Writers Conference is March 31 to April 4 The Writers Conference will celebrate its 40th anniversary later this month with another talented installment of authors and poets. The theme of this year’s conference is “Wit,” and the participants are sure to live up to it. UND alumnus and pop-culture humorist Chuck Klosterman will be among seven authors featured at this year’s conference, March 31 to April 4. Also part of the event will be a special tribute to the late associate professor of English emeritus John Little, who founded the Writers Conference in 1970. Klosterman is set to appear at the conference Thursday and Friday, April 2 and 3. He is a native of Wyndmere, N.D., and graduated from UND in 1994. Klosterman’s most recent book is “Downtown Owl,” but perhaps he is best known for his numerous works of nonfiction, including “Fargo Rock City,” “Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs: A Low Culture Manifesto,” “Killing Yourself to Live: 85% of a True Story,” and “Chuck Klosterman IV: A Decade of Curious People and Dangerous Ideas.” Klosterman was a senior writer at SPIN magazine and writes a monthly column, “Chuck Klosterman’s America,” for Esquire. He’s also written for The New York Times, Washington Post, GQ, ESPN Magazine and The Believer. The tribute to Little will take place at 4 p.m. Friday, April 3. The other featured authors are Charles Baxter, this year’s Presidential Lecturer; Jacqueline Osherow, Steve Almond, Karen Russell, Greg Williamson and Marco Candida (brief bios for follow). "After the success, but also the seriousness, of last year's conference, ‘Revolutions,’ I thought I would take the 40th anniversary conference in the opposite direction, but one that went back to its roots, by choosing ‘Wit’ for the theme, said Heidi Czerwiec, conference director. “I wanted to celebrate the legacy of conference founder John Little, as well as include a more recent North Dakota wit, Chuck Klosterman. “I also wanted to continue our recent tradition of inviting both renowned writers, like Charles Baxter and Jacqueline Osherow, as well as talented up-and-comers like Karen Russell. My hope is that the community will appreciate what an outstanding series of events we provide entirely for free -- something that no other writing conference in this country may claim." Writers Conference activities are free and open to the public. All activities will take place in the UND Memorial Union Ballroom, except where it’s noted in the schedule below. The Writers Conference enjoys a national reputation as one of the best run, most interesting event of its kind, especially because of its strong public audiences, attracted by its free and open format. Volunteers from around the University and the community make it all possible, but it is still organized by the English Department. The conference had a modest beginning with the “Southern Writers Conference of the Arts” in 1970. Legend has it that John Little was missing some of his literary friends from the South. He decided to invite them to share their words here in North Dakota, and thus a rich artistic tradition began. That first event featured such names as George Garrett, Fred Chappell and James Whitehead. “I don’t think there is another event at UND that approaches the Writers Conference for demonstrating to students what the life of the mind, especially but not solely the artistic mind, is all about,” said Jim McKenzie, professor of English emeritus, who directed the conference from 1997 to 2004. “It’s a true gem for the University and the community as well, made all the more important by the University’s outpost position on the body of North America.” McKenzie, who worked with Little in the early years of the conference (1972 to 1977), recalls one year in particular, 1974, when the Writers Conference pulled off a literary feat by reuniting the famed San Francisco “Beat” poets for the first time since the 1950s. That conference lured poets Allen Ginsberg, Gregory Corso, Peter Orlovsky, Gary Snyder and Kenneth Rexroth to the UND campus. Over the years, many other well-known authors have sat on Writers Conference panels, including Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, Alex Haley, William Burroughs, Norman Mailer, Gwendolyn Brooks, John Hassler, Eudora Welty, Larry Woiwode, Leslie Silko and Sir Salman Rushdie. “I was delighted to see this year’s conference continuing two traditions I always thought important for the success of this great event: supporting writers who work in our region, in this case, Charles Baxter, and, with the invitation of Chuck Klosterman, reacquainting North Dakota with its own successful daughters and sons, always a special treat,” McKenzie said. Here is a schedule of activities for the 2009 UND Writers Conference: Tuesday, March 31 * 2 p.m. World Poetry Reading, River Valley Room, Memorial Union * 4 p.m. Reading: Marco Candida * 8 p.m. Reading: Jacqueline Osherow Wednesday, April 1 * 10 a.m. Public Readings, River Valley Room, Memorial Union * Noon, Panel: “But Seriously,” Jacqueline Osherow, Marco Candida, Greg Williamson, Karen Russell; Moderator: Marcus Weaver-Hightower * 2 p.m. Film: TBA * 4 p.m. Reading: Greg Williamson * 6 p.m. Film: TBA * 8 p.m. Reading: Steve Almond Thursday, April 2 * 10 a.m. Public Readings, River Valley Room, Memorial Union * Noon, Panel: “What’s So Funny?” Chuck Klosterman, Steve Almond, Karen Russell, Greg Williamson; Moderator: Rex Sorgatz * 2 p.m. Film: TBA * 4 p.m. Reading: Karen Russell * 6 p.m. Film: TBA * 8 p.m. Reading: Chuck Klosterman Friday, April 3 * 10 a.m. Public Readings, River Valley Room, Memorial Union * Noon, Panel: “The Comic Ghetto,” Charles Baxter, Chuck Klosterman, Steve Almond; Moderator: Jan Daley Jury * 2 p.m. Film: TBA * 4 p.m. A Tribute to John Little * 6 p.m. Film: TBA * 8 p.m. Presidential Lecture: Charles Baxter Saturday, April 4 * Noon, Community Workshops While registration for the workshops is free, spaces are limited, so we ask that those interested in participating to please contact the leader of that workshop. Charles Baxter is the author, most recently, of “The Soul Thief,” and of “Saul and Patsy.” His third novel, “The Feast of Love,” was a finalist for the National Book Award in 2000 and has been made into a film by Robert Benton, starring Morgan Freeman. He has published two other novels, “First Light” and “Shadow Play”; four books of stories, most recently “Believers”; essays on fiction collected in “Burning Down the House” and “Beyond Plot”; and a book of poems, “Imaginary Paintings.” He has received the Award of Merit in the Short Story and the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the Prix St. Valentine in France, and the Catalan Booksellers’ Association Award for book of the year in Spain. He now is currently the Edelstein-Keller Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Minnesota. Poet Jacqueline Osherow is the author of five books, “Looking for Angels in New York,” “Conversations with Survivors,” “With a Moon in Transit,” “Dead Men’s Praise,” and most recently “The Hoopoe’s Crown.” She has been awarded grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation, the Ingram Merrill Foundation and the Witter Bynner Prize from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters as well as a number of prizes from the Poetry Society of America. Her work has appeared in many journals and anthologies, including “The Making of a Poem: A Norton Anthology of Poetic Forms,” “Inventions of Farewell: A Book of Elegies,” “The Penguin Book of the Sonnet,” The Norton Anthology of Jewish-American Literature,” and “Best American Poetry (1995 and 1998).” She is Distinguished Professor of English and Creative Writing at the University of Utah. Steve Almond’s nonfiction book, “Candyfreak: A Journey Through the Chocolate Underbelly of America,” was a New York Times Bestseller, and was featured on Food Network. He is the author of two collections of short stories, “My Life in Heavy Metal” and “The Evil B.B. Chow and Other Stories,” stories from which were awarded Pushcart Prizes; the collaborative novel (with Julianna Baggott) “Which Brings Me to You: A Novel in Confessions,” and most recently, another collection of nonfiction, “Not that You Asked: Rants, Exploits, and Obsessions.” Karen Russell is the author of a collection of short stories, “St. Lucy’s Home for Girls Raised by Wolves,” and the forthcoming novel “Swamplandia!.” She has been featured in “The Best American Short Stories,” The New Yorker’s debut fiction issue, and New York magazine’s list of 25 people to watch under age 26, and was chosen as one of Granta’s Best Young American Novelists. She teaches at Williams College. Greg Williamson is the author of two poetry collections: “The Silent Partner,” which won the Nicholas Roerich Poetry Prize in 1995, and “Errors in the Script.” Winner of the 1998 Whiting Award, his work has appeared in such journals as The Yale Review, The Paris Review, and The New Republic. He is a regular member of the faculty of the renowned Sewanee Writers Conference, and teaches in the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University. Marco Candida was born in Tortona, Italy, in 1978 and currently resides in Genoa. In the last year and a half, he has published three novels: “La mania per l’alfabeto” (Alphabet Mania) for the prestigious literary press, Sironi Editore (2007); “Il diario dei sogni” (Dream Diary) for Las Vegas Edizioni (2008); and “Domani avrò trent’anni” (Tomorrow I’ll be Thirty) for Edizioni Eumeswil (2008). His short fiction appears in numerous anthologies, including work most recently in Pronti per Einaudi and Il dizionario affettivo per la lingua italiana. In 2002, his work was chosen for the important anthology, Effetto globale. He has won poetry and fiction prizes, including Il premio Materia for best novella, and he was recently named a finalist at the prestigious Turin Poetry Festival. He is also well-known in Italy for his popular literary blog: http://lamaniaperlalfabeto.splinder.com. Contact: Department of English, (701) 777-3321, or e-mail writersconference@und.nodak.edu