Raymond Carver (1938–1988)

Texts in the City: Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?
The Wheeler Centre, 4:30PM - 5:15PM, Tuesday 19 February 2013
Studying a book or film can be a short-cut to consigning it to boredom. But our Texts in the City series – a gift to students, their teachers and lifelong learners – brings the VCE English and Literature lists to life.

Each week, our hosts – authors Lili Wilkinson and Tony Birch – will interview experts intimately familiar with the texts, unearthing those hidden gems that could help your essay shine.

This week, join Tony Birch and Josephine Rowe for a look at Raymond Carver’s 1976 short-story collection, Will You Please Be Quiet, Please?.

Presenters

Tony Birch

Tony Birch is the author of the acclaimed novel, Blood (UQP 2011), shortlisted for this year’s Miles Franklin Award. He has also published widely as a short fiction writer.

Josephine Rowe

Josephine Rowe was born in 1984 and lives in Melbourne’s inner-west with her husband and cat. Her new short story collection, Tarcutta Wake, is published by UQP. (rodneyvc)… (more)

Join poets Tess Gallagher and Caleb Barber for a reading of some of the collected work of the late poet Raymond Carver. Raymond Carver was one of the great American writers and poets of the late twentieth century. His major collections include What We Talk about When We Talk about Love; Cathedral; and Elephant. He passed away in 1988.

Tess Gallagher is the author of eight volumes of poetry, including Dear Ghosts, Moon Crossing Bridge, and My Black Horse. Graywolf published her collection of new and selected poems entitled Midnight Lantern in September 2011. She is a co-translator of Romanian poet Liliana Ursu's A Path To The Sea, published in September 2011 by Pleasure Boat Studio. Gallagher is also the author of Amplitude, Soul Barnacles: Ten More Years with Ray, A Concert of Tenses: Essays on Poetry, and three collections of short fiction: At the Owl Woman Saloon, The Lover of Horses and Other Stories, and The Man from Kinvara: Selected Stories. She also spearheaded the publication of Raymond Carver's complete collection of his stories. She spends time in a cottage on Lough Arrow in Co. Sligo in the West of Ireland and also lives and writes in her hometown of Port Angeles, Washington.

Bellingham poet, Caleb Barber, earned an English/Creative Writing BA from WWU, and an MFA in poetry from the Northwest Institute of Literary Arts. He currently works days at an aerospace machine shop. He has been widely published in literary magazines, most notably with a feature in Poet Lore. He also has a poem in Best American Poetry 2009. He is the author of the poetry book, Beasts & Violins.

Location: Street: 1200 11th St City: Bellingham, Province: Washington Postal Code: 98225-7015 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)

FIVE BY Carver

Raymond Carver was one of the most influential writers of the American short story in the second half of the 20th century. Join us for a reading of five stories from Where I'm Calling from, the last story collection published during Carver's life, reflecting his development as a writer from 1963 until his death in 1988.

About the Readers

Bob Graziano is a native of the Bronx who considers himself an adopted son of Texas. His studies in speech communication and oral interpretation have given him a fond appreciation of the spoken word. He is a volunteer reader for Sight Into Sound radio and teaches reading and conversation classes to international students at Houston Community College.

Ted Pfister first became active in Houston Theater in 1989 and has performed in several Houston venues over the years, including Main Street Theater and Country Playhouse. He has been a volunteer reader at Sight into Sound (formerly Taping for the Blind) since 1980 and is a Lifetime Board Member. A retired Lawyer, Ted has B.A. and J.D. Degrees from Loyola University in New Orleans. In addition, he paints watercolors and tells Cajun stories.

Location: Street: 2421 Bissonnet St City: Houston, Province: Texas Postal Code: 77005-1451 Country: United States (added from IndieBound)… (more)