Sybil Baker - MFA faculty
www.sybilbaker.com
Sybil Baker's newest novel and third book, Into This World, has just been released by Engine Books. The Huffington Post named her one of "today's strongest emerging talent in literary fiction." She taught for 12 years in Seoul and is now Assistant Professor of creative writing at the University of Tennessee, Chattanooga. She is a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
Tina Chang - MFA faculty
www.tinachang.com
Tina Chang is Brooklyn's Poet Laureate. Her new collection of poetry Of Gods & Strangers, was recently released by Four Way Books and Publishers Weekly says it is "high intensity." She teaches poetry at Sarah Lawrence and Hunter College and is a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
Poetry Lecture Speaker Box: Persona Poetry Robert Browning wrote as "My Last Duchess;" Sylvia Plath wrote from the voice of "Lady Lazarus," Louise Gl?ck created an alternate perspective of Gretel in "Gretel in Darkness" among many other characters. Persona poetry derives its origin from the Greek word "persona," meaning mask. The term suggests that the speaker is a fictional creation wildly imagined by the poet. In this lecture, this artistic tool will be explored, encountering themes such as gender, culture, age, nationality, sexuality, history. Poems ranging from the classical to contemporary as well as local and global poets will be discussed and celebrated.
Tabish Khair - MFA faculty
www.tabishkhair.co.uk
Tabish Khair's latest novel, How to Fight Islamist Terror from the Missionary Position, has been described as "magnificently disreputable." He has published several titles of fiction, poetry and creative non-fiction and regularly contributes to international newspapers and journals. He is a literature professor at Arhus University in Denmark and is a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
Amanda Webster - MFA student
Amanda Webster is launching her debut memoir The Boy Who Loves Apples, and is currently a CNF (creative non-fiction) student in the CityU MFA. She is from Australia.
Jose "Butch" Dalisay - Distinguished Visiting Writer Summer 2012
Jose "Butch" Dalisay is a leading Filipino writer who has authored or edited over 20 books of fiction, non-fiction, plays, screenplays, poetry and critical work. He has won numerous literary prizes, including 16 Palanca awards, the Premio Cervara di Roma prize, and been a Hawthornden, British Council, David TK Wong and Rockefeller fellow. His second novel, Soledad's Sister, was shortlisted for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. He teaches English at the University of the Philippines and is director of the Institute of Creative Writing.
Jill Dawson - Distinguished Visiting Writer Summer 2012
www.jilldawson.co.uk
Jill Dawson is a British writer who has authored seven novels and edited six anthologies of poetry and short stories. Critics call her "one of Britain's most talented contemporary writers." Her work is widely translated and has been shortlisted for both the Whitbread and Orange prizes. Her eighth novel, The Tell-tale Heart, will be published by Sceptre in 2014.
Kingsley Bolton - Chair Professor of English
Professor Kingsley Bolton is a leading scholar whose research interests include English language and literature worldwide, language and globalisation, multilingualism, sociolinguistics, and world Englishes. He has published widely on English in the Asian region. He is the founding editor of the Hong Kong University Press book series, Asian Englishes Today, co-editor of the Routledge book series The History and Development of World Englishes, and a member of the editorial board of the Cambridge University Press series Studies in English Language.He is also an editorial board member of the journals English World-Wide, Journal of English Linguistics, and World Englishes, and co-editor of the CUP journal English Today. He is Chair Professor of English and is currently Acting Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences at City University of Hong Kong.
Kirpal Singh - Distinguished Visiting Writer Summer 2012
Kirpal Singh is a Singapore poet and writer. He has authored or edited sixteen books, most recently Thinking Hats & Colored Turbans: Creativity Across Cultures, Catwalking & the Games We Play (poetry) and Interlogue: Studies in Singapore Literature. He is associate professor of English Literature & Creative Thinking at Singapore Management University, and directs the Wee Kim Wee Center, which advances learning in cross-cultural issues. He is a visiting faculty at the CityU MFA summer residency.
Ira Sukrungruang - Distinguished Visiting Writer Summer 2012
www.sukrungruang.com
Ira Sukrungruang (www.sukrungruang.com) is a Chicago-born Thai-American writer and author of the memoir Talk Thai: The Adventures of Buddhist Boy and co-editor of What Are You Looking At? The First Fat Fiction Anthology and Scoot Over, Skinny: The Fat Nonfiction Anthology. His essays, poems and short stories appear in many literary journals. He is an assistant professor at the Department of English, University of South Florida.
James Scudamore - MFA faculty
www.jamesscudamore.com
James Scudamore is the author of two novels The Amnesia Clinic, which won the Somerset Maugham Award and Heliopolis, longlisted for the Booker Prize. He grew up in Japan, Brazil and Britain and is currently based in London. He is a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
Ravi Shankar - MFA faculty
Ravi Shankar is Poet-in-Residence at Central Connecticut State University and founding editor of the journal Drunken Boat. He has published two collections of poems and the poet Gregory Orr describes his work as "quirky, quizzical, inquisitive... guided by a strong intelligence." He is a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
Xu Xi - MFA faculty
www.xuxiwriter.com
Xu Xi is the author of nine books of fiction & essays, most recently Access Thirteen Tales (2011) and the novel Habit of a Foreign Sky (2010), a finalist for the inaugural Man Asian Literary Prize. She is Writer-in-Residence at the Department of English and directs the CityU MFA.
Justin Hill - MFA faculty
www.justinhillauthor.com
Justin Hill is a British writer and the author of three novels and two books of non-fiction. His first novel The Drink & Dream Teahouse won the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize and the Betty Trask Award and his second novel Passing Under Heaven won the Somerset Maugham Award. He is an assistant professor at the Department of English and a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
CNF lecture Through the Looking Glass This lecture will explore approaches to creative non-fiction.
Luis Francia - MFA faculty
Luis Francia is a leading Filipino poet, journalist and non-fiction writer whose work is widely anthologized. He has authored and edited several volumes of poetry and non-fiction, including Eye of the Fish: A Personal Archipelago which won both the PEN Open Book and Asian American Writers Workshop literary awards. He lives in New York City and is a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
Sharmistha Mohanty - MFA faculty
Sharmistha Mohanty is the author of two books of fictional prose; her third book Sub-continent is forthcoming. She is a recipient of a Senior Fellowship in Literature from the Indian Ministry of Culture, and the founder of the Almost Island Dialogues. She lives in Mumbai and is a regular faculty at the CityU MFA.
