Writers at the University Series Kicks Off Sept. 20

The University of Tampa will welcome author Michael Martone on Thursday, Sept. 20, to open the 2012-2013 Writers at the University series. The reading will be held at 7 p.m. in the Scarfone/Hartley Gallery on campus and is free and open to the public.

Martone is best known for his “false biographies” — his 2005 book, Michael Martone, is a collection of fake contributor’s notes that were all published separately as true contributor’s notes in various literary journals. His most recent works include Four for a Quarter and Racing in Place: Collages, Fragments, Postcards, Ruins, collections of stories that walk the line between fiction and nonfiction. Martone is a professor of creative writing at the University of Alabama, where he has been teaching since 1996.

The Writers at the University series will continue on Nov. 6 with poet Rosalynde Vas Dias, who won the 2011 Robert Dana-Anhinga Prize for Poetry for her collection of poetry, Only Blue Body. Her poems have appeared in The Cincinnati Review, Crazyhorse, New Orleans Review and The Pinch.

Future readings are in the planning stages. For more information, contact Jessica Vazquez in the department of English and writing at (813) 253-6216 or jessica.vazquez@ut.edu.