Pasadena City College Names Susan Straight As 2015 Writer In Residence

Critically acclaimed novelist Susan Straight is Pasadena City College’s 2015 Writer in Residence, the college said Friday.

Straight has published eight novels, including Highwire Moon (2001), a finalist for the National Book Award, and A Million Nightingales (2006), a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. Her short stories have appeared in Zoetrope, The Ontario Review, The Oxford American, The Sun, Black Clock, and other magazines. Her essays have appeared in the New York Times, Reader’s Digest, Family Circle, Salon, The Los Angeles Times, Harpers, The Nation, and other magazines. She has won the Edgar Award and an O. Henry Award and has been awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship and a Lannan Prize.

Her latest novel is Between Heaven and Here.

PCC’s Writer-in-Residence Program aims to enrich the cultural environment of the college and the larger community by bringing to campus for a period of three days a distinguished local writer to interact with students, faculty, staff, and community members.

In addition to visiting several classrooms, speaking with creative writing, composition, and reading students, Straight will be featured at two events that are open to the public:

On Tuesday, Oct. 7, Straight will conduct a Writing Workshop in the Circadian Room on PCC’s campus from 12-1 p.m.

On Thursday, Oct. 8, Straight will read from Between Heaven and Here, in PCC’s Creveling Lounge from 1-2 p.m. The author’s books will be available for purchase at the reading.

These events are free and open to the public although seating at some events may be limited.

For more information about the public events, contact Prof. Kathy Kottaras at (626) 585-7487 or via email at ebkottaras@pasadena.edu, or Prof. Vanitha Swaminathan at (626) 585-3071 or via email at vxswaminathan@pasadena.edu.

The Writer in Residence program is made possible by a generous grant from the Pasadena Festival of Women Authors.