Society Zeta Alpha - Literary

Below is a list of just some of the recent events that Zeta Alpha has sponsored or co-sponsored with other campus organizations.

	Megan McCafferty, author of Sloppy Firsts and Sixteen, revealed the title of her upcoming novel, Perfect Fifths, and shared an excerpt of the work-in-progress.
	Fiction writer Eileen Pollack visited our little white house for the second time to read from her newest collection of stories and novellas, In the Mouth, and discuss the process of creative writing.
	Wellesley alumna and author of Wellesley College: A History, Arlene Cohen, returned to campus to share fun findings from her research about both Wellesley College and Zeta Alpha.
	Professor Dan Chiasson of the English Department joined ZA to read for the first time “Where’s the Moon, There’s the Moon,” the title poem of his upcoming poetry collection to be published in Fall 2009.
	Wellesley College alumna and author of Title IX: A Brief History with Documents, Susan Ware visited the ZA house to read from her latest book on the history of girls’ and women’s education.
	Author Rachel Kadish discussed her second novel, Tolstoy Lied: A Love Story, in which she writes humorously about relationships and literary theory.
	Amy Fine Collins visited Wellesley to discuss her fourteen-year career as a Special Correspondent to Vanity Fair where she has written about design, art, fashion, vintage Hollywood, and society.
	Kirsten Allio visited ZA to discus her debut novel *Garner*, a murder mystery set in a small town in New Hampshire during the 1920s.
	Author Myriam Cyr gave a talk about her book, *Letters of a Portuguese Nun: Uncovering the Mystery Behind a 17th Century Forbidden Love*, which delves into the story of a volume of love letters published in Paris in the 1600s.
	Author Deborah Noyes discussed her first novel, *Angel and Apostle, which explores the life of Pearl, Hester Prynne's daughter, after the conclusion of The Scarlet Letter*. The novel follows Pearl’s adventures and thoughts throughout her young life.
	Society Zeta Alpha began a new tradition in the winter of 2005 by hosting a fireside poetry reading. Members and professors read their favorite poems aloud in an event that proved to be extremely successful. Close to twenty professors attended the event and read from such poets as Goethe, Yeats, Dickinson, and Longfellow.
	Joan Gould discussed her book, *Spinning Straw into Gold: What Fairy Tales Reveal about the Transformations in a Woman’s Life*, and how fairy tales have been reinterpreted in novels, movies, and television shows.
	Alicia Erian, holder of the Newhouse Visiting Professorship of Creative Writing at Wellesley, read from her book *Towelhead*, a coming-of-age story about a 13-year-old Arab-American girl.
	Clara Silverstein, author of *White Girl: A Story of School Desegregation*, talked about her experience as one of 10 white students at an otherwise all-black junior high school in the early 1970s in Richmond, Virginia.
	Author and journalist Masha Hamilton discussed her new and timely novel on terrorism and war, *The Distance Between Us*.
	Author Tara Bray Smith discussed her literary debut, *West of Then: A Mother, a Daughter, and a Journey Past Paradise*. Her memoir juxtaposes the troubling story of her mother's life and her own fragmented childhood with that of Hawaii's equally complicated past.
	Author Judith Nies gave a reading from her new book *Nine Women: Portraits from the American Radical Tradition*. She discussed writing biographical essays of women activists in Americia's social and political movements and her interview of a Wellesley alumna.
	Wellesley College Professor Frank Bidart gave a poetry reading of his recent work.
	Don Lee, author of a recent short story collection, *Yellow, and editor of the national literary journal Ploughshares*, spoke about his work.
	John Sedgwick read from his novel *The Education of Mrs. Bemis*, an intriguing narrative about the secret life of Boston's upper class.
	Suheir Hammad, the Palestinian American poet and political activist, delivered a lecture featuring her work.
	Author Monique Truong read from his novel *The Book of Salt*. Truong’s novel follows Bihn, a Vietnamese man who worked as a cook for Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas, in Paris during the 1930s.
	Askold Melnyczuk, founding editor of the acclaimed literary magazine *Agni* published at Boston University, discussed his work at the magazine and his own writing.
	Da Chen, visited ZA to discuss his memoirs *Colors of the Mountain* and Sounds of the River. Chen spoke about his impoverished childhood growing up in China and his journey to becoming a writer.
	Meena Alexander discussed her most recent novel, *Illiterate Heart*, and how she uses her writing to explore areas of fracture between cultural traditions.
	Tom Perrotta, the author of the critically acclaimed book *Election, gave a reading from his most recent novel Joe College*, and talked about the challenges he faces as a writer.
	Pakistani author Bapsi Sidhwa shared her own childhood experiences during the partition of India in 1947 which inspired her book *Cracking India*, and told how handing her story over to a film director was both frustrating and worthwhile.
	John Sedgwick gave a reading from his mystery novel *The Dark House*, and spoke about struggles that he encountered as a writer.
	The local Cambridge author Mameve Medwed talked about her real life experiences hosting international students for Harvard University and how they inspired her novel *Host Family*.
	Amy Goodman, editor for *InStyle Magazine*, spoke about her day-to-day life at the magazine and gave advice for aspiring writers.
	The Vietnamese American writer and solo performance artist Thuy Le read from her prose and poetry and performed an excerpt of her one-woman show *Mua He Do Lua/Red Fiery Summer*.
	Education activist Jonathan Kozol spoke of the nationwide crisis in public school systems addressed in his book *Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope*.
	Alexandra Johnson gave a writing workshop and lecture about her recent publication *Leaving a Trace: On Keeping a Journal: The Art of Transforming a Life into Stories*.
	Leila Ahmed spoke on issues of identity in her book *A Border Passage: From Cairo to America - A Woman's Journey*.
	Miriam Horn, the author of *Rebels in White Gloves: Coming of Age with Hillary's Class: Wellesley '69*, gave a talk about the different and varied paths that the women of the class of 1969 traveled after graduation.
	Author Rahna Rizzuto spoke about her first novel, *Why She Left Us: A Novel*, which chronicles a Japanese-American family during WWII.
	Arthur Golden gave a lecture about his widely acclaimed novel *Memoirs of a Geisha* and the benefits and shortcomings of its sudden success.
	Zeta Alpha alumna Jean McCormick gave a lecture on the role that sports play in business settings as discussed in her book *Talk Sports like a Pro: 99 Secrets to Becoming a Sports Goddess*.
	Michael Patrick MacDonald gave a talk on his autobiography *All Souls: A Family Story from Southie* chronicling his life growing up in South Boston.

ZetaAlphamail@wellesley.edu Society Zeta Alpha
Date Created: 01-28-02 Last Modified: 09-02-08 Expires: 12-31-09