Nikky Finney, Ronan Noone and MFA Writing Faculty read at Lesley
Posted May 26, 2011
This year’s MFA Creative Writing Residency Readings feature two exceptional visiting writers—Poet Nikky Finney and Playwright Ronan Noone—along with eight of the program’s distinguished MFA Writing Faculty.
Nikky Finney
Finney will read on Saturday, June 25 at 6:45pm, and Noone on Wednesday, June 29 at 6:45pm.
Nikky Finney’s writing has been praised as urgent, eloquent, and fearless; her most recent collection of poems, Heads Off & Split, engages in an intense dialogue with emblematic figures and events in African-American life, and draws readers into an intimate look at what we “fraction, fragment, cut off, dice, dishonor, or throw away.” Finney teaches Creative Writing at the University of Kentucky and was recently featured on the Spring 2011 cover of Poets & Writers magazine.
Ronan Noone has quickly made his place in Boston’s theater scene since moving to Massachusetts from Ireland in 1994, drawing on the clash of mindsets and identities of his two homes. His first play, “The Lepers of Baile Baiste,’’ caught the attention of Nobel Prize winner Derek Walcott and was workshopped with him at Boston Playwrights’ Theatre. The play went on to win the National Playwriting Award at the American College Theatre Festival, as well as several other awards. Noone has since written several other plays which have premiered to high acclaim and won a variety of prestigious awards. He teaches in the Creative Writing program at Boston University.
The MFA Writing Faculty who will be reading are Tony Abbott, Barry Brodsky, Rachel Manley, Tony Eprile, William Lychack, Cate Marvin, Christina Shea, and David Elliott. The residency will close out with readings from this year’s Creative Writing MFA graduates.
All readings are free and open to the public. The events are held at Marran Theater in the McKenna Student Center, 47 Oxford St., Cambridge. The entrance is on Mellen Street.
JUNE 2011 MFA CREATIVE WRITING RESIDENCY READINGS SCHEDULE
FRIDAY, JUNE 24 7:15—Tony Abbott, Writing for Young People; Barry Brodsky, Writing for Stage and Screen
SATURDAY, JUNE 25 6:45—Nikky Finney, Visiting Poet; Rachel Manley, Nonfiction
SUNDAY, JUNE 26 6:45—Tony Eprile, Fiction/Nonfiction; William Lychack, Fiction
MONDAY, JUNE 27 6:45—Cate Marvin, Poetry; Christina Shea, Fiction
WEDNESDAY, JUNE29 6:45—David Elliott, Writing for Young People; Ronan Noone, Visiting Playwright
THURSDAY, JUNE 30 6:30—Graduating Student Readings
FRIDAY, JULY 1 6:30—Graduating Student Readings