R283. God Made Flyover States: Writing the Rural Midwest

Room L100 D&E, Lower Level
Thursday, April 9, 2015
4:30 pm to 5:45 pm

 

The Midwest occupies a richly complicated terrain within the American literary imagination. Though home to some of our most distinguished writers, it is better known for endless cornfields, tornados, and funny accents than for literary greatness. How do writers deeply invested in the culture of this overlooked region honor its past while negotiating ingrained stereotypes? This panel will offer a series of perspectives and creative practices as diverse as the contemporary rural Midwest.


Participants

Moderator:

Matthew Fluharty is the director of Art of the Rural and a research fellow in American culture studies at Washington University in St. Louis. He directs the Middle Landscape art and publishing project and is a member of the M12 art collective. His poetry and essays have been widely published.

Mary Stewart Atwell is the author of the novel Wild Girls. Her short fiction has appeared in journals including Epoch and Alaska Quarterly Review, and in the anthologies Best New American Voices and Best American Mystery Stories. She teaches creative writing at California Polytechnic State University.

Anne-Marie Oomen is author of Pulling Down the Barn and House of Fields, both Michigan Notable Books, An American Map: Essays, and Uncoded Woman. She is instructor of creative writing at Interlochen Arts Academy and the Solstice MFA at Pine Manor College in Massachusetts. 

Mardi Jo Link is the author of Bootstrapper and Isadore's Secret, both of which were named Michigan Notable Books. Bootstrapper has been optioned for film by Academy Award winning actress Rachel Weisz.

Jeremiah Chamberlin is the assistant director of the English Department writing program at the University of Michigan, where he teaches writing. He is the editor-in-chief of Fiction Writers Review and a contributing editor for Poets & Writers. He is also a co-author of Creative Composition.

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February 7–10, 2024
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