Writers in Performance Fall Reading Series

Whether you read fiction, non-fiction or poetry, if you love books or are an aspiring writer, this outstanding series is for you.  Since 1995, Montgomery County’s Writers in Performance series has presented some of the nation’s most distinguished names in literature, including winners of the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award, as well as U.S. and state Poets Laureate.  All events are free and open to the public.

For more information about the Writers in Performance Series, please contact Contact Dave Parsons (936) 524-6537, Alicia Bankston (936) 273-7257, or Cliff Hudder (936)273-7399.

Schedule of Events - Spring 2008

Dr. Carmen Tafolla  

• February 28
• LSC-Montgomery Library, 7 p.m.

Dr. Carmen Tafolla who the author of five books of poetry, one volume of non-fiction, seven screenplays, and numerous short stories, articles and children's works. Many of her works, she says, are dictated by ancestors "whispering over my shoulder."

Her book of poetry, Sonnets to Human Beings, received the First Prize in the Poetry Division of the UCI National Literary Competition. She has most recently been awarded the Art of Peace Award by the President's Peace Commission of St. Mary's University for "writing which contributes to peace, justice and human understanding."

Called by Roots author Alex Haley "a world-class writer," Tafolla has been recognized by the National Association for Chicano Studies for her outstanding contributions to the arts and academia, in the form of writing that has depicted and given voice to our communities. She has just completed a movie script co-authored with film-maker Sylvia Morales for a feature-length film, a comedy entitled REAL MEN...and other miracles. Her works are archived at the University of Texas Benson Latin American Collection.

LSC-Montgomery Faculty Reading 

• March 27
• B-102, 7 p.m.

In March, come hear LSC-Montgomery faculty read from their own work—fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

This lecture is part of the Writers in Performance series. For more information, contact Alicia Bankston at 936-273-7257.

Tony Hoagland 

• April 16
• LSC-Montgomery Library, 7 p.m.

Tony Hoagland is the author of three volumes of poetry: Sweet Ruin, winner of the Brittingham Prize in Poetry, Donkey Gospel, winner of the James Laughlin Award of The Academy of American Poets, and What Narcissism Means to Me, as well as a collection of essays about poetry, Real Sofistakashun, all by Graywolf Press.

His poems and critical essays have appeared widely in journals and anthologies such as American Poetry Review, Harvard Review, and Ploughshares. Hoagland currently teaches in the poetry program at the University of Houston. He is the winner of the 2005 O.B. Hardison Jr. Prize. Awarded by the Folger Shakespeare Library; this is the only national prize to recognize a poet's teaching as well as his art. Hoagland also received the 2005 Mark Twain Award, given by the Poetry Foundation in recognition of a poet’s contribution to humor in American poetry.

Steven Cramer writes of Hoagland's poems, "[they] grapple with selfhood and manhood, but they also consider the mysteries of the national identity—how the social and the personal mutually impinge."

Walt Whitman’s Birthday  

• May 29
• LSC-Montgomery, B-102, 4 p.m. in B102
• Conroe Corner Pub on the Square, 7 p.m.

Every year, we celebrate Walt Whitman’s birthday...writers' style. Join us, first, for a panel discussion of Whitman scholars at LSC-Montgomery, Room B-102. Then follow us to an open reading and party at the Corner Pub on the Square in Conroe at 7 pm. All Whitman fans are invited to bring a favorite Whitman poem to read.

For more information about the Writers in Performance Series, please contact Contact Dave Parsons (936) 524-6537, Alicia Bankston (936) 273-7257, or Cliff Hudder (936)273-7399.