Description:

Northwestern University's MA/MFA in Creative Writing program is hosting a literary reading at Writing Chicago: Northwestern University's Summer Writers' Conference.

Admission to the reading is free and open to the public. There will be a cocktail reception preceding the reading at 4:30 p.m.

Faculty readers:
Ed Roberson
Megan Stielstra

Recent graduate readers:
Ignatius Aloysius
Patricia Crisafulli
Alex Higley
Jeremy Wilson

4:30pm Cocktail reception w/drinks and light refreshments
5:30pm Reading begins

Advance registration is required to particpiate in the workshops, panels, and keynotes at the Summer Writers' Conference. More information is online at http://sps.northwestern.edu/program-areas/summer/institutes/writers-conference/index.php.

Ed Roberson is the author of seven volumes of poetry, including Voices Cast Out to Talk Us In, winner of the Iowa Poetry Prize; Just In: Word of Navigational Change: New and Selected Work; Atmosphere Conditions, a National Poetry Series winner; and his most recent, City Eclogue. Roberson received the 2008 Shelley Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. He has also received a Lila Wallace Reader's Digest Writer's Award. His author website is edroberson.net.

Megan Stielstra is the author of three collections: The Wrong Way to Save Your Life, Once I Was Cool, and Everyone Remain Calm. Her work appears in the Best American Essays, New York Times, Poets & Writers, Guernica, Buzzfeed, PANK, The Rumpus, and elsewhere. A longtime company member with 2nd Story, she has told stories for National Public Radio, Radio National Australia, Museum of Contemporary Art, Goodman Theatre, the Neo-Futurarium, and regularly with The Paper Machete live news magazine at The Green Mill. She teaches creative nonfiction at Northwestern University.

Ignatius Valentine Aloysius completed his MFA in Creative Writing with a focus on fiction from Northwestern University's School of Professional Studies, where he received the Distinguished Thesis Award for his novel manuscript Fishhead. Soup., now under consideration by Curbside Splendor Press. A finalist for The Claire Rosen and Samuel Edes Foundation Prize for Emerging Artists competition, Ignatius was also a recent interdisciplinary Ragdale Foundation resident in Lake Forest, Illinois. In addition, he became the 2014 Writer-in-Residence at el Ranchito Cielito con Nopales in La Union, New Mexico. He has moderated writers panels and participated as a guest panelist at the 2015 Chicago Writers Conference; as well, he performed and read his writing in the Ante Up Storytelling: Heartbreak Edition event on Valentine's Day at Second City's Beat Lounge this year, and is scheduled to read his work at the popular Sunday Salon (SuSa) in Roscoe Village on the 26th of June. Ignatius teaches advanced writing and creative experimentation in the Integrated Design and Strategy graduate program at Northwestern University's School of Professional Studies. His writing has appeared in TriQuarterly, Newcity, the Chicago Tribune, LaTolteca Zine, and Gander Press Review. He lives in Evanston and makes a living as a graphic designer and teacher. In his spare time, he plays lead guitar in Reverend Ruin, a hard rock band to which he also contributes his songwriting talents.

Patricia Crisafulli (MFA 2017) is a published author and professional writer, currently working on her novel in progress, The Cross of Siena, which received the 2016-2017 Distinguished Thesis Award in Creative Writing. Tricia is the author of several books, including the nonfiction works, Remembering Mother, Finding Myself: A Journey of Love and Self-Acceptance (HCI Books, 1999), and Rwanda, Inc.: How a Devastated Nation Became an Economic Model for the Developing World (Palgrave Macmillan, 2014); as well as a collection of short stories and essays for Hallmark, Inspired Every Day. Her first novel, Magdalena’s Book of Life, is currently being marketed, and she writes for and edits her e-literary website, www.FaithHopeandFiction.com. A former journalist, Tricia has published creative essays in the Christian Science Monitor and on the Leisure & Arts Page of The Wall Street Journal. Tricia has been writing since she was old enough to hold a pencil.

Alex Higley is the author of Cardinal and Other Stories (Tailwinds Press, 2017). He has been previously published by New World Writing, PANK, Fanzine, Paper Darts, and elsewhere. He contributed text to Alec Soth's "The Frank Album." He lives in Evanston, Illinois with his wife and dog. His next book, Old Open, will be published by Tortoise Books later this year. He is also a graduate of Northwestern University's MA/MFA in Creative Writing program.

Jeremy T. Wilson is a former winner of the Chicago Tribune's Nelson Algren Award for short fiction. His work has appeared or is forthcoming in literary magazines such as The Carolina Quarterly, Fifth Wednesday, The Florida Review, Hobart, Third Coast and other publications. He holds an MFA from Northwestern and is currently a creative writing instructor at The Chicago High School for the Arts.