Posted on Sep 28, 2006

Murray State University's department of English and philosophy, college of humanities and fine arts, and the creative writing program have invited authors Leah Stewart and Ken Waldman to speak as part of their annual Reading Series. Stewart will be the first to speak on campus, on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 7:30 p.m. in the Clara M. Eagle Gallery on the sixth floor of the Doyle Fine Arts Building. Following the reading will be a reception and book signing. Stewart is currently the new Nancy and Rayburn Watkins Endowed Visiting Professor of Creative Writing on Murray State's campus. The Watkins family established the endowment to bring to campus as a visiting professor an author who has published at least two books. The position is for one year, but can be renewed for a second year. While serving as a visiting professor, the writer teaches two classes per semester in creative writing, including workshops and special topics courses, and gives a public reading as part of the Reading Series. Her first novel, Body of a Girl, won the Mary Ruffin Poole Award for First Fiction and the Sir Walter Raleigh Award for best book by a North Carolina writer. Her second novel, The Myth of You and Me, was chosen for both the September Book Sense list and Target's Breakout Books program. Earning her master's in fine arts from the University of Michigan, Stewart has been a visiting writer at Vanderbilt University and the Tennessee Williams Fellow at the University of the South prior to her position at Murray State. “The MSU Reading Series has a long history of hosting both emerging and established regional, national and international writers, and we're happy to continue that tradition this year with Leah Stewart and Ken Waldman,” said Brian Barker, the new coordinator of creative writing at Murray State. “Leah Stewart is a writer who defies simple characterizations,” Barker continued. “Her most recent novel, The Myth of You and Me, packs all the suspense of a great mystery or detective story. But the mystery here concerns an old friendship, and this novel beautifully and deftly explores the complex emotions at the heart of our most intimate human bonds.” Waldman will be speaking on Thursday, Nov. 2, on campus. For more information on Leah Stewart or the creative writing program at Murray State, contact Barker at (270) 809-4723.