Writers Speak Lineup March 9 Features MFA Faculty

Writers Speak Wednesdays, a series of free author talks open to the public at Stony Brook Southampton, will turn its attention to the campus’s own MFA in Creative Writing faculty on March 9.

Ursula Hegi, Susan Scarf Merrell, Roger Rosenblatt, Julie Sheehan and Lou Ann Walker will be the featured guests in a lively discussion on the craft of writing.

Ms. Hegi is the author of 12 books. Her “Burgdorf Cycle” encompasses four of her novels: “Stones from the River,” “Floating in My Mother’s Palm,” “The Vision of Emma Blau” and “Children and Fire.” Ms. Hegi’s work has been translated into many languages, and her awards include the Italian Grinzane Cavour, an NEA Fellowship, and a PEN/Faulkner Award. She has taught at Barnard College, the University of California at Irvine, and Bread Loaf. She has also served as a juror for the National Book Awards and the National Book Critics Circle.

Ms. Merrell, a novelist, short story writer, and essayist, has served as fiction editor of the MFA program’s literary journal, “TSR: The Southampton Review,” and is currently the Southampton Writers Conference director. She is the author, most recently, of “Shirley: A Novel,” about a young woman who goes to live with the famed gothic horror writer Shirley Jackson in 1964. The novel has been optioned by HBO and was selected by Paperback Book Club. Merrell is also author of the novel “A Member of the Family” and the nonfiction book “The Accidental Bond: How Sibling Connections Influence Adult Relationships.” Her short stories and essays have been published in the literary reviews Tin House, The Los Angeles Review of Books, Publishers Weekly online, Largehearted Boy and The New Haven Review among many more publications.

Mr. Rosenblatt, a distinguished professor of English and writing, is an essayist, novelist, and playwright. His essays for Time magazine won two George Polk awards, among others. His television essays for the “PBS Newshour” won the Peabody and the Emmy. He is the author of six off-Broadway plays and 15 books, published in 13 languages. They include the New York Times best sellers “Kayak Morning,” “Unless It Moves the Human Heart,” and “Making Toast,” a memoir of his family, which was expanded from an essay that initially appeared in The New Yorker. Other books include the novels “Beet” and “Lapham Rising,” another best seller, as were “Rules for Aging” and “Children of War,” winner of the Robert F. Kennedy book prize. His one-man show, “Free Speech in America,” was cited by the Times as one of the 10 best plays of 1991.

Ms. Sheehan is the director of the MFA program. Her three poetry collections are “Bar Book: Poems & Otherwise,” “Orient Point” and “Thaw.” Her honors include a Whiting Writers’ Award and a New York Foundation for the Arts Fellowship in Poetry. Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker and many other magazines and anthologies.

Ms. Walker is the Editor-in-Chief of “TSR.” Her memoir, “A Loss for Words,” won a Christopher Award. She is also the author of “Hand, Heart & Mind: The Education of America’s Deaf People.” Formerly an editor at Esquire and New York Magazine, Ms. Walker has lectured on writing at Smith College and Yale University, and taught at Marymount Manhattan College, Southampton College and Columbia University.

Other writers scheduled for the series include novelist Terese Svoboda in conversation with poet and MFA in Creative Writing Director Julie Sheehan on March 23, Robert MacNeil in conversation with Mr. Rosenblatt on April 6 and Erica Jong on April 27. On May 4, the evening will be devoted to readings by students currently enrolled in the MFA program.

Writers Speak takes place in the Radio Lounge on the second floor of Chancellors Hall at Stony Brook Southampton, 239 Montauk Highway, Southampton, on Wednesday, March 9, at 7 p.m. A brief reception, beginning at 6:30 p.m., will precede the reading and discussion. For more information, call (631) 632-5030 or visit stonybrook.edu/mfa.