MSU creative writing faculty member to give poetry reading

Contact: Sasha Steinberg

Catherine Pierce (Photo by Megan Bean)

STARKVILLE, Miss.— A faculty member in Mississippi State’s Department of English will read from her new book of poems Tuesday [Jan. 31] at the university.

Free to all, Associate Professor Catherine Pierce’s reading of “The Tornado Is the World” takes place at 7:30 p.m. in Colvard Student Union’s third-floor Fowlkes Auditorium. Her presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session, along with a book signing organized by Barnes & Noble at Mississippi State.

A native of Delaware, Pierce also serves as co-director of MSU’s creative writing program. She earned a Bachelor of Arts from Susquehanna University, Master of Fine Arts from Ohio State University, and doctorate from the University of Missouri.

In addition to The Tornado Is the World” (Saturnalia 2016), Pierce has authored two other books of poems. They include The Girls of Peculiar” (Saturnalia 2012), winner of the Mississippi Institute of Arts and Letters Poetry Prize, and Famous Last Words” (Saturnalia 2008), winner of the Saturnalia Books Poetry Prize.

Her chapbook “Animals of Habit” was published in 2004 by Kent State University Press. Her poems also have appeared or are forthcoming in “The Best American Poetry” (2015 and 2011), Best New Poets,” “Slate,” “Boston Review” and “The Cincinnati Review,” among many other publications. For more, visit www.catherinepierce.net.

Additional information about Pierce’s poetry reading is available from Michael Kardos, MSU associate professor of English and creative writing co-director, at 662-325-3644 and MKardos@english.msstate.edu.

For more on MSU’s Department of English, visit www.english.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.