Writers Read Series presents Tom Montgomery Fate, Todd Davis, Cris Mazza This Fall
The Writers Read series at College of DuPage will offer two free presentations this fall: “The Spirit of Place” featuring Tom Montgomery Fate and Todd Davis on Monday, Sept. 26, and “No Answers, Only Questions: A Writer Provokes Herself” with Cris Mazza on Monday, Oct. 24.
Both presentations, which are free and open to the public, will take place from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in the Student Resource Center, Room 2800.
Montgomery Fate, professor of English at College of DuPage, is the author of five books, including the collection of essays “Beyond the White Noise” and the spiritual memoir “Steady and Trembling.” His latest book is the acclaimed “Cabin Fever: A Suburban Father's Search for the Wild,” of which Publishers Weekly wrote, “There are real gems of insight and wit on the diverse topics… Never snide or condescending, Fate blends the significant milestones of marriage and family in a high-tech BlackBerry society with the joys and shortcomings of being mindful in both cultures.”
His essays have appeared in such publications as the Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Orion, Iowa Review and Christian Century and they have aired on National Public Radio and Chicago Public Radio.
Davis is the author of three full-length collections of poetry – “The Least of These,” “Some Heaven” and “Ripe” – as well as a limited edition chapbook, “Household of Water, Moon, and Snow: The Thoreau Poems.” His poems have won the Gwendolyn Brooks Poetry Prize, have been nominated for the Pushcart Prize, and have been featured on the radio by Garrison Keillor on “The Writer's Almanac.” His work has appeared in such publications as Poetry Daily, Iowa Review and The North American Review. He teaches creative writing, American literature and environmental studies at Penn State University's Altoona College.
Mazza has authored 16 books, most recently the novel “Various Men Who Knew Us as Girls.” Her other fiction titles include “Waterbaby,” “Trickle-Down Timeline” and “Is It Sexual Harassment Yet?” In 2006, her essay “Who's Laughing Now: Chick Lit and the Perversion of a Genre,” explaining the co-opting and corrosion of the title, appeared in Poets & Writers Magazine. In addition to fiction, Mazza also has published a memoir, “Indigenous: Growing Up Californian.” A native of Southern California, Mazza currently is a professor in the Program for Writers at the University of Illinois at Chicago.
The Writers Read series brings authors to COD's campus for evenings of readings and discussions. This popular series is sponsored by the Liberal Arts Division.
For more information, call (630) 942-2311, email: whiteacr@cod.edu, or visit cod.edu/writersread, where you can find excerpts from each author's works.