Fairfield University alumnus Joseph Carvalko, MFA'11, author of "We Were Beautiful Once: Chapters From A Cold War," will read from his latest book on Tuesday, October 29 at 7 p.m. at Fairfield University Bookstore, 1499 Post Road, Fairfield. Carvalko's appearance is part of The Inspired Writer, the distinguished author series of Fairfield University's MFA in Creative Writing Program. It is free and open to the public.

"We Were Beautiful Once" is a complex courtroom drama centering on trial lawyer Nick Castalano, who is trying to determine the fate of Roger Girardin, MIA during the Korean War.

"Carvalko writes with such convincing realism and lyricism that I was at once brought into the landscape of his literary vision and grip of his storytelling," said New York Times bestselling author Da Chen, who teaches in Fairfield's MFA program, of which Carvalko is a graduate. "His prose is wiry and wise, steely yet soulful."

Born in Bridgeport, Conn., Carvalko is both a writer and a lawyer. "We Were Beautiful Once: Chapters From A Cold War" was inspired by a case he tried in federal court to locate a Korean War POW. His publications include: "The Techno-Human Shell: A Jump in the Evolutionary Gap" (2012), which details the rapid rise in cyborg-like technology; "A Road Once Traveled: Life from All Sides" (2007); and "A Deadly Fog" (2004). In 2013, his poem "Registered Letter" was chosen for publication in the anthology "Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, Volume 2" by the Missouri Humanities Council, Warriors Arts Alliance, and Southeast Missouri State University Press. He was one of two finalists for the 2012 Red Mountain Press Prize for Poetry for "The Interior: A Memoir," and one of three finalists for the 2012 Esurance Poetry Prize, for his poem "The Road Home."

For more information on this event, contact Elizabeth Hastings, ehastings@fairfield.edu or (203) 254-4000, ext. 2688.

Posted On: 10-11-2013 11:10 AM

Volume: 46 Number: 70