Sept. 22, 2008
Contact Bill Stobb at 608-796-3486 or westobb@viterbo.edu
INTERNATIONAL WRITERS TO SPEAK AT VITERBO UNIVERSITY OCT. 1
LA CROSSE, Wis. – Viterbo University will host three distinguished writers-in-residence from the University of Iowa’s International Writing Program at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 1 in the Fine Arts Center Recital Hall on campus.
The event is free and open to the public. It is sponsored by the Viterbo global education, English, and world languages departments, and the Viterbo School of Fine Arts and School of Letters and Sciences.
Alina Nelega of Romania, Anat Pick of Israel, and Giovanna Rivero Santa Cruz of Bolivia will read from and perform their literary and dramatic works. Following the reading, the writers will participate in a panel discussion addressing the values of internationalism and will field questions from the audience.
Nelega has authored over 15 plays, most recently Taxi Vinyl. Her dramatic work has been staged, translated, and published throughout Europe and the United Kingdom. Her awards include Play of the Year 2000 and the European Author Award at the New Plays Festival in Heidelberg, Germany. She has been recently shortlisted as Best Playwright by the Romanian Writers’ Union, for her book, Kamikaze.
Pick began her career as a pianist, eventually branching out to develop a repertoire of innovative language-oriented performance, mixing eastern and western languages. For the past decade, Pick has given concerts across Israel, the Far East, and Europe. Her many collaborations with other artists and musicians have involved a variety of forms, including spoken word and free-improvisation.
Rivero Santa Cruz has published the short story anthologies Nombrando el eco, Las bestias, Sentir lo oscuro, La dueña de nuestros sueños, and Contraluna. In 2001, she published the controversial novel Las Camaleones. Rivero participated in the International Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa in 1994. Over the course of her prestigious career, she has won a number of awards, including the Franz Tamayo National Short Story Prize.