UNSWriting
COMING NEXT AS PART OF SYDNEY WRITER'S FESTIVAL: JESMYN WARD BOOK HERE NOW
JESMYN WARD author of SALVAGE THE BONES
IN CONVERSATION with UNSW Creative Writing lecturer and novelist Stephanie Bishop
Wednesday 16 May @ 7pm
Io Myers Studio, UNSW
BOOK HERE NOW. THIS IS A FREE EVENT.
A big-hearted novel about familial love and community set in the twelve days before a massive hurricane hits the coastal town of Bois Sauvage, Mississippi. Salvage The Bones is a wrenching look at the lonesome, brutal, and restrictive realities of rural poverty in the American South muscled with poetry, revelatory, and real.
Hurricane Katrina is building over the Gulf of Mexico and Esch's father is growing concerned. A hard drinker, largely absent, he doesn't show concern for much else. Esch and her three brothers are stocking food, but there isn't much to save. Lately, Esch can't keep down what food she gets; she's fourteen and pregnant. Her brother Skeetah is sneaking scraps for his prized pitbull's new litter, dying one by one in the dirt. While brothers Randall and Junior try to stake their claim in a family long on child’s play and short on parenting.
As the twelve days yield to the final day and Hurricane Katrina, the unforgettable family at the novel's heart--motherless children sacrificing for each other as they can, protecting and nurturing where love is scarce--pulls itself up to struggle for another day.
Jesmyn Ward grew up in Mississippi. She received her MFA from the University of Michigan and is currently an assistant professor of creative writing at the University of South Alabama. Her most recent novel Salvage The Bones won the 2011 National Book Award for Fiction winner. Her debut novel, Where the Line Bleeds, was a Black Caucus of the ALA Honor Award recipient and a finalist for both the Virginia Commonwealth University Cabell First Novelist Award and the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award. Jesmyn writes about the "experiences of the poor and the black and rural people of the south" – where she grew up.
RSVP EARLY FOR THIS FREE PUBLIC EVENT.
Jesmyn will be available to sign copies of her book on the night. You will be able to purchase Salvage The Bones and a selection of her other books at 10% off the RRP, courtesy of the UNSW bookshop.
ADDRESS: Io Myers Studio, UNSW (entrance Gate 2 High St, Kensington)
t: 61 2 93855684 e: unswriting@unsw.edu.au w: sam.arts.unsw.edu.au/unswriting
UNSWriting at the University of NSW brings together writers, academics, and students of writing to facilitate the flow of ideas in and around the city, the country and internationally. UNSWriting fosters partnerships with publishers, the Sydney Writer’s Festival and other bodies to promote good writing and innovative ideas.
Past events
2012
4 April - Author JANE GLEESON WHITE in conversation about her book DOUBLE ENTRY, with GEOFF HARCOURT. Download the audio of this presentation here!
2011
8 November - ANNA FUNDER internationally bestselling author of STASILAND spoke about her new novel ALL THAT I AM.
11 October - METTE JAKOBSEN UNSW Graduate and author of THE VANISHING ACT in conversation with author Margo Lanagan
18 May - Emma Forrest in conversation with Catharine Lumby (Sydney Writer's Festival)
13 April - Chip Rolley (More info)
2010
2nd December 2010 - Qiu Xiaolong in conversation with Nicholas Jose
27 October - Fiona McGregor
15 October - What Can Fictocritical Writing Do? A UNSWriting event with Meaghan Morris and Denis Byrne
19 May - Yiyun Li
15th April - David Malouf Ransom
2009
8th October - Tom Keneally in conversation with Geordie Williamson
16th September - Literary Lumineries: Vogel winner launches NewSouthWriters sermiar series - Andrew Croome
