Buffalo, NY - The Canisius University Contemporary Writers Series will welcome acclaimed Irish writer Doireann Ní Ghríofa and award-winning author Julie Schumacher to campus this fall for two free public readings.
Ní Ghríofa will be the featured speaker at the 21st annual Hassett Reading, scheduled for Tuesday, October 20 at 7:00 p.m. in the Montante Cultural Center. Schumacher will speak on Thursday, November 5 at 7:00 p.m. in the Grupp Fireside Lounge. Both events will include a question-and-answer session and reception. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. and seating is limited and available on a first-come, first-served basis.
21st Annual Hassett Reading: Doireann Ní Ghríofa
Doireann Ní Ghríofa is an Irish writer devoted to exploring how the past makes itself felt within the present. Born in Galway and raised in County Clare, she is a bilingual writer and the author of seven critically acclaimed books of poetry.
Her prose debut, A Ghost in the Throat, was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and was named a New York Times Notable Book and an NPR Best Book of the Year. The book, which explores the life and work of an 18th-century Irish poet through the perspective of a young mother, won the James Tait Black Prize and was named the overall Book of the Year at the Irish Book Awards. It has been translated into more than 20 languages.
Ní Ghríofa's most recent book, Said the Dead, draws on hundreds of hours of archival research to create a polyphonic portrait of a 19th-century asylum, blending history and ghost story. The book has been praised by The Guardian as "widely imaginative" and by the Times Literary Supplement as "electrifying."
Julie Schumacher
Julie Schumacher is the author of a dozen books, including the national bestseller Dear Committee Members, which won the Thurber Prize for American Humor. Schumacher was the first woman to receive the award.
Her writing has appeared in The Atlantic, The New York Times, Ms., The Chronicle of Higher Education, The Best American Short Stories and the O. Henry Awards anthologies. Her first novel, The Body is Water, was an ALA Notable Book of the Year and a finalist for the PEN/Hemmingway Award. She has also written five novels for young adults and a satirical coloring book, Doodling for Academics.
Schumacher is a Regents Professor at the university of Minnesota, where she teaches in the Creative Writing Program and Department of English. She has received multiple teaching awards and has been recognized as a Scholar of the College.
The Contemporary Writers Series was founded with a grant from the John R. Oishei Foundation and continued through the Peter Canisius Distinguished Teaching Professorship Program. Today, the series is generously supported by the Hassett, Scoma and Lowery Endowments, with the cooperation of the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library, Just Buffalo Literacy Center and Talking Leaves Books.
For more information about the fall readings or to receive a link to the livestream, email Mick Cochrane, PhD, professor of English and Contemporary Writers Series coordinator, at @email.
Canisius was founded in 1870 in Buffalo, NY, and is one of 27 Jesuit colleges and universities in the U.S. Consistently ranked among the top institutions in the Northeast, Canisius offers undergraduate, graduate and pre-professional programs distinguished by close student-faculty collaboration, mentoring and an emphasis on ethical, purpose-driven leadership.
