Special Writers' Night at York Public Library this Friday, June 1
YORK VILLAGE - The Writers' Night series at the York Public Library will host two celebrated authors, Ann Beattie and Maine Poet Laureate Betsy Sholl, reading from their work and discussing their writing at a special event on Friday, June 1, at 7 p.m.
Ann Beattie
Beattie, a short story writer and novelist and one of the nation's most important writers, has received critical acclaim for her depiction of the generation of Americans who grew up in the 1960s. She has published eight collections of short stories, including "Park City," "What Was Mine" and "The Burning House," and seven novels, including "My Life," "Starring Dara Falcon," "Another You," "Picturing Will" and "Chilly Scenes of Winter." She has received numerous awards for her work, including The Rea Award for the Short Story in 2005 and an award for excellence from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.
Beattie, who grew up in Washington, D.C., has taught at Harvard College, Northwestern University and Rice University, and currently teaches literature and creative writing at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville. Her most recent story collection, "Follies," looks at baby boomers, aging parents and the chance encounters that irrevocably alter lives.
She and her husband, artist Lincoln Perry, have homes in Maine, Key West and Charlottesville.
Betsy Sholl
Sholl has published six collections of poetry, most recently "Late Psalm." Her "Don't Explain" won the 1997 Felix Pollak Prize from the University of Wisconsin, and her book "The Red Lion" won the 1991 AWP Prize for Poetry. Her chapbooks include "Pick a Card," winner of the 1991 Maine Chapbook Competition, and "Betsy Sholl: Greatest Hits, 1974-2004."
She was a founding member of Alice James Books and published three collections with them: "Changing Faces," "Appalachian Winter" and "Rooms Overhead." Among her other awards are a fellowship from the National Endowment of the Arts and two Maine Writer's Fellowships. Her work is contained in several anthologies, including "Letters to America, Contemporary American Poetry on Race" and a long list of magazines.
Sholl has been a visiting poet at the University of Pittsburgh and Bucknell University. She lives in Portland, and teaches at the University of Southern Maine and in the MFA program of Vermont College.
RiverRun Books will be on hand with copies of the authors' books. As usual, the public is invited and admission is free. The York Public Library is located at 15 Long Sands Road, York. For more information call 363-2818.
