Third Thursday: Writing Poetry: Passion, Process, and Publication

Talking with poets

"Poem" – one syllable, or two?

Attend and find out

Our featured panelists will be…

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz

Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz is the author of eight books of poetry and nonfiction. Recent awards include the University of Pennsylvania’s ArtsEdge Writer-In-Residency, a NEA Fellowship in Poetry and the Amy Clampitt Residency. Her sixth book of poetry, The Year of No Mistakes was awarded the Writers’ League of Texas Book of the Year Award for Poetry (2013-2014). Her second book of nonfiction, Dr. Mutter’s Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine was released last year and spent three months on New York Times Bestseller List. For more information, please visit: www.aptowicz.com

Derrick Brown

Derrick C. Brown is the winner of the 2013 Texas Book of The Year award for Poetry. He is a former paratrooper for the 82nd Airborne and is the president of one of what Forbes and Filter Magazine call “…one of the best independent poetry presses in the country”, Write Bloody Publishing. He is the author of five books of poetry and three children’s books. The New York Times calls his work, “…a rekindling of faith in the weird, hilarious, shocking, beautiful power of words.” He is from Austin TX.

Carrie Fountain

Carrie Fountain’s poems have appeared in American Poetry Review, Poetry, and Tin House. Her first collection, Burn Lake, was a winner of the 2009 National Poetry Series Award and was published by Penguin in 2010. Penguin published her second collection, Instant Winner, in 2014. Fountain is writer-in-residence at St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas, where she lives with her husband, the playwright Kirk Lynn, and their children.

Sasha West

Sasha West’s first book, Failure and I Bury the Body (Harper Perennial), was selected for the National Poetry Series and the Texas Institute of Letters First Book of Poetry Award. She has also received Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference scholarships, Pushcart nominations, Inprint’s Verlaine Prize, and Rice University’s Parks Fellowship. She holds an MA from Johns Hopkins and a PhD from the University of Houston, where she ran Gulf Coast. She currently teaches writing at UT Austin’s LBJ School of Public Affairs. Next fall, she will join the faculty at St. Edward’s University.