A new year means more opportunities to experience new literary voices emanating from the University of Houston’s Creative Writing Program.
Each fall and spring, student writers showcase their works during the popular Gulf Coast Reading Series. The next edition of the series is 7 p.m., Jan. 18 at Rudyard’s British Pub (2010 Waugh Dr.) and will feature UH Creative Writing Program students Joseph Scapellato, D’Lynn Barham and Chris Hutchinson. All Gulf Coast readings are free and open to the public.
Scapellato is a creative writing doctoral candidate. He earned a master of fine arts in fiction at New Mexico State University. His work has appeared in journals and publications such as The Kenyon Review Online, Post Road, Unsaid, Artifice and Forty Stories. He serves as blog editor at The Collagist.
Barham is a master of fine arts candidate focusing on fiction writing. She teaches creative writing as part of Houston’s Writing In The Schools program and tutors students at Houston Community College.
Doctoral candidate Chris Hutchinson has served as the international poetry editor for Hayden’s Ferry Review. He has written three books of poetry: “A Brief History of the Short-lived,” “Unfamiliar Weather” and “Other People’s Lives.” He earned a master of fine arts from Arizona State University.
The Gulf Coast Reading Series is an extension of UH’s acclaimed Gulf Coast, A Journal of Literature and Fine Art. Founded in 1986 by Donald Barthelme and Philip Lopate, the journal spotlights the literary and visual arts communities. Gulf Coast is a partnership between CWP, the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston and the Menil Collection. It reviews submissions from artists and writers from around the country. To learn more about the Gulf Coast journal and the reading series, visit www.gulfcoastmag.org.
As part of UH's English department, CWP offers fiction and non-fiction writers and poets intensive training in both creative writing and literary studies. It offers two graduate degrees: the master of fine arts and doctor of philosophy. CWP's noted faculty includes award-winning authors and poets such as novelist Antonya Nelson, poet and non-fiction writer Nick Flynn, graphic novelist Mat Johnson and poet Tony Hoagland. To learn more about the program, visit www.class.uh.edu/cwp/.