SUNY Canton Living Writing Series Kicks Off Spring Semester with Author Jeff Parker

CANTON, NY (02/24/2016)(readMedia)-- Widely acclaimed author Jeff Parker will be the first guest to visit SUNY Canton for the spring installment of the popular Living Writing Series.

Parker will appear at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 2, in the Richard W. Miller Campus Center's Kingston Theater. The event is free and open to the public.

His latest book, "Where Bears Roam the Streets," has earned high critical praise, and Maclean's magazine drew comparisons between his writing and that of the late Kurt Vonnegut.

"Jeff Parker is one of the most prolific and promising writers of his generation," said SUNY Canton Assistant Professor of English Phil K. LaMarche. "His stories have a mind of their own and always take the reader into the humorous and sometimes uncomfortable realm of the unexpected."

"Where Bears Roam the Streets" is a memoir of Parker's unlikely friendship with a Perestroika-generation Russian bartender, Igor, while studying in St. Petersburg. The author tells the story of contemporary Russia though his friendship with Igor and their travels together across the country.

He is also the author of "The Taste of Penny," a collection of short stories, and "Ovenman," a comedic coming-of-age story.

Parker is the director of creative writing at the University of Tampa and is a faculty member with the University of Massachusetts Amherst Master of Fine Arts program.

LaMarche created the Living Writers Series in 2012 to coincide with his Living Writers Course. Students enrolled in the class read the books by the authors scheduled to visit the college.

The next guest speaker will be author Theresa Brown at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, which is cosponsored by Claxton-Hepburn Medical Center and Hospice of St. Lawrence Valley. Poet Erica Dawson will appear at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 27.

For more information about the Living Writers Series, visit www.canton.edu/writers.

About SUNY Canton

SUNY Canton is Northern New York's premier college for career-driven bachelor's degrees, associate degrees and professional certificate programs. The college delivers quality hands-on programs in engineering technology, health, management and public service and recently received number one rankings in library resources, library services and tutoring services in the SUNY Student Opinion Survey. The college's faculty members are noted for their professional real-world experience in addition to outstanding academic credentials. SUNY Canton OnLine offers hundreds of flexible and convenient courses as well as ten exclusively online bachelor's degrees. The college's 14 athletic teams compete as members of the NCAA Division III.

-www.canton.edu-