Houstonians can experience the works of three rising literary voices during the next edition of the Gulf Coast Reading Series. University of Houston creative writing students Whitney Mower, Elizabeth Lyons and Eric Howerton will share stories and poems at 7 p.m., Nov. 9, at Rudyard’s British Pub (2010 Waugh Dr.). Admission is free.
Mower is a master of fine arts candidate in UH’s Creative Writing Program (CWP). She was raised in Provo, Utah and is a recent recipient of the Inprint’s Robert J. Sussman Prize for Fiction. Mower also is a musician and performs with the band Seed-at-Zero.
Lyons has contributed her talents to several organizations including South Carolina Young Playwrights, Center for Talented Youth, Communities in Schools and Writers in the Schools. She is the non-fiction editor for Gulf Coast, UH’s literary journal, and is a poetry doctoral student in the university’s Creative Writing Program.
Fiction writer Howerton contributes restaurant reviews for The Spoon and Barstool Magazine. He is a doctoral candidate in UH’s Creative Writing Program.
The Gulf Coast Reading Series is an extension of UH’s acclaimed Gulf Coast, A Journal of Literature and Fine Art. Founded in 1986 by Donald Barthelme and Philip Lopate, the journal spotlights the literary and visual arts communities. Gulf Coast is a partnership between CWP, the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston and the Menil Collection. It reviews submissions from artists and writers from around the country. To learn more about the Gulf Coast journal and the reading series, visit www.gulfcoastmag.org.
As part of UH's English department, CWP offers fiction and non-fiction writers and poets intensive training in both creative writing and literary studies. It offers two graduate degrees: the Master of Fine Arts and Doctor of Philosophy. CWP's noted faculty includes award-winning authors and poets such as novelist Antonya Nelson, poet and non-fiction writer Nick Flynn, graphic novelist Mat Johnson and poet Tony Hoagland. To learn more about the program, visit www.class.uh.edu/cwp/.