Fifth Wednesday Journal, Humanities Center present reading at WMU

KALAMAZOO, Mich.—The nonprofit, independent literary publication Fifth Wednesday Journal and the University Center for the Humanities at Western Michigan University are teaming up to present a reading featuring WMU professors, students and graduates.

The reading is at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 26, in the University Center for the Humanities, 2500 Knauss Hall. The event, which is free and open to the public, will feature four outstanding Kalamazoo writers with ties to WMU who have had their work published in Fifth Wednesday Journal. Dr. William Olsen, WMU professor of English, director of the creative writing program and award-winning poet, will serve as moderator.

The readers

Those taking part in the reading are:

• Matt Morgan, who is originally from Mississippi and now lives in Kalamazoo, where he is working on a master's degree in poetry at WMU. His poem, "The Weight of," appears in the current issue of Fifth Wednesday Journal.

• Dr. Nancy Eimers, WMU professor of English, teaches creative writing. Her fourth poetry collection, "Oz," was published in 2011. She is the author of "A Grammar to Waking," "No Moon" and "Destroying Angel." She is the recipient of a Nation Discovery Award, a Whiting Writers Award and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. Her poems have appeared in many magazines and anthologies.

• Andrew Wickenden earned a Master of Fine Arts degree from WMU in 2013 and lives and works in the Kalamazoo area. His stories have appeared or are forthcoming in Glimmer Train, Fiction, Fifth Wednesday Journal and elsewhere.

• Dr. Hedy Habra, who teaches Spanish at WMU, has a passion for art. She is the author of two poetry collections, "Under Brushstrokes," a finalist for the USA Best Book Award and the International Book Award, and "Tea in Heliopolis," winner of the USA Best Book Award and finalist for the International Book Award. Her story collection, "Flying Carpets," won the Arab American National Book Award's Honorable Mention and was a finalist for the Eric Hoffer Award. She is the recipient of the Nazim Hikmet Poetry Award and a five-time nominee for the 2016 Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net.

About the journal

Fifth Wednesday Journal is based in Illinois and published twice a year in print. Its mission is to bring the finest fiction, poetry, essays, photography, interviews and book reviews into people's everyday lives.

For more information, go to fifthwednesdayjournal.com/fwj-reading-in-kalamazoo-michigan.

For more WMU news, arts and events, visit wmich.edu/news.