Two authors to appear through Inspired Writer Series at Fairfield University | Press Releases

Image: Rachel Basch Two intriguing authors - Rachel Basch and Pete Nelson - will be the next speakers in Fairfield University's Inspired Writers Series, a program of Fairfield's M.F.A. in Creative Writing . The pair will discuss their work at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30, at the new Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. This event is free and open to the public.

Rachel Basch is the author of two novels. Her debut, Degrees of Love (W.W. Norton, Harper Paperbacks), was translated into Dutch and German and was a selection of the Hartford Courant 's Book Club. She followed that with The Passion of Reverend Nash (W.W. Norton), which was named one of the five best novels of 2003 by The Christian Science Monitor . Basch's nonfiction has been featured on The Huffington Post and in Parenting , and she has reviewed books for The Washington Post Book World . She's the recipient of a 2011 MacDowell Colony Fellowship.

" The Passion of Reverend Nash is one of those novels that's so wonderful you're afraid to recommend it because if your friends don't like it, you'll just pity them," wrote reviewer Ron Charles in The Christian Science Monitor . "Basch has a cool, witty voice that holds steady even when the scenes she describes convulse with grief."

Image: Pete Nelson Pete Nelson has published 19 books of fiction, six non-fiction books, and more than 150 short stories and articles in magazines, including Esquire , Harpers , Playboy , the Iowa Review , the North American Review, Mother Jones and Rolling Stone . He was the "His" columnist for Mademoiselle and a contributing editor and feature writer for Live and Wondertime magazines. He's been the recipient of numerous grants and was nominated for an Edgar Award by the Mystery Writers of America. He was named to the Esquire Magazine Register for best American writers under 40, and his book Left For Dead won the Christopher Award in 2003 and was listed as one of the American Library Association's top 10 young adult books of the year.

One of Nelson's most talked-about books is I Thought You Were Dead , the story of a man, a woman and a very special dog. "Nelson describes the friendship between man and dog with a lot of heart and understanding," said Jacques Von Lunen of The Oregonian . "The dialogue between the two isn't anthropomorphic; it's just that sometimes your dog has the best advice when your girlfriend's spending the night at her other lover's house."

Both authors teach in Fairfield's MFA in Creative Writing Program .