Novelist Emily Mitchell Reading in Morgantown

Novelist Emily Mitchell will be featured during Morgantown Poets 7 p.m. literary event Thursday, Nov. 19, at Monongalia Arts Center (MAC).

The reading is free and open to the public. The MAC is at 107 High St., downtown Morgantown (beside Hotel Morgan).

Mitchell's first novel "The Last Summer of the World" was a finalist for the New York Public Library's Young Lion's Fiction Award in 2008.

"First time novelist Mitchell pulls off the dazzling trick of allowing readers to see through the eyes of art-photography pioneer Edward Steichen in her excellent reconsideration of his life and art," says Publishers Weekly. "This would be merely impressive if the book confined itself to the stormy end of Steichen's first marriage, a subtheme that gets its due and packs a psychological punch. Instead, Mitchell follows Steichen through his airborne reconnaissance work during WWI, providing a devastating portrait of the insanity of war in general and the Great War in particular... this commanding novel is about the images one can never quite burn from memory."

Mitchell's short fiction has appeared in New England Review, Indiana Review, Raritan and Agni. She also has a story that will be published in a forthcoming issue of Ploughshares. Her reviews have appeared in The New York Times and New Statesman.

Mitchell is a faculty member in the Department of English in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences at West Virginia University. Born in London, she has lived in Virginia, Vermont, Osaka, New York, California and now, West Virginia.

Public parking is available near the MAC in the parking garage at the corner of Pleasant and Chestnut streets and at the city lot behind 142 High Street (enter off Spruce). The MAC is accessible to individuals with mobility impairments; please schedule ahead at least two days prior to the event by calling 304-906-7268, or write to info@monartscenter.com for more information.

Morgantown Poets is an informal community group that meets from 7-9 p.m. on the third Thursday of each month at the MAC, providing literary enthusiasts the opportunity to express themselves, share their work, network and to connect up-and-coming writers with more established authors.

New writers are welcome. Meetings usually begin with a spoken reading by a featured author that is followed by readings from attendees.

Join Morgantown Poets’ mailing list by writing to morgantownpoets@yahoo.com or join the group on Facebook by entering "Morgantown Poets" in Facebook’s search.

On the Web: http://lastsummeroftheworldbook.googlepages.com/home