For immediate release
Further information: Contact Joseph Giomboni
Public Relations Office, (570) 208-5957

March 27, 2018 – Award-winning writer Kenny Fries will read excerpts from his latest memoir, “In the Province of the Gods,” at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 17, in the Burke Auditorium at King’s College. The event is free and open to the public. Fries is the 2017-18 Visiting Writer, a program sponsored by the College’s English Department. He will also work with English students on their creative writing as part of a two-day campus residency.

A memoirist and poet, Fries received the prestigious Creative Capital literature grant for his memoir, “In the Province of the Gods.” He was awarded the Outstanding Book Award from the Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Bigotry and Human Rights for his memoir, “Body, Remember: A Memoir and The History of My Shoes and the Evolution of Darwin’s Theory.” His books of poems include “Anesthesia,”  “Desert Walking,” and “In the Gardens of Japan.”  He is the editor of “Staring Back: The Disability Experience from the Inside Out” and author of the libretto for “The Memory Stone,” an opera commissioned by the Houston Grand Opera.  

Fries received the Creative Arts Fellowship from the Japan-U.S. Friendship Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts. He was twice named a Fulbright Scholar (Japan and Germany), and has received grants from the DAAD (German Academic Exchange), and Canada Council for the Arts. He teaches in the MFA in Creative Writing Program at Goddard College.

The Burke Auditorium is located in the William G. McGowan School of Business on North River Street. A book signing will follow the reading. Selected volumes of his creative works will be available for purchase prior to the event at King’s/Wilkes Barnes & Noble Bookstore, S. Main St., Wilkes-Barre, and at the reading. 

Parking will be available at on-campus lots. No tickets are required. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis. For more information, please contact Jennifer Yonkoski, assistant technical professor of English at King’s College, at (570) 208-5900, ext. 5487 or e-mail jenniferyonkoski@kings.edu.

Award-winning writer Kenny Fries will read from his latest memoir on April 17 at King’s College.