Novelist Melissa Fraterrigo to read from new book during Behrend visit

Creative Writers Reading Series returns March 29

ERIE, Pa. — As a child, Melissa Fraterrigo loved reading fiction. It offered an escape from her small suburban hometown, as it could take her anywhere she wanted to go.

Fraterrigo’s love for the medium led her to pursue a career as a writer, and it continues to take her places, too. On Thursday, March 29, it will bring her to Penn State Behrend, where she will read excerpts from her new novel “Glory Days” as part of the college’s Creative Writers Reading Series. Her 6 p.m. reading and the reception preceding it are free and open to the public. Both events will be held in the Larry and Kathryn Smith Chapel.

“Fraterrigo’s fiction is simultaneously canny and uncanny,” said Tom Noyes, professor of English and creative writing at Penn State Behrend. “Her work reminds the reader that there’s a thin line between the familiar and the mysterious.”

Fraterrigo also is the author of the short-story collection “The Longest Pregnancy.” Her fiction and nonfiction have appeared in more than 40 literary journals and anthologies, including Shenandoah, The Massachusetts Review, storySouth and Notre Dame Review. She is the founder and executive director of the Lafayette Writers Studio, in Lafayette, Indiana, which helps writers hone their craft, find support and improve their work.

The Creative Writers Reading Series is produced by Penn State Behrend’s bachelor of fine arts in creative writing degree program with support from the Clarence A. and Eugenie Baumann Smith Fund. For additional information, call 814-898-6108 or visit behrend.psu.edu/readings.

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