Lia Purpura Reads at Writers Speak Wednesday on November 16

Author Lia Purpura will be the fourth guest in the fall Writers Speak Wednesdays series of free talks and readings at Stony Brook Southampton on Wednesday, November 16, at 7 p.m. Purpura will read from and talk about her work in the Radio Lounge on the second floor of Chancellors Hall, following a brief reception beginning at 6:30 p.m.

Purpura is the author of eight collections of essays, poems and translations, most recently her poetry collection, It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful. The collection was named among the Best Books of 2015 by Baltimore Magazine, which called it “an absolute wonder.”

The author’s work has also appeared in The New Republic, The New Yorker, The Paris Review and Ploughshares, among others. Her many honors include three Pushcart Prizes, as well as Guggenheim, NEA, and Fulbright fellowships.

Purpura is a writer in residence at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, and teaches at the Rainier Writing Workshop in Tacoma, Washington. Purpura lives in Baltimore, Maryland with her husband and son.

Following Purpura’s appearance, two guests are scheduled for the November 30 Writers Speak Wednesdays program: Ruth Franklin and Susan Scarf Merrell. On December 7, the evening will be devoted to readings by students currently enrolled in the MFA in Creative Writing and Literature program at Stony Brook Southampton.

Writers Speak Wednesdays programs are free and open to the public. The evenings begin with a brief reception at 6:30 p.m., followed by readings at 7 p.m., and then a Q&A and book signing.

Stony Brook Southampton is located at 239 Montauk Highway in Southampton. For more information, call 631-632-5030 or visit stonybrook.edu/mfa. Writers Speak is also on Facebook as Writers Speak Wednesdays; and Twitter as @WritersSpeakWed.