April 18, 2014, Friday - Mentor Series: Jerald Walker at The Loft

Time: 7:00pm

Location: The Loft at Open Book (Performance Hall), 1011 Washington Ave S

Mentor Series: Jerald Walker

The 2013–14 Loft Mentor Series in Poetry and Creative Prose presents nonfiction mentor Jerald Walker reading along with program participants Elizabeth di Grazia (nonfiction) and Pamela Schmid (nonfiction).

A graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, Jerald Walker has published in magazines such as Creative Nonfiction, The Missouri Review, The Harvard Review, Mother Jones, The Iowa Review, and The Oxford American, and he has been widely anthologized, including multiple times in The Best American Essays. Walker is the author of Street Shadows: A Memoir of Race, Rebellion, and Redemption, recipient of the 2011 PEN New England/L.L.Winship Award for Nonfiction and named a Best Memoir of the Year by Kirkus Reviews.

Elizabeth di Grazia with her partner created a home in Richfield, MN and eleven years ago, welcomed two infants, completing their family. She is a contributing and founding member of the blog, WordSisters, In it together - from Inspiration to Publication! She has been published in many literary publications and was a 2013 recipient of a Next Step Grant. She earned her MFA at Hamline University.

Pamela Schmid is the creative nonfiction editor for Sleet magazine. Before receiving her MFA degree from Hamline University, she spent more than a decade reporting and editing for the Star Tribune and The Associated Press. Her poetry and prose have appeared in Sweet, Sleet, and Rock Paper Scissors. She lives in Saint Paul with her husband and son.