Fairfield University's Inspired Writer Series presents an evening with authors Lary Bloom and Nalini Jones November 3 | Press Releases

Image: Lary Bloom Fairfield University's Inspired Writer Series presents two distinguished members of the MFA in Creative Writing faculty; Lary Bloom and Nalini Jones in an evening of salon-inspired discussion and readings on Wednesday, Nov. 3 at 7 p.m. in the Dolan School of Business Dining Room. Donna Woods Orazio and Chris Belden, students in the MFA in Creative Writing Program, will introduce the authors. Admission is free and the public is invited to this Arts & Minds presentation.

As the MFA in Creative Writing Low Residency Program moves toward its third year with the Winter Residency in December, Program Director Michael White spoke recently of Bloom and Jones as representative of the faculty he has attracted: "Lary Bloom and Nalini Jones abundantly exhibit both through their writing and their teaching why Fairfield's MFA program is fortunate to have them as part of our community of writers."

Bloom was recently honored with the 2010 Lifetime Achievement to Literary Community award at the ninth annual Connecticut Book Awards. He is known as one of Connecticut's most beloved literary masters and is the author and co-author of several nonfiction books, including "The Writer Within," "Lary Bloom's Connecticut Notebook" and two memoirs: "Letters From Nuremberg" (with Senator Christopher J. Dodd), in which the drama of the Nuremberg Trials unfold through the eyes of Dodd's father, Thomas J. Dodd, then a young attorney whose inquisition of the brilliant Hermann Göring provided the centerpiece of the trials and "The Test of Our Times" (with former Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge).

Image: Nalini Jones Jones, author of the acclaimed collection of short stories, "What You Call Winter," will speak to the art of fiction writing. Although born in Rhode Island, she spent much of her early childhood visiting Mumbai, India where her mother was raised. Her curiosity about migration began early with questions about her mother's experience, but, as she writes, "it soon became an encompassing interest." Growing up, Jones was constantly aware of distance and the "way it functions in families." Her fiction explores the challenges presented to the characters she depicts when they are "flung across the globe or living under the same roof ... I realized that the characters were all connected to a place, partly remembered, partly imagined, partly mythical." In reviewing "What You Call Winter," the San Francisco Chronicle remarked, "Elegant [and] stylish ... Captivating ... When you turn that last page, you'll be left wanting more."

Prior to this event, there is a Graduate Information Session from 5:30-7 p.m. at the Kelley Center that will include information on the winter session for the MFA in Creative Writing. Those interested in finding out more about the MFA program are invited to attend.