11.16.2009

MFA Q and A

I don't know about you guys, but I'm pretty well flummoxed by this whole thesis thing. I know I have to write something, and that I have to make it good, as opposed to letting my dog run over my keyboard and then correcting his punctuation and turning it in for class, which is what I do now. But beyond knowing I have to write something, I'm lost.

Theoretically, all the information is on the web site, I suppose. But unfortunately, web sites aren't great about answering questions. Lucky for us, though, Paul Collins and Michele Glazer ARE great about answering questions, which is why they are going to be our official question answerers at this little thesis Q&A coffee klatsch I'm planning!

So here are the details (or "deets" as the young kids say):

What: MFA Thesis Question and Answer Session
Where: NH 407, a.k.a. the English Department Conference Room
When: Thursday, December 3, from 3:oo p.m. - 4:30 p.m.

I am also compiling a list of questions ahead of time so that I can let Paul and Michele know what to expect. So send your most burning questions to gradlit@pdx.edu or respond to this post, and I'll make sure to include them.

11.02.2009

Support Your Local Authors!

This Wednesday night, Loggernaut will be presenting three authors, two of which teach here at our very own Portland State!

Here are the details:

WHEN: Wednesday, November 4, 2009. Doors open at 7 and the reading begins at 7:30.
WHERE: Urban Grind, at 2214 NE Oregon St.
ADMISSION CHARGE: $3-$5 (A bargain at any price!)
WHO: Joel Bettridge, poet and teacher; Tom Bissell, fiction writer and teacher; and Peyton Marshall, fiction writer and Portlander.


~ JOEL BETTRIDGE is the author of two books of poetry, That Abrupt Here (2007) and Presocratic Blues (2009), as well as the critical study Reading as Belief: Language Writing, Poetics, Faith (2009). He co-edited, with Eric Selinger, Ronald Johnson: Life and Works (2008). Currently he is an Assistant Professor of English at Portland State University.

~ TOM BISSELL is the author of the books Chasing the Sea, God Lives in St. Petersburg, and The Father of All Things. His work has appeared in Harper's Magazine, the Virginia Quarterly Review, the New Yorker, and McSweeney's, among other magazines. His new book, Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter, will be published in June. He teaches fiction writing at Portland State University.

~ PEYTON MARSHALL is a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop and the recipient of a Maytag Fellowship and the Richard Yates award for short fiction. Her story “Bunnymoon” was published in the Best New American Voices 2004. Her work has appeared in A Public Space, Etiqueta Negra, and fivechapters.com. She lives in Portland.