FARMINGTON, ME (March 22, 2023)— The University of Maine at Farmington’s celebrated Visiting Writers Series is proud to present award-winning poet Arisa White as the popular program’s final reader of the season. White will read from her work at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, April 6, 2023, in The Landing in the UMF Olsen Student Center. The reading is free and open to the public and will be followed by a book signing with the author.
Arisa White
White’s heart-wrenching poetry memoir “Who’s Your Daddy” (Augury Books, 2021) is a coming-of-age journey featuring a queer, Black, Guyanese American woman navigating the estranged relationship with her father.
Poet Terrance Hayes calls White’s book a “‘maze that bobs and weaves a new style whenever there’s a demand to love.”
White is a recipient of many awards and accolades including the inaugural Per Diem Poetry Prize and was a finalist for the 2013 Wheatley Book Award. Her collection “You’re the Most Beautiful Thing That Happened,” published by Augury Books, was nominated for the 29th Lambda Literary Awards.
She is a Sarah Lawrence College alumna, MFA graduate from the University of Massachusetts, a Cave Canem Fellow, and an associate professor in English and Creative Writing at Colby College.
“Who’s Your Daddy” is available for purchase at the UMF University Bookstore(?) and at Devany, Doak, and Garret Booksellers.
The Visiting Writer Series is sponsored by the UMF Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing Program.
More Information on the UMF Creative Writing Program
As the only Bachelor of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program in the state of Maine and one of only three in all of New England, the UMF program invites students to work with faculty, who are practicing writers, in workshop-style classes to discover and develop their writing strengths in the genres of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Small classes, an emphasis on individual conferencing, and the development of a writing portfolio allow students to see themselves as artists and refine their writing under the guidance of accomplished and published faculty mentors.
Students can pursue internships to gain real-world writing and publishing experience by working on campus with The Sandy River Review, a student-run literary magazine; Ripple Zine, a feminist magazine; or The Farmington Flyer, a university newspaper.
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Media Contact: Amy Neswald, UMF professor of creative writing, at 207-778-8024, or Amy.Nesald@maine.edu.
EDITOR’S NOTE:
Image: https://www.umf.maine.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/1/2023/03/RP223-044.jpg
Photo Caption: Arisa White
Photo Credit: Submitted photo
