/fiction/features/2010/07/05/
100705fi_fiction_bynum
Dennis LehaneThursday, October 7, 2010; 7:30 p.m.
Montante Cultural Center
Dennis Lehane was born and raised in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Eckerd College and a master’s degree in creative writing from Florida International University. He is the author of eight novels, including
The New York Times bestsellers
Gone, Baby Gone,
Mystic River, and
Shutter Island, as well as
Coronado, a collection of short stories and a play. His most recent novel is
The Given Day. He’s taught fiction writing at Harvard and is currently a member the board of the MFA program of Pine Manor College. He and his wife divide their time between Boston and the Gulf Coast of Florida.
Web ResourcesOfficial website -- http://www.dennislehanebooks.com/books/Video:
On the Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XjjjXnWnkzc
Lehane and Martin Scorsese on Shutter Island
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x3XGOJSvjnI
Lehane on Writing
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL1HFmgr1nE&feature=related
Lehane discusses The Given Day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYpuxAj0Cno&feature=related
Reviews of The Given Day:
http://www.tampabay.com/features/books/article814745.ece
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/18/AR2008091802887.html
Interviews:
On Mystic River
http://www.harpercollins.com/author/authorExtra.aspx?authorID=17394&isbn13=9780380731855&displayType=bookinterview
On Shutter Island, The Given Day, and writing for television
http://www.collider.com/2010/05/28/dennis-lehane-interview-shutter-island-animal-rescue-the-given-day/
SPRING 2011
Patricia SmithTuesday, February 8, 2011, 7:30 p.m.
Marie Maday Theatre
Patricia Smith grew up in Chicago. She is the author of five collections of poetry, including
Teahouse of the Almighty, a National Poetry Series award winner and recipient of the Hurston/Wright Legacy and Paterson Poetry Prize, and
Blood Dazzler, her most recent, a National Book Award finalist. She is a Pushcart Prize recipient and a record-setting slam champion who has appeared on HBO’s
Def Jam Poetry and performed her work around the world, including Carnegie Hall, the Poets Stage in Stockholm, Rotterdam’s Poetry International Festival, the Aran Islands International Poetry and Prose Festival, the Sorbonne in Paris and on tour in Germany, Austria and Holland.
WEB RESOURCESOfficial Website --
http://wordwoman.ws/ Interviews:
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2008_p_smith_interv.html
http://www.torchpoetry.org/patriciasmith.htm
Video:
Reading “Get the Hell Off My Grave”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8on9w9REA5s&feature=related
Performing with The Jeff Robinson Trio
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bSHIyLk52E&feature=related
Interview at the Hurston Wright Awards 2007
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uHq2A_X8mxc&feature=related
Reviews of Blood Dazzler:
http://poetsquarterly.yolasite.com/winter10_smith.php
http://gentlyread.wordpress.com/2009/03/01/patricia-smith-speaks-for-all-of-us-nicolle-elizabeth-reviews-patricia-smiths-blood-dazzler/
National Book Award Citation for Blood Dazzler:
http://www.nationalbook.org/nba2008_p_smith.html
Colm TóibínThursday, March 3, 2011, 7 p.m.
Montante Cultural Center
Eighth Annual Hassett ReadingColm Tóibín was born in Enniscorthy, County Wexford, Ireland, and educated at University College Dublin. He is the author of six novels, a collection of stories, and several works of nonfiction. Twice shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Tóibín won the
Los Angeles Times Book Prize for fiction for
The Master. His most recent novel,
Brooklyn, was named a Best Book of 2009 by
The New Yorker, NPR, and
The Times Literary Supplement, and named one a
Newsweek’s “Fifty Books for Our Times” and one of
The Guardian’s “Fifty Books that Defined the Decade.” Currently he lives in Dublin.
Web ResourcesInterviews:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/books-life/7074090/Costa-Book-Awards-Colm-Toibin-interview.html
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/apr/26/colm-toibin-brooklyn
Audio:
“You Must Read This”: On John McGahem’s Amongst Women
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=105254948
Video:
Catholic Writers Series, University of Notre Dame
http://www.lndlibrary.org/lndl/ColmToibin/ColmToibin.html
Warwick University Interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PmlrO-jiy-Q
Reading from Brooklyn
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rdA7Dg11AeA
Audio:
Reviews of Brooklyn:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/
the_tls/article6190196.ece
http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/may/09/colm-toibin-brooklyn
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/03/books/review/Schillinger-t.html?ref=bookreviews
Biographical and Critical Overview:
http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth6#criticalperspective