short stories

Tag: short stories

Award-winning writer Ann Packer conducts reading

Award-winning novelist and short story writer Ann Packer conducts a reading of her work Thursday, May 4 at 4:30 p.m. in Lawrence University’s Warch Campus Center. The event is free and open to the public.

Head shot of author Ann Packer
Ann Packer

Packer is the author of three bestselling novels that have been published around the world. Her 2002 debut novel “The Dive from Clausen’s Pier,” received the Kate Chopin Literary Award, among many other prizes and honors. It was followed by 2007’s “Songs Without Words” and her most recent, 2015’s “The Children’s Crusade.”

Besides writing novels, Packer also writes short fiction, which has appeared in The New Yorker and in the O. Henry Prize Stories anthologies. Her short fiction, “Swim Back to Me” was included in the 2012 O. Henry Award prize stories collection.

A graduate from Yale University and the Iowa Writer’s Workshop, Packer has received fellowships from the Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing, the Michener-Copernicus Society, and the National Endowment for the Arts.

About Lawrence University
Founded in 1847, Lawrence University uniquely integrates a college of liberal arts and sciences with a nationally recognized conservatory of music, both devoted exclusively to undergraduate education. It was selected for inclusion in the book “Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About College.”  Engaged learning, the development of multiple interests and community outreach are central to the Lawrence experience. Lawrence draws its 1,500 students from nearly every state and more than 50 countries.

Award-winning Author Jill McCorkle Conducts Fiction Reading

Fiction writer Jill McCorkle shares short stories from her 2009 collection “Going Away Shoes” Thursday, March 4 at 4:30 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center. The reading is free and open to the public.

Jill-McCorkle_webHer first short story collection in eight years, “Going Away Shoes” features stories of “women looking love in the face without flinching.” A member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, McCorkle’s Southern heritage often influences her story ideas.

The Lee Smith Professor in Creative Writing at North Carolina State University, McCorkle has written five novels and four collections of short stories. Five of her works have been selected as New York Times Notable Books. Her stories have appeared in numerous publications, including two in the “Best American Short Stories.” Her story “Intervention” is included in latest edition of the “Norton Anthology of Short Fiction.”

She has been recognized with the New England Book Award, the John Dos Passos Prize for Excellence in Literature and the North Carolina Award for Literature. In 1984, at the age of 26, McCorkle made literary history by having her first two novels, “The Cheer Leader” and “July 7th,” published simultaneously.

McCorkle’s characters have come to life with the recent production of “Good ‘Ol Girls,” a musical based on her work and the writing of Lee Smith, McCorkle’s former teacher. The musical was originally staged in 2000, premiered on television in 2009 and came to New York City in February of this year for its off-Broadway premiere.