AMBER DERMONT, a former Inprint fellowship and prize recipient and graduate of the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, made a splash in the literary world last year when her debut novel
The Starboard Sea received rave reviews from
The New York Times, including a front cover review in the Sunday
Times Book Review. Naming it a Notable Book for 2012, the
Times called the novel "captivating and inspired...the language of sailing is lovely, both simple and elaborate, unexpectedly sexy and inexhaustibly metaphorical." An engrossing coming-of-age story set among the privileged class at a New England boarding school, Janet Maslin described it as "a rich, quietly artful novel that is bound for deep water, with questions of beauty, power and spiritual navigation as its main concerns." Dermont's new story collection
Damage Control comes out this month.
Kirkus Reviews says the collection "demonstrates the author's versatility and sardonic humor....Dermont delivers strong prose and intriguing characters....the overall effect is a tight collection that takes the reader in unexpected, often disconcerting, directions."
Please note that Dermont's collection Damage Control will be available at the reading, a night before it goes on sale nationwide.
JESMYN WARD, hailed by
Publishers Weekly as "a fresh new voice in American literature" and called "fearless and toughly lyrical" by
The Library Journal, won the 2011 National Book Award for her second novel,
Salvage the Bones.
BookPage describes it as "a pitch-perfect account of struggle and community in the rural South....Though the characters in
Salvage the Bones face down Hurricane Katrina, the story isn't really about the storm. It's about people facing challenges, and how they band together to overcome adversity."
The Washington Post praised it as "masterful.... [It] has an aura of a classic about it." Her first novel,
Where the Line Bleeds---honored by the Black Caucus of the National Book Awards, an
Essence magazine Book Club Selection, and a finalist for the Hurston/Wright Legacy Award---is also set in the Gulf Coast of Mississippi where she grew up and still makes her home. Ward's memoir,
The Men We Reaped, about the loss of her brother and other men in her community, comes out in September.
A marketing sponsor of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Reading Series,
Texas Monthly has carved out a reputation for outstanding journalism---claiming 11 National Magazine Awards---and conducts frequent statewide literary events, readings, and issues colloquiums.
READINGS BY UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON CREATIVE WRITING FACULTY
The University of Houston Creative Writing Program continues to rank among the nation's top writing programs, and faculty from the program often serve as interviewers for the on-stage portion of the Inprint Margarett Root Brown Readings. Check out these upcoming readings by faculty members from the Program, from their new books.
Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni Reading from her latest novel
Oleander GirlThursday, March 7, 2013
7 pm
Asia Society Texas Center
1370 Southmore Blvd
To rsvp or for more details
click here 
Nick Flynn Reading from
The Reenactments: A MemoirMonday, March 18, 2013
7 pm
Brazos Bookstore
2421 Bissonnet
For more information
click hereSEARCHING FOR THE FIRST HOUSTON POET LAUREATE
Congratulations, Houston! Our great city will soon have its first Poet Laureate. The Houston Public Library and the Mayor's Office of Cultural Affairs announces the new Houston Poet Laureate Program. Applications/nominations are being accepted online through March 8th.
Click here for details.
INPRINT POETRY BUSKERS
Kerouac Fest 2013 Saturday, March 9, 2013
3 pm - 10 pm (Inprint Poetry Buskers will be there from 5 pm - 8 pm)
Orange Show Center for the Visionary Arts
2402 Munger
For more information
click here 
Inprint Poetry Buskers will be at Kerouac Fest 2013 from 5:00 pm - 8:00 pm, writing poems on demand for people using a good old fashioned typewriter. You give the buskers a theme, and they give you your very own poem, for free! Kerouac Fest 2013, the first of its kind in Houston, celebrates the life of Jack Kerouac. The festival includes poetry readings, a panel discussion, music, a crowd-sourced poetry experiment using Twitter, and much more. Read
An Open Book story on Kerouac Fest 2013
here.
AMBER DERMONT &