UC Davis shows off its writing chops at all levels with the Prized Writing awards ceremony for undergraduates tonight (Sept. 27) and “Opening Night” with creative writing faculty members next week. In addition, the Creative Writing Program announced its 2016-17 series of readings by visiting writers.

Prized Writing

Tonight’s ceremony marks the publication of the 27th edition of Prized Writing. The University Writing Program selected 23 works for the new edition (covering 2015-16), out of more than 400 entries.

The competition is open to any nonfiction work from any course, so each year’s entries range considerably in form and content. The newest collection, for example, includes a personal essay and a laboratory report, and topics that range widely from experimental pieces on gender and race, to deeply researched articles on colonialism, the politics of war and the history of coffee, to algorithm-intense reports on helicopter blades and soil compaction.

A reception at 5:30 p.m. will lead into the awards program at 6 in the AGR Room at the Buehler Alumni Center. The student authors will be introduced by mentor faculty and receive prizes.

Prized Writing 2015-16 will be available for purchase at the ceremony and will also be available at UC Davis Stores.

RSVPs requested for the awards program, by email to Shai Nielson, assistant editor.

‘Opening Night’ and other readings

The Department of English and its Creative Writing Program hold their 10th annual “Opening Night” — this year featuring faculty members Lucy Corin, Margaret Ronda, Katie Peterson, Jacinda Townsend, Joe Wenderoth and Joshua Clover, reading from their newest works. The program, free and open to the public, is scheduled from 7 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 5, on the Wyatt Deck.

The Creative Writing Program also will host visiting writers to read from their works throughout the new academic year. All of these readings are also free and open to the public.

The 2016-17 series will begin at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 12, with Rae Armantrout, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award in 2010 for her volume of poetry Versed. She’s the author of 15 poetry collections, the most recent of which is Partly: New and Selected Poems, published this year. 

Read more about the visiting writers series and its new home: the Shields Library Instruction Room (second floor).

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