JACKSON, Tenn. — Feb. 26, 2002 — More than 40 high school and college students from around the area will compete in 51社区鈥檚 annual creative writing competition and workshop sponsored by the university鈥檚 English Department, Tuesday, March 5. Novelist Ann Patchett will be the featured writer for the workshop and will give a reading in the Harvey Auditorium at 1 p.m.
鈥淎nn Patchett is emerging as a very important voice in contemporary American fiction and we are looking forward to having her on campus,鈥� said Gavin Richardson, chair of Union鈥檚 English Department.
According to Richardson, Union鈥檚 annual Creative Writing Workshop offers Union students and local and regional high school students the opportunity to compete for prizes and learn from Union faculty and accomplished guest writers such as Patchett. Held every spring, the event consists of a literary competition and workshop that has featured prominent writers such as Mark Jarman and Pulitzer prizewinner Charles Wright. For the competition, students are invited to submit entries for a number of genres such as poetry and short fiction. The workshop section involves critiquing and analyzing a sample of the students鈥� works.
Born in California, Patchett now resides in Nashville, Tenn. A student at Sara Lawrence College before attending the University of Iowa Writer鈥檚 Workshop, Patchett writes novels full-time and travels around the country speaking and giving readings.
She has written five novels including The Patron Saint of Liars, Taft, The Magician鈥檚 Assistant and her most recent, Bel Canto,. Three of her works have received top awards including the James A. Michener/Copernicus Award, the Janet Heidinger Kafka Prize for the best work in fiction, and a short-listing for England鈥檚 Orange Prize which earned her a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1994.
For more information regarding the workshop, contact Union鈥檚 English Department at (731) 661-5317.