Nebraska Summer Writers Conference at UNL to be June 9-15

            Some of the nation's most acclaimed authors are headed to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to offer insights into their writing process and to help writers of all experience levels master their craft as part of the Nebraska Summer Writers Conference.

            The annual conference, regarded as one of the Midwest's premiere literary events, is June 9-15 on UNL's City Campus. Registration is open to attend workshops in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and memoir writing. Both weekend and weeklong curriculum are offered in addition to several events that are free and open to the public.

            Graduates of UNL's creative writing Ph.D. program who have achieved national success as authors also will share the spotlight and help lead workshops. They include:

• Lee Martin, a Pulitzer Prize finalist for his novel, "The Bright Forever"
• Emily Danforth, author of the acclaimed young-adult novel, "The Miseducation of Cameron Post"
• Dave Madden, nonfiction writer and author of "The Authentic Animal: Inside the Odd and Obsessive World of Taxidermy"

            Other conference faculty are:

• Carleen Brice, whose novel, "Orange Mint and Honey," was made into the NAACP Image Award-winning film "Sins of the Mother"
• Terese Svoboda, poet, novelist, filmmaker and native Nebraskan
• Meghan Daum, author of the memoir, "Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House," columnist for the Los Angeles Times, contributor to NPR's "This American Life," the New Yorker, Vogue, Travel and Leisure, and many other publications and broadcasts

            In addition to the workshops, the conference will feature an evening with Terese Svoboda, translator of "Cleaned the Crocodile's Teeth: Nuer Song," celebrating Nebraskan-Nuer culture; Guggenheim-winning poet Kwame Dawes discussing his new appointment with the Prairie Schooner literary journal; and many other readings, discussions and panels.

            A schedule, online registration, complete list of faculty and their biographies, and other conference details can be found at http://nebraskawriters.unl.edu.

            The Nebraska Summer Writers Conference is part of the creative writing program of UNL's English Department in the College of Arts and Sciences.

Writers: Timothy Schaffert; Jean Ortiz Jones, University Communications, (402) 472-8320