Department of English
Helen Frost, award-winning author of seven novels-in-poems, will be at Lake Superior State University on Monday, February 11, 2013, as part of the Visiting Writer Series.
Lake Superior State University Visiting Writer Series
Check back soon to learn about our next visiting writer.
Award-Winning Author/Poet Helen Frost Visited LSSU Monday, February 11
Sault Ste. Marie, MI, 14 January 2013 – Helen Frost, the award-winning author of seven novels-in-poems, whose writing has been said to “feel like wisps of thought rising, drifting, and weaving a dance,” visited Lake Superior State University on Monday, February 11, 2013 to present a poetry reading and master class.
Helen Frost is the author of numerous novels for children and young adults, including: Keesha's House, which earned a Michael L. Printz Honor; Diamond Willow, which won the 2009 Lee Bennett Hopkins Poetry Award, the 2008 Michigan Library Association Mitten Award, and The Lion and the Unicorn Award for Excellence in North American Poetry; and Hidden, a 2012 ALA Notable Book. Helen is also a playwright, author of a book on creative writing, When I Whisper, Nobody Listens: Helping Young People Write About Difficult Issues, and editor of two anthologies. Her nonfiction includes dozens of titles for early readers. She has a bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education from Syracuse University and a master’s degree in English from Indiana University. She is the recipient of a 2009 National Endowment for the Arts Poetry Fellowship. Her first collection of adult poetry, Skin of a Fish, Bones of a Bird, won the 1993 Women Poets Series Competition and poems in that collection were also awarded the Robert H. Winner Memorial Award and the Mary Carolyn Davies Memorial Award by the Poetry Society of America.
The Poetry Reading and Special Master Class were part of a literary initiative called “Opening a Literary Dialogue in the Easter Upper Peninsula,” made possible in part by a grant from the Michigan Humanities Council, an Affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and a grant from the Lake Superior State University Cultural Affairs Committee Fund. These events are organized and sponsored by the Lake Superior State University Visiting Writer Series.
The Department of English at Lake Superior State University created the new Visiting Writer Series to bring highly acclaimed literary authors and poets to the campus to raise awareness of LSSU’s expanding Creative Writing Program and bring together the community and college in a shared literary experience. Attendees have the opportunity to hear writers read their work, answer questions about their writing process, and sign books.
Lake Superior State University offers both an undergraduate major and minor concentration in creative writing. An intimate program with enthusiastic faculty, the creative writing program at LSSU encourages innovation and experimentation as students develop their voices. Students complete coursework in prose, poetry, and performance writing, and are given opportunities to get publishing experience before graduation. Learn more about the Creative Writing Program at Lake Superior State University at www.lssu.edu/english/creativewritingatlssu.
Past Visiting Writers
Nikki Finney, October 4, 2012
Nikky Finney, winner of the 2011 National Book Award for Poetry for Head Off & Split, and known as one of the most eloquent, fearless and necessary poets in America, visited Lake Superior State University on Thursday, Oct. 4, 2012, to present a reading and master class. Read more here.
Jaimy Gordon, February 20, 2012
A capacity crowd in Lake Superior State University's Crow's Nest recently listened to Jaimy Gordon, winner of the 2010 National Book Award, discuss her novel Lord of Misrule on Feb 20, 2012. Gordon was inaugural speaker for our new Visiting Writer Series, which brings highly acclaimed literary authors and poets to the campus to raise awareness of LSSU's expanding creative writing program and to serve as an outreach for the community. Check back soon for more information about future visiting writers, as we plan and schedule their visits for this and future semesters. These programs are free to students of all majors, as well as community members, and everyone is invited to attend!
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