8th Annual Symposium on Wildness, Wilderness & the Creative Imagination

A two-day festival is held at Iowa State University (Ames, Iowa), and is sponsored by the MFA Program in Creative Writing and Environment and the Department of English. 

The 8th Annual Symposium events include keynote readings and craft discussions by the following prominent writers

• Daniel Woodrell, Ozark-based author of eight novels, among them the Pen/USA-winning Tomato Red and national bestseller Winter's Bone, which was adapted into an Oscar-nominated film of the same title. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Woodrell

• Aimee Nezhukumatathil, a Filipina/Indian poet, the author of three award-winning collections of poems. Winner of the Pushcart Prize and an NEA. http://aimeenez.net/

• Anthony Doerr, the science columnist for the Boston Globe and the author of four books of fiction and nonfiction, among them The Shell Collector. Winner of the Story Prize, an O. Henry, and the Rome fellowship from the American Academy of Letters. http://www.anthonydoerr.com/

• Rolf Potts, a travel writer who works for the New Yorker, National Geographic and Outside Magazine, among others. Author of Vagabonding and Marco Polo Didn't Go Here. http://www.rolfpotts.com/

Activities also include readings from the Flyway Magazine "Home Voices" Competition, Receptions, and a Panel Discussion featuring three ISU literary scholars speaking on topics related to the environmental Imagination.

All events are Free & Open to the public. 

No conference registration required.