University Life Calendar of Events

Thursday, April 25th

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Kelly Writers House

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Kelly Writers House

Date

April 25th

Time

5:00pm - 6:30pm

Where

Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Other

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National Epics

An event in honor of Professor David Wallace

What is the role of cultural and literary objects in the formation of nationhood? This is the subject of Professor David Wallace’s forthcoming volume (Oxford University Press), which features more than ninety contributors from around the world. Please join us for a lively discussion of the “national epic,” which will include short readings from a range of literatures that have come to represent national aspirations, identities, and struggles. Visit National Epics for more information about the book and a related collaborative digital project.

Monday, April 29th

6:30 pm 7:30 pm

Other

A Reading by Maggie Nelson Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Kelly Writers House

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Kelly Writers House

Date

April 29th

Time

6:30pm - 7:30pm

Where

Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Other

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A Reading by Maggie Nelson

RSVP required; seating strictly limited: whfellow@writing.upenn.edu

Kelly Writers House Fellows Program

MAGGIE NELSON is a poet, scholar, and nonfiction writer who currently teaches in the School of Critical Studies at the California Institute of the Arts. On top of her many publications, she has received grants and fellowships from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Creative Capital/Andy Warhol Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. She is the author of poetry collections Something Bright, Then Holes (Soft Skull Press, 2007), Jane: A Murder (Soft Skull press, 2005), The Latest Winter (Hanging Loose Press, 2003), and Shiner (Hanging Loose Press, 2001). She has also written genre-defying collections of lyrical prose, including The Argonauts (Graywolf Press, 2015), and Bluets (Wave Books, 2009). The Argonauts won the National Book Critics Circle Award in Criticism and was a New York Times best-seller. She earned a BA from Wesleyan University in 1994 and a PhD from the Graduate Center of the City University of New York in 2004.

Tuesday, April 30th

10:00 am 11:30 am

Other

A Conversation with Maggie Nelson Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Kelly Writers House

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Kelly Writers House

Date

April 30th

Time

10:00am - 11:30am

Where

Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Category

Other

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A Conversation with Maggie Nelson

Wednesday, May 1st

11:00 am 1:00 pm

Other

KWH & Pixel to Print Zine Fest Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Kelly Writers House

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Kelly Writers House

Date

May 1st

Time

11:00am - 1:00pm

Where

Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Other

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KWH & Pixel to Print Zine Fest

Register here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeN0d2MuKmetpDkOjG3Na14mLOAnQEiyO0fDmOPntgHxhCB6A/viewform

Zine makers and DIY-print enthusiasts are welcome to join us in the Writers House garden for our annual Zine Fest, co-organized by students in Kayla Romberger's Pixel to Print course. We'll have table space available for anyone who wants to bring their zines for sale or trade — plus snack foods! Follow the registration link to request table space or simply to say you plan to attend.

Saturday, May 18th

4:00 pm 5:30 pm

Other

The Parent-Artist: A Panel Discussion Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

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Kelly Writers House

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Kelly Writers House

Date

May 18th

Time

4:00pm - 5:30pm

Where

Kelly Writers House, 3805 Locust Walk, Philadelphia, PA 19104

Category

Other

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The Parent-Artist: A Panel Discussion

Please join us for a panel of parent writers, artists, and musicians. Moderated by Catherine Ricketts (C'09), author of the forthcoming The Mother Artist, the panel will explore questions about what it takes to create while taking on the many joys – and obligations – of care. Panelists include Nate Chinen (C’97), Lauren Francis-Sharma (C’94), Natalie Eve Garrett (GFA’04), Aimee Koran (GFA’17), and Joseph Earl Thomas (G’24).

NATE CHINEN (C'97) is the author of Playing Changes: Jazz For the New Century. He served as the first assistant coordinator at the Kelly Writers House, before becoming a columnist for JazzTimes and a music critic for The New York Times. Nate is now editorial director at WRTI, a regular contributor to NPR, and proprietor of The Gig, a Substack publication. A thirteen-time winner of the Helen Dance–Robert Palmer Award for Excellence in Writing, he is also coauthor of George Wein's Myself Among Others: A Life in Music.

LAUREN FRANCIS-SHARMA (C’94) is the author of Book of the Little Axe, the 2020 ALA “Libraries Transform Book Pick” and a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Award in Fiction. Her first novel, Til the Well Runs Dry was awarded the Honor Fiction Prize by the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and short-listed for the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. Lauren is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Michigan Law School, and the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College. Her next novel, Casualties of Truth, based on her time at the Truth and Reconciliation Hearings in South Africa, will be published by Grove/Atlantic in February. Lauren is a book reviewer for the San Francisco Chronicle and a MacDowell Fellow. She serves on the board of the PEN/Faulkner Foundation, and is the Assistant Director of Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference at Middlebury College.

NATALIE EVE GARRETT (GFA’04) is an artist and a writer. She's the editor of The Lonely Stories, a cathartic collection of personal essays from 22 celebrated writers about the joys and struggles of being alone, out now from Catapult. She's also the editor of Eat Joy (Catapult, 2019), a collection of stories exploring how food can help us cope in dark times, and The Artists’ and Writers Cookbook (pH Books, 2016), a collection of stories with recipes. A graduate of Yale University and the University of Pennsylvania’s School of Design, Natalie lives with her husband, two children, and their puppy, Zephyr, in a little town near DC, along the Potomac River.

AIMEE KORAN (GFA’17) is a multi-disciplinary artist based out of Philadelphia, PA. She holds a Masters in Fine Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Bachelors degree in Fine Arts with a minor in textile design from Moore College of Art & Design. Aimee explores the topic of motherhood focusing on the continuously shifting and complex binaries that shape the role. Her work has been shown around the globe in venues such as the Richard Saulton Gallery, London, UK; Mutter Museum, Philadelphia, PA; The Arlington Art Center, Arlington, VA; and completed residencies at The Fabric Workshop and Museum, Philadelphia, PA; The Vermont Studio Center, Johnson, VT; The Wassaic Project, Wassaic, NY; and Project for Empty Space, Newark, NJ. Her solo and group exhibitions have been featured in publications like The New York Times, Vogue, Whitewall, Artslant, Artnet News, and A Woman’s Thing. Aimee’s work was recently acquired for addition to the permanent contemporary collection at the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

CATHERINE RICKETTS (C’09) writes about the arts, grief, joy, and spirituality. She studied writing at the University of Pennsylvania and holds an MFA in nonfiction from Seattle Pacific University. Her essays have appeared in The Kenyon Review Online, The Christian Century, Image, The Millions, Paste, and the Ploughshares blog, among other publications. While writing, she has supported the work of other practicing artists as a live arts presenter, having held jobs at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia's FringeArts, and the public radio station WXPN. Ricketts lives with her family near Philadelphia and works in the Villanova University Honors Program. Find her on Instagram at @bycatherinericketts.

JOSEPH EARL THOMAS (G’24) is a writer from Frankford whose work has appeared or is forthcoming in VQR, N+1, Gulf Coast, The Offing, and The Kenyon Review. He has an MFA in prose from The University of Notre Dame and is a doctoral candidate in English at the University of Pennsylvania. An excerpt of his memoir, Sink, won the 2020 Chautauqua Janus Prize and he has received fellowships from Fulbright, VONA, Tin House, and Bread Loaf. He’s writing the novel God Bless You, Otis Spunkmeyer, and a collection of stories: Leviathan Beach, among other oddities.

Explore Events@Penn

Kelly Writers House Events

Thursday, April 25th

National Epics

Monday, April 29th

A Reading by Maggie Nelson

Tuesday, April 30th

A Conversation with Maggie Nelson

Wednesday, May 1st

KWH & Pixel to Print Zine Fest

Saturday, May 18th

The Parent-Artist: A Panel Discussion