Weber State University's Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities to Bring Internationally Renowned Writers to Utah for 30th Annual National Undergraduate Literature Conference

OGDEN, Utah, May 28, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Weber State University's Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities (http://www.weber.edu/cah) today announced the full program for the 30^th annual National Undergraduate Literature Conference (NULC) (http://continue.weber.edu/nulc/) scheduled for April 1-4, 2015 in Ogden, Utah. This year's NULC will feature a unique array of writers covering all areas of writing. The featured writers participating in this year's event include: Michael Ondaatje, Terry Tempest Williams, Alan Cheuse, David Lee and Anna Castillo. The NULC Conference brings together the world's foremost writers with undergraduate students, university faculty and the community to learn and interact with one another on research and creative works including: American, British and World Literature, essays, fiction, poetry and creative works in English and Spanish.

"For thirty years, it has been my desire to organize a conference unique in targeting undergraduates, thus giving them an opportunity to present papers both critical and creative, to an audience of peers from campuses across the country," said Mikel Vause, Professor of English and Founder of the National Undergraduate Literature Conference at Weber State University. "Throughout the years, the students, faculty and members of the community who once attended the conference, have gone on to have successful careers as educators and writers. We look forward to increasing the opportunities for Utahns to interact and learn from these individuals."

The featured writers include the following:

• Michael Ondaatje: One of Canada's most highly regarded writers, Michael Ondaatje is known for work that dissolves the lines between prose and poetry, past and present, image and intellect, thought and feeling. One of Canada's most highly regarded writers, Michael Ondaatje is known for work that dissolves the lines between prose and poetry, past and present, image and intellect, thought and feeling.One of Canada's most highly regarded writers, Ondaatje is known for work that dissolves the lines between prose and poetry, past and present, image and intellect, thought and feeling. Ondaatje's fame as a novelist skyrocketed after the movie adaptation of his best-selling novel The English Patient (1992). Ondaatje's fame as a novelist skyrocketed after the movie adaptation of his best-selling novel, The English Patient (1992).
• Terry Tempest Williams: An American author, conservationist and activist Williams' writing is rooted in the American West and has been significantly influenced by the arid landscape of her native Utah and its Mormon culture.
• Alan Cheuse: Cheuse is the author of five novels, four collections of short fiction and the memoir, Fall Out of Heaven. As a book commentator, Cheuse is a regular contributor to National Public Radio's "All Things Considered." His short fiction has appeared in The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Antioch Review, Prairie Schooner, New Letters, The Idaho Review, and The Southern Review, among other places. He teaches in the Writing Program at George Mason University and the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.
• David Lee: During the past 35 years, Lee has been writing unique narrative poems in the voices of the people of the rural southwest. In 1997, he was named Utah's first poet laureate and is the author of 15 volumes of poetry, including So Quietly the Earth, Driving & Drinking, and News from Down to the Café. A former seminary candidate, semi-pro baseball player, and hog farmer, he has a Ph.D. concentration in John Milton and taught at Southern Utah University.
• Ana Castillo: She is considered as one of the leading voices in Chicana experience, known for her daring and experimental style as a Latino novelist. Her works offer pungent and passionate socio-political comment that is based on established oral and literary traditions. Castillo's interest in race and gender issues can be traced throughout her writing career. Her novel, Sapogonia was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. She is the editor of "La Tolteca," an arts and literary magazine.

"The National Undergraduate Literature Conference is a unique forum for writers to work side-by-side with students and community members on their writing, and in turn, risk, explore, and experiment on the page with their stories," said Williams, one of the scheduled keynotes for NULC 2015. "I look forward to being a part of next year's conference in the name of home. I have great respect for what Mike Vause has created through his vision over the years. I remember attending years ago as a younger writer when Peter Matthiessen was speaking. I was inspired."

For more information or to view a list of events, please visit: (http://continue.weber.edu/nulc/).  

About the Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities
The Weber State University Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities teaches students to excel as they seek, understand, question and express complexities critical to the experience of being human. The Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities offers five degree programs in the following areas: Communication, English, Foreign Language, Performing Arts and Visual Arts. Master's degrees also are offered in Communication and English. The college serves nearly 2,000 undergraduate majors and 200 graduate students. The Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities is the Western region's foremost institution for student-centered teaching and research that investigates the human experience and aims to educate global citizens who are responsible, creative and critical artists, performers and communicators. For more information please visit (www.weber.edu/cah) or online at (www.facebook.com/WSUartsandhumanities).

Contact:
Christie Denniston, APR
Director of Marketing of Marketing and PR
Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities
Weber State University
Phone: 801-626-6431
Email: [email protected]

SOURCE Weber State University’s Telitha E. Lindquist College of Arts & Humanities