Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series (Calendar)

The 2008-09 Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series will launch its 11th season at the University of Pittsburgh with a reading by poet Claudia Rankine at 7 p.m. Sept. 12 in the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium, 650 Schenley Dr., Oakland.

Rankine is the author of the poetry collections "Don't Let Me Be Lonely: An American Lyric"(Graywolf, 2004), "PLOT" (Grove Press, 2001), "The End of the Alphabet"(Grove Press, 1998), and "Nothing in Nature Is Private" (Cleveland State University Poetry Center, 1995), which received the Cleveland State Poetry Prize. Her work has been published in numerous literary journals, including "Boston Review", "TriQuarterly," and "The Poetry Project Newsletter". It also has been featured in such anthologies as "Great American Prose Poems: From Poe to the Present" (Scribner Book Company, 2003), "Best American Poetry 2001" (Scribner Book Company, 2001), and "The Garden Thrives: Twentieth Century African-American Poetry"(Harper Collins, 1996). Rankine also is coeditor of "American Women Poets in the Twenty-First Century" (Wesleyan University Press, 2002).

Born in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1963, Rankine earned a BA in English at Williams College and her MFA in poetry at Columbia University. She has taught at Case Western Reserve University, Barnard College, the University of Georgia, and the University of Houston. She currently teaches at Pomona College.

The complete schedule for the 2008-09 Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series follows:

Sept. 12 Claudia Rankine, 7 p.m., Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
This reading is being presented in conjunction with the Lifting Belly High Conference on Women's Writing at Duquesne University.

Sept. 29 Maxine Hong Kingston, 8:30 p.m., David Lawrence Hall, 3942 Forbes Ave., Oakland
A writer of fiction and nonfiction, Kingston is the author "China Men" (Knopf, 1980) and "The Woman Warrior: Memoirs of a Girlhood Among Ghosts" (Knopf, 1976).

Oct. 15 Drue Heinz Literature Prize Reading and Award Ceremony
7:30 p.m., Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Anthony Varallo, the 2008 Drue Heinz Literature Prize winner for the short story collection "OutLoud" (University of Pittsburgh Press, 2008), is also the author of the story collection "This Day in History" (University of Iowa Press, 2005).

Scott Turow, the 2008 Drue Heinz Literature Prize judge, is the author of "Limitations" (Picador, 2006), "Ordinary Heroes" (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2005), "Reversible Errors" (Farrar Straus Giroux, 2002), "Personal Injuries" (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1999), "The Laws of Our Fathers" (Farrar Straus Giroux,1996), "Pleading Guilty" (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1993), "The Burden of Proof" (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1990), and "Presumed Innocent" (Farrar Straus Giroux, 1987).

Oct. 29 Russell Banks, 8:30 p.m., David Lawrence Hall
A writer of both fiction and poetry, Banks is the author of "The Reserve" (Harper Collins, 2008), "Cloudsplitter" (Harper Collins, 1998), "Rule of the Bone" (Harper Collins, 1995), "The Sweet Hereafter" (Harper Collins, 1991), and "Continental Drift"(Harper Collins, 1985).

Nov. 13 Fred R. Brown Literary Award Reading and Award Ceremony,
8:30 p.m., Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Novelist Sabina Murray is the author of "Forgery" (Grove Press, 2007), "A Carnivore's Inquiry" (Grove Press, 2004), and "The Caprices" (Houghton Mifflin, 2002).

Feb. 6 Microconference on African American Poetry
Opening Remarks, noon, 501 Cathedral of Learning, 4200 Fifth Ave., Oakland
Arnold Rampersad, a biographer and literary critic, is the author of "Ralph Ellison" (Knopf, 2007), "Jackie Robinson: A Biography "(Knopf, 1997), "Days of Grace: A Memoir" (Knopf, 1993), "The Life of Langston Hughes" (Oxford University Press, 2 vols., 1986, 1988), and "The Art and Imagination of W.E.B. Dubois" (Harvard University Press, 1976).

Panel Discussion: Tradition and the New, 2 p.m., 501 Cathedral of Learning
Arnold Rampersad;
Mendi Obadike, a poet and interdisciplinary artist, is the author of "Armor and Flesh" (Lotus Press, 2004). Her work has appeared in such publications as the "Art Journal," "Artthrob," "Meridians," "Black Arts Quarterly," "El Pais," and "Tema Celeste";
G.E. Patterson, a poet and freelance writer, is the author of "To and From" (Ahsahta Press, 2008) and "Tug" (Graywolf Press, 1999). His work has appeared in such publications as "Bum Rush the Page," "Poetry 180," "American Letters and Commentary," "Fence," "Five Fingers Review," "Seneca Review," "Open City," and "XcP: Cross Cultural Politics"; and
Carl Phillips, a poet, is the author of "Quiver of Arrows: Selected Poems 1986-2006" (Farrar Straus and Giroux, 2007), "Rock Harbor" (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2003), "The Tether" (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2001), "Pastoral" (Graywolf Press, 2000), "From the Devotions" (Graywolf Press, 1998), "Cortege" (Graywolf Press, 1995), and "In the Blood" (Northeastern University Press, 1992).

Poetry Readings, 7 p.m., Giant Eagle Auditorium, Carnegie Mellon University's Baker Hall, 5000 Forbes Ave., Oakland
Obadike, Patterson, Phillips, and Rampersad

Feb. 26 William Henry Lewis, 8:30 p.m., 501 Cathedral of Learning
A writer of fiction and nonfiction, Lewis is the author of the short story collection "I Got Somebody in Staunton" (Amistad/Harper Collins, 2005) and "In the Arms of Our Elders" (Carolina Wren Press, 1995). His works of fiction have appeared in such publications as "Ploughshares," "African American Review," and "Best American Short Stories 1996". His works of nonfiction have appeared in "Black Issues in Higher Education," "Washington Post Book World," and "O Magazine."

April 2 2008-09 William Block Sr. Writer Reading and Presentation,
8:30 p.m., Frick Fine Arts Auditorium
Paul Muldoon, a poet and editor, is the author of more than 25 collections of poetry and two children's books and has served as an editor of various anthologies and literary publications. He has been described by "The Times Literary Supplement" as, "the most significant English-language poet born since the second World War."

The 2008-09 Pittsburgh Contemporary Writers Series season is cosponsored by Pitt's University Center for International Studies, Asian Studies Center, China Council Confucious Institute, Cultural Studies Program, Women's Studies Program, and Book Center and by the Carnegie Mellon University Creative Writing Program.

All events in the Writers Series are free and open to the public. For more information, contact Nicole Wolinsky at nrw1@pitt.edu, Jeff Oaks at oaks@pitt.edu, or visit http://www.umc.pitt.edu/news/documents/morningreport/2008/08/wsschedule.pdf.