Melissa Berne/Contributing Writer
Avid fans of poetry, fiction and non-fiction can fuel their insatiable appetite for stories very soon. The Creative Writing Center’s Writers on the Bay announces their series of readings for fall.
Although all readings usually take place at 8 p.m. in Academic One 194, the “Master’s in Fine Arts Alumni” reading will take place at Books and Books in Coral Gables on Sept. 18 at 4 p.m.
“Books and Books is the cultural heartbeat of Miami literary life,” said Debra Dean, coordinator of the Writers on the Bay Reading Series.
For students who have just acquired their MFA in the last year or for those still on their way to getting their MFA, this event is of particular interest. They will get a chance to listen to readings by the MFA Alumni, who have written books. For some of the speakers, like Jen Bartman and Norma Watkins, it is their very first books.
Jen Bartman graduated from the M.F.A. program at FIU in 2008. Her first book of poetry, “Remote,” was published in 2010. Before she relocated to Miami to teach at the FIU Department of English, she worked in book publishing in New York City.
Norma Watkins has a master’s and doctorate in English, and an M.F.A. in creative writing. Her memoir, “The Last Resort: Taking the Mississippi Cure,” was recently published. She teaches creative writing at the College of the Redwoods in Fort Bragg, Calif.
Other speakers that will be attending include: Jennifer Ammon, an award recipient of the 2008 FIU Literary Awards Competition, who is writing her second book named “A Girl from Ohio.” Cecilia Fernandez, a print and broadcasting reporter in both California and Florida, recently finished a memoir called “Leaving Little Havana,” which was a finalist in the 2011 Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference Literary Book Contest.
Michele Jessica Fievre has written several books in French. Her short stories and poetry in English have been in The Southeast Review, The Caribbean Writer, and Haiti Noir.
Nick Garnett, a former nonfiction editor of the University’s journal, Gulf Stream, had his work selected to appear in the 2010 “Best of the Net” Anthology.
Diane Marshall has worked over 20 years in New York and Florida as a journalist. She earned an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from FIU, and has completed her first collection of short stories.
Molly McGreevy is working on her own collection of short stories, which all have to do with magical events that transform the character’s day to day life.
The event is free and open to the public. All readings have a reception and a book signing after the reading series. Writer’s on the Bay is supposed to be fun and engaging, especially for the students who are aspiring writers.
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