Two authors read from their new books at Fairfield University | Press Releases

Image: Da Chen Two award-winning authors who teach in Fairfield University's MFA in Creative Writing Program will launch their new books with an evening reading at 7 p.m., Tuesday, October 23, 2012, at the Dolan School of Business Dining Room. Da Chen will read from My Last Empress and Karen Osborn will read from Centerville . The event is free and open to the public and is part of The Inspired Writer Series, sponsored by MFA in Creative Writing Program.

Da Chen arrived in America at the age of 23 with $30 in his pocket, a bamboo flute, and a heart filled with hope. Colors of the Mountain , his first memoir, went on to become a New York Times bestseller. Published in six other languages, it was a: New England Bookseller Association Discovery selection; BookSense '76 selection; Borders Original Voice selection; Barnes & Noble and Discover Great New Writers selection. China's Son , the children's adaptation of his memoir, is a Borders 2002 Original Voices Award finalist and American Library Association 2002 Best Books for Young Adults final nominee. Sounds of the River , the sequel to his first memoir, was published to rave international reviews. His first adult fiction, Brothers , was awarded Washington Post Best Book of 2006, San Francisco Chronicle Notable Work of 2006, Miami Herald Notable Book of 2006 and Publishers Wee kly Best Book of the Year and 2007 Quills Book Award Fiction finalist. My Last Empress recently received a starred review in Kirkus Review.

Image: Karen Osborn Karen Osborn is the author of Patchwork (HBJ), a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, Between Earth and Sky (William Morrow), and The River Road (William Morrow/ Harper Collins). Her poetry has been published in numerous literary journals, anthologies, and magazines, including The Southern Review, Poet Lore, Kansas Quarterly, The Centennial Review, Wisconsin Review , and Tar River Poetry . She lives in Amherst, Massachusetts and teaches creative writing and fiction writing at Mt. Holyoke College.

For more information on the MFA in Creative Writing, visit www.fairfield.edu/mfa .