Great Plains Writer to Read from Work

April 7, 2015

Johnson State College’s BFA in Creative Writing Program welcomes novelist Karen Gettert Shoemaker for a reading at noon Thursday, April 16, in Stearns Student Center’s Cinema Room. The event is free and open to the public.

Shoemaker is a writer, teacher and business owner living in Lincoln Neb. Her first collection of short fiction, Night Sounds and Other Stories, was published in the United States by Dufour Editions in 2002 and republished in the United Kingdom by Parthian Books in 2006. Her novel, The Meaning of Names, was published in 2014 by Red Hen Press. Shoemaker has a Ph.D. in creative writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She is a writing mentor with the University of Nebraska’s MFA in Writing program.

Author Ladette Randolph says this about Shoemaker’s work: “The Meaning of Names is a major addition to the literary canon of the Great Plains, contributing deeply to our understanding of the immigrant experience during the years of WWI when the ‘100% American’ campaign pitted Americans against one another. The Meaning of Names is a breath-taking story that illuminates the bonds that hold us together and the fears that tear us apart while spotlighting the endurance and love of one woman and her family.”

For more information, contact Jensen Beach, Jensen.beach@jsc.edu or 802-635-1340.