Poet and novelist Fanny Howe coming to CSB

Celebrated poet and novelist Fanny Howe has a free public reading at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 2 in the Boardroom, Teresa Reception Center (Main Building), College of Saint Benedict, St. Joseph.

Howe is the author of more than 20 novels and books of poetry. She is considered one of the most widely read of American experimental poets, and her poems have been called incarnations in which spiritual longing and material fate intersect.

From March 24 to April 24, Howe will be a Scholar in Residence at Studium at Saint Benedict's Monastery, St. Joseph. During that time, she will also lecture to classes at CSB and Saint John's University, Collegeville.

Her books of poetry include The Lyrics (2007), On the Ground (2004, a finalist for the Griffin International Poetry Prize), Gone (2003), Selected Poems (2000, also shortlisted for the Griffin International Poetry Prize), Forged (1999), Q (1998), One Crossed Out (1997) and The End (1992).

In addition to her poetry, Howe is the author of several novels and prose collections, including Lives of the Spirit/Glasstown: Where Something Got Broken (2005) and Nod (1998). She has also written short stories, books for young adults and the collection of literary essays, The Wedding Dress: Meditations on Word and Life (2003).

A professor emerita of writing and American literature at the University of California, San Diego, Howe was the recipient of the 2001 Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize for her Selected Poems, and Nod won an American Writing Award. She has also been honored by the National Endowment for the Arts (twice), a California Council for the Arts award, the National Poetry Foundation and the Village Voice.

Writing runs in Howe's family. Her sister, Susan Howe, is a poet, and Fanny Howe's daughter, Danzy Senna, is a novelist.

Her reading is sponsored by the Literary Arts Institute (LAI) of the College of Saint Benedict, which was founded in 1997 to foster creative writing, publishing and interaction between students and writers. The LAI brings nationally recognized authors to the college, promotes literary events, holds conferences, supports publications and encourages the artistry of fine letterpress.

Howe is also scheduled to conduct a free reading with Mary Jo Bang (Elegy) and Matthea Harvey (Modern Life) at 7 p.m. Friday, April 18 at the Loft Literary Center, Minneapolis. Mark Conway, director of the LAI, will introduce each.