Dr. Charles Fort
professor of English, 308.865.8164
The University of Nebraska at Kearney Reynolds Writers & Readers Series will present writer Patricia Henley at 8 p.m. Friday, Nov. 11, at the Museum of Nebraska Art (MONA).
Henley, who currently teaches in the MFA program at Purdue University, writes short stories, novels and poetry. She was declared a poet while in the master’s program at The Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Md.
Henley’s novel In the River Sweet was named a Best Book of 2002 by the St. Louis Post-Dispatch,and a Favorite Book of the Year by the Chicago Tribune. It was selected as a Book Sense pick for October and also as a Best Fall Book by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. During October, the book was featured as an Original Voice by Border’s. Her novel Hummingbird House, released in the spring of 1999, was one of five works of fiction nominated that fall for a National Book Award.
“I wanted a family story that would allow me to weave together several concerns: hate crimes, the Buddhist-Catholic dialogue and the story of a woman being reunited with her child,” commented Henley on her novel In the River Sweet.
Henley, the oldest of eight children, was born in Terre Haute, Ind. She is the mother of a daughter and a son, and lives near the Purdue University campus where she teaches.
Reynolds Writers and Readers Series presentations are free and open to the public. In addition to Henley, five poets have upcoming presentations in the series. Each reading begins at 8 p.m. with a book signing and reception afterwards.
For more information, contact Charles Fort at (308) 865-8164.
