WVC Visiting Writers Series presents Michael Copperman reading Feb. 23

Media Contacts:
Erin Tofte-Nordvik, office of diversity, equity and inclusion director, 509.682.6868
Heather Ryan, English faculty, 509.682.6720
Libby Siebens, community relations executive director, 509.682.6436 (Mon. – Thurs.)

January 23, 2017

Author Michael Copperman will read from his memoir Teacher: Two Years in the Mississippi Delta, on Thursday, Feb. 23. The first reading is from 12-1 p.m.  in McArthur Lecture Hall, Wenatchi Hall and at the Omak campus, room 902, via ITV. The second is at 5:30 p.m. in The Grove Recital Hall, Music and Art Center. Both readings are free and open to the public.

One reviewer describes Teacher as “the son of a West Coast doctor, a Stanford grad, an Asian-American awake to injustice and hoping to make a difference by joining Teach For America,” who becomes “the ultimate outsider in the black-and-white world of the Delta.”

Copperman has taught writing to low-income, first-generation students of diverse backgrounds at the University of Oregon for the last decade. His prose has appeared in The Oxford American, The Sun, Creative Nonfiction, Salon, Gulf Coast, Guernica, Waxwing and Copper Nickel, among other magazines, and has won awards and garnered fellowships from the Munster Literature Center, Breadloaf Writers’ Conference, Oregon Literary Arts and the Oregon Arts Commission. University Press of Mississippi published Teacher in September 2016.

In addition to his own writing, Copperman also helps run The Oregon Writers’ Collective, a group co-founded by WVC English faculty Heather Ryan. Through readings and workshops, they foster a vibrant community to nurture working literary writers, particularly those who are beginning their careers, by connecting them with audiences and developing their craft.

Daily parking passes on the Wenatchee campus cost $2. Parking permit machines are available in the Wells Hall/Music and Art Gallery, Smith Gym, Brown Library and Sexton Hall lots. Students must have valid WVC parking permits.

WVC Speaks is sponsored by the WVC Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, the Transfer English Division, and Ginny and Nelson Martin.

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Wenatchee Valley College enriches North Central Washington by serving educational and cultural needs of communities and residents throughout the service area. The college provides high-quality transfer, liberal arts, professional/technical, basic skills and continuing education for students of diverse ethnic and economic backgrounds. Visit our website at www.wvc.edu.