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27th ASU Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton

Feb. 29 - March 1, 2024

The 2024 conference will commemorate the 27th Angelo State University Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton. Our two-day conference is one of the few in the state that requires no registration or attendance fees for presenters and guests.

Featured Writer: Manuel Muñoz

We are pleased to announce this year’s featured writer is critically acclaimed short-story writer Manuel Muñoz.

Portrait of Manuel Muñoz Photo Credit: John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation Muñoz is the author of a novel, “What You See in the Dark,” and the short-story collections “Zigzagger” and “The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue,” which was shortlisted for the Frank O’Connor International Short Story Award. His most recent collection, “The Consequences,” was a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and longlisted for the Story Prize.

A recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant along with fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the New York Foundation for the Arts, he has been recognized with a Whiting Writer’s Award, three O. Henry Awards, and two selections in Best American Short Stories, and was awarded the 2023 Joyce Carol Oates Prize. His work has appeared in places like The New York Times, American Short Fiction, Electric Literature and ZYZZYVA.

A native of Dinuba, California, and a first-generation college student, Muñoz  graduated from Harvard University and received his M.F.A. in creative writing at Cornell University. He currently lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.

Schedule

Muñoz will give two presentations on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024, in the C.J. Davidson Conference Center.

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The ASU Writers Conference brings award-winning authors from all genres to campus to share their works and their creativity with the ASU community and the public. Featured speakers have included renowned authors, such as Brandon Hobson, Naomi Shihab Nye, Craig Johnson, Leslie Marmon Silko, Art Spiegelman and Tim O’Brien.

Presenters’ Biographies

The conference is held every year in honor of the late Elmer Kelton, who wrote more than 40 books, including “The Time it Never Rained,” “The Man Who Rode Midnight” and “The Good Old Boys.” He was a seven-time winner of the Western Writers of America’s (WWA) Spur Award, and the WWA named him the “all-time best Western author.” Additionally, local and regional writers are invited to showcase their works of fiction, nonfiction, poetry and prose. The event is hosted by the Natalie Zan Ryan Department of English and Modern Languages and sponsored by the university with support from the ASU Alumni Association, the College of Arts and Humanities, and Guy and Eva Choate.

Questions? Contact Us!

For questions or inquiries, please contact Dr. Rebecca Bernard, Writers Conference chair, at writers-conference@angelo.edu.

Help support and enhance the Writers Conference in Honor of Elmer Kelton with a tax-deductible gift to its endowment. For more information, contact the Office of Development at 325-942-2116 or development@angelo.edu.

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