The 74th McKinney Writing Contest and Reading

 

by

Alice McDermott

Winner of the National Book Award

 

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

8:00 p.m.

Biotech Auditorium,

Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies Building

RPI

 

Reception to follow

 

FREE AND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

 

 

As we've done for several years now, Friends has again contributed $250 toward the McKinney Writing Contest, the Institute's annual writing competition. The contest and ceremony are co-sponsored by the Rensselaer Department of Communication and Media and the New York State Writers Institute. Students are encouraged to submit original work in the areas of fiction/drama, poetry, essay, and/or electronic media. The contest offers both undergraduate and graduate students an opportunity for assessment and recognition of their creative writing talent. First, second, and third prizes are awarded for the best submissions in both graduate and undergraduate sections. This year's awards will be presented by novelist and short story writer Alice McDermott, who will first give a reading from one of her works and then answer questions from the audience.  

 

Photo from Wikipedia files

McDermott is the author of the novel Charming Billy (1998) for which she was awarded the National Book Award and the American Book Award. Other highly praised novels she’s written are A Bigamist’s Daughter (1982); That Night (1987), which was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award, and the Los Angeles Times Book Prize;  At Weddings and Wakes (1992), which was a New York Times bestseller and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Child of My Heart (2002), which was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award; and After This (2006), a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Her most recent book is Someone (2013). Her short stories have appeared in Ms., Redbook, Mademoiselle, The New Yorker and Seventeen. She has also published articles in The New York Times and The Washington Post.  

McDermott has taught at the University of California at San Diego and American University, has been a writer-in-residence at Lynchburg College and Hollins College in Virginia, and was a lecturer in English at the University of New Hampshire. She is currently a professor of humanities at the Johns Hopkins University. She was inducted into the New York Writers Hall of Fame in 2013.

Adrienne Birchler

Coordinator

Friends of the Folsom Library