Beth Ann Fennelly & Tom Franklin
Poet & Author
February 25, 2010
1:00 - 2:00 p.m. Reading
2:15 - 2:45 p.m. Book Signing
West Campus
Library - 1st Floor

Award winning poet Beth Ann Fennelly, whose poems have appeared innumerous periodicals and anthologies, including Best American Poetry (1996, 2005, and 2006 editions), The Kenyon Review, and
The Bloomsbury Review, states “The time we share on earth is too precious,” and reminds us accurately of this in her life’s work and calling. She has written four books of poetry to date. Her first book, Open House, won the 2001 Kenyon Review Prize for a First Book and the GLCA New Writers Award. Tender Hooks, her second, uncovers explorations into motherhood, joyous and raw. Her third book is Great with Child: Letters to a Young Mother. Most recently published was Unmentionables: Poems, in 2008. Often described as some of her best work, it holds accounts of life and captured thought. "Accurate perception, is a moral choice,” she says. “The more you look closely, the better you get at seeing.”

The Edgar Award-winning author of Poachers, and recipient of a 2001 Guggenheim Fellowship, Tom Franklin, has continued his success with two more books of historical fiction. Hell at the Breech is based on events that happened a close distance to the home where he was raised. “Along with breathtaking descriptions of Mitcham Beat's scenery...Franklin does what Harper Lee did in To Kill a Mockingbird; He lets his set of quirky characters run the story while he focuses on the repercussions of his characters' curiosity and age. Hell at the Breech is an impressive novel that should catapult Franklin into the big leagues." Nickolas Thomas, USA Today. Tom’s latest, Smonk, published in 2006 is another guilty pleasure for those who love dark tales, sinister characters and humor to match.