Blog Posts - Marianne Murphy Zarzana

Poet Kevin Zepper, author of Sugartown, to read at SMSU Visiting Writers Series on Monday, March 24

3/22/2014

Join us at the Southwest Minnesota State University Visiting Writers Series on Monday, March 24 for a poetry reading by Kevin Zepper, author of Sugartown and three other chapbooks.

Zepper will read from Noon - 1 pm at the Marshall-Lyon County Library and from 7-8 pm at SMSU, Charter Hall 201. Zepper teaches at Minnesota State University--Moorhead. Author Lin Enger writes about Zepper's poems: "In a tone both wistful and amazed, he alliterates, puns and raps his way from Pez candies to pot pies, from Icarus to Johnny Cash. Zepper is the bard of the beet fields, the psalmist of potato salad. This guy can write a poem about anything. He can also remind you of things you never realized you knew."

Hope to see you there!

Thomas Maltman, author of Little Wolves, 2014 Minnesota Book Award Nominee and All Iowa Reads Program Pick

3/4/2014

Last spring, Thomas Maltman read from his second novel, Little Wolves, as part of the Southwest Minnesota State University Visiting Writers Series. Here's the video of that terrific reading: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFBtxl9yjHw&feature=youtu.be.

Little Wolves has been nominated for the 26th Annual Minnesota Book Awards in the category of Novel and Short Story. It has also been selected for the All Iowa Reads Program, which you can read more about by clicking this hyperlink.

Little Wolves is a pick for Midwest Connections for December 2013, a top pick from the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for favorite mysteries of 2013, and a School Library Journal pick for best adult books for teens in 2013, which called the novel "dark, brooding... and beautifully written."

Tom and I worked on our MFA in Creative Writing together at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and I could not be more thrilled for him. He's one of the most brilliant and hard- working writers I know as well as one of the most dedicated teachers. Our SMSU creative writing students appreciated his visit to their Writers' Workshop and his critique of their writing immensely. We wish you all the best, Tom!

SMSU Visiting Writers Series Welcomes Poets R. Elena Prieto and Saara Myrene Raappana on Feb. 10, 2014

2/20/2014

    Last Monday I was delighted to kick off the first SMSU Visiting Writers Series event of the semester with a poetry reading by R. Elena Prieto and Saara Myrene Raappana.
Enjoy watching this YouTube video of the reading from the comfort of your couch.
    Please mark your calendar and join us for the next SMSU Visiting Writers Series event, a poetry reading by Kevin Zepper on Monday, March 24, noon to 1 p.m., Marshall-Lyon County Library, Marshall, Minnesota, and 7-8 p.m., at Southwest Minnesota State University, Charter Hall 201.
    Zepper, an Associate Professor of English at Minnesota State University, Moorhead, is the author of four chapbooks. His fourth and most recent chapbook, Sugartown, was published by Finishing Line Press. It is also available through Amazon.com. He is currently circulating his first book-length manuscript, ghostworlds, and last year he was awarded a writing residency at Starry Night Artist Retreat in Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. He resides in Moorhead, Minnesota with his wife, boys and Bichons.

"Rebel Heart: How Small Acts of Rebellion Can Create Powerful Change": TEDx Talk by Author and Storyteller Yang-May Ooi

1/19/2014

Over the past few years, I've watched many great TED talks, but the one I just watched tonight by author and storyteller Yang-May Ooi, "Rebel Heart: How Small Acts of Rebellion Can Create Powerful Change," stands out as one of the most moving.

As writers, we must have the courage to step out of our comfort zones if we want our work to be alive on the page. I tell this to my writing students, and I practice it in my writing life.

Yang-May's TEDx talk inspires me as a writer--and as a human being--to listen to my own rebel heart and act from a place of love and courage in order to create powerful change. As Yang-May says, "F*** the labels!" Because we are all limited by the labels that people put upon us.

The Writing Partners' Honey Do List and A Shared Writing Life

12/29/2013

Yang-May Ooi, best-selling author of The Flame Tree and Mindgame and also a mixed media storyteller, generously asked Jim and me to serve as guest writers on her Story Guru website in November.

Our assignment? Answer this question: What advice can you share as writers who are also life partners? Jim and I decided to write our pieces without conferring ahead of time. Turns out they dovetailed better than we could have planned. After over 30 years together, maybe that's no surprise. We hope you find our posts helpful, especially if you're a writer whose partner or spouse is also a writer. Each day, we're grateful to live with someone who "gets us" as writers, who puts up with all our quirks, who keeps cheering (OK, sometimes prodding) us on.

Here's mine: The Writing Partners' Honey Do List
And Jim's: A Shared Writing Life

I encourage you to explore Yang-May's website, read about her amazing life including her recent TEDx talk in Covent Garden, and read some of her other posts.

Finally, I wish you a New Year filled with good books to read and writing projects that move you way beyond your comfort zone to a place that's thrilling and fulfilling.

That's where I'm headed as I continue working on my "Awesome Sister Jean Lenz" screenplay. I recently told a former student, Andy Kompelien, a talented SMSU theatre major, that I was struggling to come up with a working title for my screenplay. His advice for screenplays in progress? "Just call it 'Awesome (blank)' screenplay, and fill in the blank however you want." So that's what I'm doing. Thanks, Andy. I love how much I learn from my students.

Thanks once again for making time to stop by Fly-over Country. Please leave a comment, join the conversation, and let us know what touches, moves, supports and inspires you as a writer.

Savoring Exhibit Features Betty Beer Artwork and Poetry Reading: Nov. 10, 2-4 pm, Marshall Area Fine Arts Center

11/6/2013

Join us at the Marshall Area Fine Arts Center this Sunday, Nov. 10, for the "Savoring" Exhibit Reception with refreshments from 2-4 pm.

The poetry reading at 2:30 pm will feature poets David Allan Evans, Darla Biel, Christine Stewart and myself, Marianne Murphy Zarzana.

Artist Betty Beer's paintings and drawings are on display alongside the collaborative poems written in response to her work.

In September, Cindy Votruba wrote an article, "An Artist of the Highest Order," about the Savoring Exhibit in the Marshall Independent.

Great art and poetry--come and be fed!

Mysteries Out West: Lori Armstrong and Manuel Ramos to read at SMSU and Marshall-Lyon County Library, Oct. 14

10/6/2013

Join us for Mysteries Out West, a reading by Lori Armstrong and Manuel Ramos on Monday, Oct. 14, at noon at the Marshall-Lyon County Library and at 7 p.m., in Charter Hall 201, Southwest Minnesota State University.

Lori Armstrong

Manuel Ramos

Lakeside Writers Weekend with Judy Wilson, Oct. 18-20

9/30/2013

Would you like to carve out some time to write in a beautiful setting?

Consider registering for the Lakeside Writers Weekend, a writing workshop led by Dr. Judy Wilson, professor of creative writing at Southwest Minnesota State University, and published award-winning author. Judy, a colleague of mine at SMSU, is a phenomenal teacher and a brilliant writer. If you have a story that you need to tell, whether fiction or non-fiction, Judy will inspire you and give you the tools to shape it, to bring your characters alive on the page.

Friday, October 18: 7 pm Welcome reception for participants
Saturday, October 19: 9 am – 4 pm Registration and workshop
Sunday, October 20: 9 am – 2 pm Workshop

Lakewood Supper Club, 1073 Lakeshore Drive, Ortonville, MN

Wilson is the founder and editor of The Yellow Medicine Review: A Journal of Indigenous Literature, Art and Thought. The workshop will cover the basics of literary art in the form of the short story. Wilson will share her expertise as a writer, teacher and editor. Join the other writers and be inspired to begin or complete your writing. This workshop applies to all levels of writing experience. General admission is $65 and includes refreshments and lunch on Saturday and Sunday.

For more information and to register go to: http://www.bigstonearts.com

Register online: Lakeside-Writers-Online-Reg and pay here.
Questions? Call Maureen Stores at 320-265-6121 or email bigstonearts@gmail.com
Information regarding hotel and shared lodge housing may also be found on our webpage

“This activity is made possible in part by a grant from the Southwest Minnesota Arts and Humanities Council (SMAHC) with funds appropriated by the State Legislature and/or by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.”

For out of town participants, they have arranged the following possible housing:
Econo-Lodge has 6 rooms set aside for our group and their phone number is
320-839-2414

Rental House next to the Lakewood Lodge—4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and the cost is $600 for the weekend. Check www.lakewoodsupperclub.com for the info on the site of the workshop and more information and pictures of the house for weekend rental. It could be a great chance for 4-6 friends to get together and rent it and then split the $600 bill.

The local Chamber of Commerce could also be of assistance in this area:
320-839-3284.

Zarzana to Read from The Marsco Dissident on Sept. 17

9/8/2013

Jim Zarzana will read from his new sci-fi novel, The Marsco Dissident, on Tuesday, Sept. 17 at noon at the Marshall-Lyon County Library and at 7 p.m. at Southwest Minnesota State University, CH 201. If you're in the Marshall area, I hope you're able to join us for either reading.

The Marsco Dissident is set in Sac City, Calif., in 2092. The story line revolves around an all-powerful company, Marsco, which controls the world because it controls computers and determines who may use them.

As Jim's wife and fellow writer, I'm a bit biased. I've been reading this book through its many drafts and living with its complex characters for 17 years. I know it's a book that will take you on an amazing ride through a future dystopia that is both troubling and riveting. Other early readers (not just family members) are also praising The Marsco Dissident and looking forward to the next book in this four-book saga.

Two sample chapters of The Marsco Dissident are posted on Jim's website: www.jamesazarzana.com.

The Marsco Dissident is available on Amazon.com for download to Kindle, iPad, iPhone or your computer.

See you on Tuesday, Sept. 17 for an exceptional reading.

A Year of Being Here - Mindfulness Poetry

8/21/2013

Yesterday one of my poems, "Savasana: Corpse Pose," was selected as the poem of the day on the new website "A Year of Being Here," that publishes "daily mindfulness poetry by wordsmiths of the here and now." Phyllis Cole-Dai, the project curator, started this site at the beginning of the year, and it's clearly a labor of love based on all the work she's done selecting poems as well as stunning images to complement them. I enjoy subscribing to the site for free and receiving a daily poem in my email inbox that I read every morning as part of my yoga and morning meditation. I encourage you to subscribe, to read through the archives and to submit any of your own poems that might seem fitting.