Critically acclaimed author Nisi Shawl will be speaking at Goddard College’s MFA in Creative Writing Program on Wednesday, February 19, 2020. They will read and answer questions about their work, which includes the steampunk novel Everfair –an alternate and happier history of the so-called Belgian Congo . This public event will take place at 7pm in the Reading Room on the second floor of Building 204, 200 Battery Way, in Fort Worden State Park, Port Townsend, WA 98368. A reception and book signing will immediately follow the reading.

Nisi Shawl also wrote the James Tiptree, Jr. Award-winning story collection Filter House (2008). Other recent titles include the collections Talk Like a Man (2019) and A Primer on Nisi Shawl (2018). They co-wrote : Writing the Other: A Practical Approach (2005), a standard text on inclusive representation in the imaginative genres and the basis for many of their online and in-person workshops. They co-edited the anthologies Stories for Chip: A Tribute to Samuel R. Delany; and Strange Matings: Science Fiction, Feminism, African American Voices, and Octavia E. Butler . In 2019 Solaris published their latest editing venture, the acclaimed anthology New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color.

Shawl has spoken at Duke University, Spelman College, University of Hawai’i Manoa, Smith College, and several other educational institutions, and has taught at University of Washington Bothell and at Sarah Lawrence College. They regularly contribute book reviews and criticism to The Seattle Times, Ms. Magazine, Los Angeles Review of Books, Seattle Review of Books, and The Washington Post. They also edit book reviews for the feminist journal Cascadia Subduction Zone. Shawl is a Carl Brandon Society founder and a Clarion West board member. They live in Seattle near an enticingly large lake filled with dangerous currents.

About Goddard College

The mission of Goddard College is to advance cultures of rigorous inquiry, collaboration, and lifelong learning, where individuals take imaginative and responsible action in the world. Goddard College offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in a number of disciplines.

Founded in 1976, Goddard’s low-residency MFA in Creative Writing Program was the first of its kind in the nation. The program offers residencies at campuses in Plainfield, Vermont, and Port Townsend, Washington. It is a 48-credit, student-centered program ideal for students with family, work, or personal obligations who choose to hone their writing skills while maintaining their other commitments.

The program regularly hosts luminaries from the theater and film industries, as well as the publishing trade, as part of its Visiting Writers, Alumni, and Professional Series. For more information, visit: https://www.goddard.edu/academics/master-fine-arts-creative-writing-2/

MEDIA CONTACT
Claudia Zysk
(360) 344-4100 / claudia.zysk@goddard.edu