As the new school year begins, we know that it also means that the new season of the Frequency North Reading Series is also starting back up at The College of Saint Rose.
Frequency North, the Visiting Writers Reading Series at the College of Saint Rose, calls itself “aggressively eclectic.” Events at Frequency North feature fiction writers, memoirists, graphic novelists, poets, slam performers, singer-songwriters, even game shows. All readings are free and are open to the public.
This year Dan Nester has some great guests lined up including Darin Strauss, Megan Abbott, Georgia A. Popoff and Quraysh Ali Lansana. The first event is on Thursday, October 27 at 7:30 at the Saint Joseph Auditorium (985 Madison Ave., Albany) with Dana Spiotta and Tobias Seamon.
Dana Spiotta’s third novel, Stone Arabia (Scribner) was just published this past July. Ron Charles of the Washington Post calls the book “fascinating,” and writes that “her reflections on the precarious nature of modern life are witty until they’re really unsettling.” Her second novel, Eat the Document (2006, Scribner) was a finalist for the 2006 National Book Award and a recipient of the Rosenthal Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times called Eat The Document “stunning” and described it as “a book that possesses the staccato ferocity of a Joan Didion essay and the razzle-dazzle language and the historical resonance of a Don DeLillo novel.” The New York Times called her first novel, Lightning Field (2001), a “the debut of a wonderfully gifted writer with an uncanny feel for the absurdities and sadnesses of contemporary life, and an unerring ear for how people talk and try to cope today.” It was a New York Times Notable Book of the year, and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the West.
Tobias Seamon’s latest fiction collection, The Emperor’s Toy Chest (PS Publishing, 2011) explores history, mythology, fantasy, and the magical borderlands between. He is author of the novel The Magician’s Study (Turtle Point Press, 2011), which Booklist described as having “stylistic inventiveness and skill with memorable characterizations are nothing short of breathtaking.” The author of a poetry chapbook, Loosestrife Along the River Styx (Foothills Publishing), Seamon also wrote and directed the short mockumentary Amerikan Partizan, which premiered at the 2007 EdWood Filmfest. A contributing writer with the online magazine The Morning News, Seamon lives in Albany, NY.
This event series is free to the public and one of the great treats in the area to hear wonderful writers share their work. Dan has done a fantastic job bringing these diverse and exciting guests into town each year.
The rest of this season’s line-up is:
Thursday, November 10, 2011, 7:30pm – Megan Abbott
Thursday, February 9, 2012, 7:30pm – Darin Strauss
Thursday, March 29, 2012, 7:30pm – Georgia A. Popoff and Quraysh Ali Lansana
