FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Jan. 27, 2005

CONTACT: Lisa Lacher, 515-271-3119, lisa.lacher@drake.edu

SWENSEN TO OPEN DRAKE'S SPRING WRITERS AND CRITICS SERIES

Poet and author Cole Swenson will open Drake University's spring Writers and Critics Series by reading from her work at 8 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 9, in the Cowles Library Reading Room, 2725 University Ave. The event is free and open to the public.

Swensen has published nine volumes of poetry, including "Goest," which was a finalist for the 2004 National Book Award, and "Try," which won the 1998 Iowa Poetry Prize and the 2000 San Francisco Poetry Center Book Award. Her reviews of contemporary poets have appeared in American Letters & Commentary, Bloomsbury Review, Boston Review, Poetry Flash and Rain Taxi. She teaches in the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa, where her courses focus on contemporary poetry and book arts.

The Writers and Critics Series will continue throughout the spring semester with the following events, which are all free and open to the public and start at 8 p.m. in the Cowles Library Reading Room:

* Feb. 23: Poet and author Rae Armantrout, who has published nine books of poetry, including "Up to Speed" and "Veil: New and Selected Poems." Her prose memoir, "True," was published by Atelos in 1998. She teaches writing at the University of California, San Diego.

* April 12: Michelle Herman, author of the novel "Missing," which was awarded the Harold U. Ribalow Prize for "Best Jewish Fiction," and selected as one of the 25 Best Books of the Year by the literary supplement of The Village Voice. Her other works include the novella "Dog" and her first non-fiction book, "The Middle of Everything: Memoirs of Motherhood." She has received a major teaching award from Ohio State University, where she has taught since 1988.

* April 21: Peggy Ornstein, author of "Flux: Women on Sex, Work, Kids, Love and Life in a Half-Changed World" and the best-selling "SchoolGirls: Young Women, Self- Esteem and the Confidence Gap." She has published articles and editorials in publications such as The New York Times, The New Yorker and Salon. She is working on a memoir, "Waiting for Daisy: Some Lessons on Love, Loss and Making a Baby."

* April 26: Nathaniel Mackey, who has written numerous books of poetry, including "Whatsaid Serif," "School of Udhra" and "Eroding Witness," which was selected for the National Poetry Series. He also is the author of "Discrepant Engagement: Dissonance, Cross-Culturality and Experimental Writing" and editor of Hambone magazine. He teaches at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and is a chancellor of the Academy of American Poets.

The Writers and Critics Series events are made possible by the Drake English Department and the Humanities Center. For more information, contact Graham Foust at (515) 271-2880 or graham.foust@drake.edu.

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