MSU welcomes newest guest for Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series

Lee Martin (Photo submitted/courtesy of Lee Martin)

STARKVILLE, Miss.—Pulitzer Prize finalist Lee Martin will deliver a public reading Thursday [March 30] at 51�Թ�� State.

Free to all, Martin’s presentation begins at 7:30 p.m. in Colvard Student Union’s third-floor Fowlkes Auditorium. A public reception and book signing will follow.

Martin also will visit classes and interact with students during his campus visit, which is sponsored by the MSU Department of English’s Price Caldwell Visiting Writers Series.

Established through an endowment from widow Alice Carol Caldwell and family, the literary series serves as a memorial to Tutweiler native Price Caldwell (1940-2015), who served for more than 20 years as an associate professor of English at MSU. He also founded and directed the university’s creative writing program, along with serving as president and vice president for the Southern Literary Festival organization.

A native of southeastern Illinois now residing in Columbus, Ohio, Martin is the author of five novels: “Late One Night” (Dzanc Books, 2016), “Break the Skin” (Crown Publishing Group, 2011), “River of Heaven” (Three Rivers Press, 2009), “The Bright Forever” (Broadway Books, 2006), and “Quakertown” (Penguin Group, 2001).

Martin also has penned the memoirs “Such a Life” (University of Nebraska Press, 2012), “From Our House” (Bison Books, 2009) and “Turning Bones” (University of Nebraska Press, 2003), as well as the short story collection “The Least You Need to Know” (Sarabande Books, 1996).

Along with the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction, Martin has received fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council. He currently teaches in the Master of Fine Arts program at Ohio State University, where he received the 2006 Alumni Award for Distinguished Teaching. For more biographical information, visit .

Additional information about Martin’s campus visit and lecture may be obtained from Michael Kardos, MSU associate professor of English and creative writing program co-director, at 662-325-3644 and MKardos@english.msstate.edu.

Learn more about MSU’s Department of English at .

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