Author Janet Fitch to give free talk Feb. 22 at Yavapai College

The Literary Southwest continues its 10th Anniversary celebration with a reading by acclaimed novelist Janet Fitch at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22, in the Yavapai College Library Community Room (Bldg. 19, Room 147) on the Prescott campus.

An open conversation, audience Q & A session, and a book signing follow the reading. Literary Southwest programs are free and open to the public.

Fitch is the author of the best-selling novels “White Oleander,” an Oprah’s Book Club pick, and “Paint it Black.” Both have been made into feature films. Her short fiction and essays have been widely published in anthologies and journals.

Her most recent novel, “The Revolution of Marina M.,” is set during the Russian Revolution 100 years ago.

Literary Southwest Director Jim Natal described Fitch as having a “poet’s eye and a psychologist’s insight.”

“I think one of the creative hallmarks of Janet’s work is her ability to so insightfully portray the range of her characters’ relationships – from burgeoning romance, to ongoing personality clashes, to even the subtlest of nuances of interpersonal interactions. She makes readers care about characters who may be very different from themselves,” Natal said.

Fitch received a Likhachev Fellowship to St. Petersburg, Russia, a Helen R. Whiteley Fellowship, and has taught creative writing at the Esalen Institute, at University of Southern California’s Master of Professional Writing program, and at the Vermont College of Fine Arts MFA program, as well as teaching regularly at the Squaw Valley Community of Writers workshops.

Her popular Writing Wednesday writing tip videos can be found on her author Facebook page. Fitch lives in Los Angeles.

The Hassayampa Institute presents The Literary Southwest is made possible by Yavapai College and the Yavapai College Foundation, with additional support provided by Peregrine Book Company.

For complete author and series information, visit: www.yc.edu/Literarysw or contact Series Director Jim Natal through Yavapai College at 928-776-2295.

Follow Sue Tone on Twitter @ToneNotes. Reach her at stone@prescottaz.com or 928-445-3333, ext. 2043.