Contact: Heath Fisackerly

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Mississippi State is welcoming fiction writer and Michigan native Monica Drake, the fall guest for the university’s Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series.

Known for her novels “Clown Girl” and “The Stud Book,” Drake will give a public reading Monday [Sept. 17] at 7 p.m. in the third-floor John Grisham Room at Mitchell Memorial Library.

A reception and book signing will follow. Earlier in the day, Drake will visit with students in the Department of English’s intermediate fiction writing class.

Drake’s “Clown Girl” was a finalist for the 2007 Ken Kesey Award and was hailed as “one of the most polished and eccentric pieces of fiction to come along in recent memory” by the Seattle Times. Drake is the recipient of the Eric Hoffer Book Award, and her writings have been translated into Spanish, Italian, and other languages

Drake teaches at Pacific Northwest College of Art in Portland, Oregon. She received her bachelor’s degree in general studies from Portland State University, and then her Master of Fine Arts from the University of Arizona in creative writing.

Established through an endowment from widow Alice Carol Caldwell and family, the Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series serves as a memorial to the Tutweiler native, who served for more than 20 years as an MSU associate professor of English and died in 2015. He also was founder and director of the university’s creative writing program, along with serving as president and vice president for the Southern Literary Festival organization.

For more on Drake’s campus visit and lecture, contact Michael Kardos, MSU associate professor of English and creative writing program co-director, at 662-325-3644 or MKardos@english.msstate.edu.

Discover more about MSU’s Department of English at www.english.msstate.edu.

MSU is Mississippi’s leading university, available online at www.msstate.edu.