The Pen/Hemingway Award winning novelist, NoViolet Bulawayo, met with students at the Efroymson Center of Creative Writing on her recent visit to Butler University. Many students took advantage of the opportunity to ask the Stanford professor questions about her novel, We Need New Names, her writing process, and her motivation for writing.

At times humorous and entertaining, NoViolet was always insightful and encouraging. She shared her experience and wisdom as a new writer, explaining the long process of rethinking and revising her novel. We Need New Names originated in her MFA workshop as short story with a different point view. She encouraged Butler writing students to build a supportive community and to write from a personal space of honesty.

“Take care of yourself so you can be open to hear the criticism your work needs,” she said after describing the many drafts and changes she made to create a successful novel.

To her, writing is joining a conversation about something personally important. She said, “Writing from the bone, the intersection between what you are creating and your own life… means I was able to retain some truth that was important and honest.”

After answering questions, NoViolet took the time to sign books and pose with fans.

March is a big month for visiting writers and other literary events in Indianapolis. You won’t want to miss these great events!

EVENTS AT BUTLER

4th – Lois Lowry Reading, Clowes Hall, 7:30PM

The beloved children’s author of over thirty novels, including two Newberry Winners (Number the Stars and The Giver) is coming to Butler as part of the Vivian S. Delbrook Series. As an author, Lowry is known for writing about difficult subject matters within her works for children. She has explored such complex issues as racism, terminal illness, murder, and the Holocaust among other challenging topics. The reading is free and open to the public.

5th – Lois Lowry Q & A, Reilly Room, 9:30-10:50 AM

Join the celebrated, award–winning author for an informal question and answer session.

6th – Poetry Lunch Hour: Philip Levine, ECCW, 12:30 PM

Mindy is hosting the next Poetry Lunch Hour at the Efroymson Center for Creative Writing. Selections from two of Philip Levine’s books, The Simple Truth and  What Work Is, will be discussed. All levels of poetry readers are invited to attend. As always, lunch is provided for those who RSVP and no purchase of the book is necessary. RSVP to mdunn1@butler.edu.

6th – Khaled Hosseini, Clowes Hall, 7PM

This moderated discussion with Indianapolis Star columnist Matt Tully will feature the Afghan-American author discussing his popular works which include The Kite Runner (published in 2003), A Thousand Splendid Suns (2007), and And the Mountains Echoed (2013).

All tickets for the McFadden Lecture with Khaled Hosseini have been distributed. Approximately 15 minutes prior to the event, open seats will be released to patrons in line without tickets.

18th – Majora Carter, Clowes Hall, 7:30

Carter will present “Home (town) Security” as part of the Celebration of Diversity Lecture Series. Carter hosts the Peabody Award-winning public radio series “The Promised Land” and serves on the boards of the U.S. Green Building Council and The Wilderness Society. She has along list of awards and honorary degrees, including a MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship.

20th – Margo Jefferson, ECCW, 7:30

Margo Jefferson on the Lineaments of Criticism: Pulitzer Prize-winning critic Margo Jefferson describes the complex, fluid relations between criticism and autobiography, contemplating how the most interesting critics are in dialogue with their own convictions and emotions. Part of the conversations@efroymson series.

21st – Saturdays @ 3, ECCW, 3:30

Hilene and Millie invite all members of the Butler MFA community to join them around the fire of Efroymson Center of Creative Writing to discuss current reading selections. Bring a short selection from the book you are currently reading to share or simply recommend a book you’ve recently enjoyed.

25th – Louise Glück, Reilly Room, 7:30 PM

Louise Glück is the author of nine books of poetry. Her most recent book, Faithful and Virtuous Night, received the 2014 National Book Award. She also has been awarded the Pulitzer Prize (for her 1992 book The Wild Iris), the National Book Critics Circle Award, the William Carlos Williams Award, the Bobbitt National Poetry Prize, and the Ambassador’s Award, as well as the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for Nonfiction. Her book Vita Nova (2001) won the first New Yorker Readers Award. In 2003-2004, Glück served as the 12th U.S. Poet Laureate. She is the Rosenkranz Writer in Residence in the Department of English at Yale University.

26th – Louise Glück, Q & A, 11:00-12:15

The prize–winning poet will conduct an informal questions and answer session.

INDY EVENTS

3rd – Bonnie Jo Campbell, Purdue University, 7:30

Michigan writer Bonnie Jo Campbell, whose widely lauded novel, American Salvage, was a finalist for both the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award, will read at Krannert Auditorium, Room 140.

13th – Sarah Layden Book Release, Indy Reads Books, 6:30

Celebrate Layden’s new novel, Trip Through Your Wires, at this book release party. The publisher is Engine Books, an Indianapolis-based press.

16th – Teresa Mei Chuc, University of Indianpolis, 7:30

Poet Teresa Mei Chuc, a Saigon native who sought political asylum in the United States while her father was imprisoned in a Vietcong re-education camp, reads in room 010 of the Schwitzer Student Center at the University of Indianapolis. Her poetry appears in numerous journals and anthologies. Red Thread is her first full-length collection of poetry. Her second collection of poetry is Keeper of the Winds (FootHills Publishing, 2014).

18th – Mary Gaitskill, Depauw Universtiy, 7:30

Mary Gaitskill is the author of the novels Two Girls, Fat and Thin and Veronica, as well as the story collections Bad Behavior, Because They Wanted To, and Don’t Cry.  Her story “Secretary” was the basis for the critically acclaimed feature film of the same name.  Her stories and essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Harper’s, Granta, Best American Short Stories and The O. Henry Prize Stories.  In 2002 she was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship for fiction. Her novel Veronica was nominated for the National Book Award, the National Critic’s Circle Award, and the L.A. Times Book Award.  She teaches creative writing at New York University.

21st – Gathering of Writers, Indiana Writers Center

The Gathering of Writers is the Indiana Writers Center’s annual conference, featuring a full day of classes, workshops and featured speakers. Award-winning authors from around the state will share their expertise and discuss their experiences as working writers.