Subtext returns to Clark
Author Jim Shepard will appear at Clark’s 2016 Subtext festival. Photo courtesy of Jim Shepard.
The Clark College Columbia Writers Series is offering a full week of writers, readings, and events on the college’s main campus. From May 9 – 12, the college will host well-known authors, as well as readings by Clark students and a poetry workshop with incarcerated individuals. (See full schedule below.)
All events are free and open to the public. Directions and maps are available online. Individuals who need accommodation due to a disability in order to fully participate in this event should contact Clark College’s Disability Support Services (DSS) Office at 360-992-2314 or 360-991-0901 (VP). The DSS office is located in room 013 in Clark’s Penguin Union Building.
The Columbia Writers Series was launched at Clark College in 1988, bringing local, national and international authors to the college and the region. Information about the Columbia Writers Series is available at www.clark.edu/cc/cws.
Schedule
May 9, 5:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., PUB 161: Free Minds Prison Poetry Workshop
Part of an On The Same Page UNITED pilot project, Free Minds poetry workshops use writing to connect inmates with members of their communities on the outside. During the event, participants will read through poetry submissions from about a dozen inmates, and comment directly on the page. The poems with feedback will then be returned to the writers. This project, which has been conducted elsewhere around the country, fosters creativity and literacy in and outside prison walls.
May 10, 1:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m., PUB 161: Phoenix Unveiling
Clark College’s national award-winning art and literary journal, Phoenix, will unveil its 2015-2016 edition with readings from student authors and free copies available for guests.
May 11, 5:30 p.m. – 7:30 p.m., PUB 161: Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall
Washington State Poet Laureate Tod Marshall will read from and discuss his work. His books of poetry include Bugle, The Tangled Line, and Dare Say. He has also published a collection of his interviews with contemporary poets, Range of the Possible and an attendant anthology of work by the interviewed poets, Range of Voices. He lives in Spokane, Washington, and teaches at Gonzaga University.
May 12, 12:30 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., PUB 258A: Fiction writer Jim Shepard
Jim Shepard is the author of seven novels, including most recently The Book of Aron, which won the Sophie Brody Medal for Achievement in Jewish Literature from the American Library Association and the PEN/New England Award for fiction, and four story collections, including Like You’d Understand, Anyway, which was a finalist for the National Book Award and won The Story Prize. Five of his short stories have been chosen for the Best American Short Stories, two for the PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories, and one for a Pushcart Prize. He teaches at Williams College.