Stanford professor Mark McGurl, whose book The Program Era:Postwar Fiction and the Rise of Creative Writing made a splash when it came outin 2009 and was the subject of Louis Menand’s July New Yorker article, “Showor Tell”, will be giving a talk about creative writing programs at this year’sArkansas Literary Festival.
Winner of the 2011 Truman Capote Award for Literary Criticism,McGurl will discuss his book and trace the roots of creative writinginstruction in the progressive education movement of the early 20th century,its influence on post-WWII American fiction, and the many complex ways authorshave embraced and resisted their own institutionalization through the presentday. A discussion about creative writing programs will follow,moderated by Stephanie Vanderslice, director of the new Arkansas Writers MFAWorkshop at the University of Central Arkansas, which, along with UCA’s College of Fine Arts and Communication, issponsoring McGurl’s visit.
This event will take place in Little RockSaturday, April 14 at 10 a.m. on the fifth floor of the Main Library in the Lee Room. Copies of The Program Era will also be available for purchase.
For more information, contact Vanderslice at 501-450-3340 or stephv@uca.edu
