OXFORD, Miss. – Poet Nick Flynn reads at the
University of Mississippi Feb. 12 as part of the
Grisham Visiting Writers Series.
The free, public program begins at 7 p.m. at the
Ole Miss-Oxford Depot. The author is slated to sign
books at Off Square Books, 129 Courthouse Square,
starting at 5 p.m.
A native of Scituate, Mass., Flynn is known by many
within the literary world for his often
autobiographical themes. His poem “Bag of Mice,”
which won the “Discovery”/The Nation Award in 1999,
deals with his mothers suicide. His best-known
title “Another Bullshit Night in Suck City”
(Norton, 2004), is an account of his tumultuous
early life and his relationship with his father.
The book won Flynn the PEN/Martha Albrand Award for
the Art of Memoir and has been translated into 10
languages.
“It’s exciting to have Nick Flynn coming to town;
he is worth seeing in person,” said Gary Short,
visiting assistant professor of English. “Flynn is
writing some of the best and most provocative work
of any contemporary writer.”
Flynn’s parents divorced when he was young, and his
mother committed suicide when he was 22. He drifted
through several jobs before starting work at a
homeless shelter in Boston. It was there at age 27
that he met his estranged, homeless father for the
first time.
The author received a master of fine arts in creative
writing from New York University. A faculty member at the
University of Houston Creative Writing Program, he worked
as a field poet and as an artistic collaborator on the film
“Darwin’s Nightmare,” which was nominated for an Academy
Award for best feature documentary in 2006.
Flynn won the inaugural PEN/Joyce Osterweil Award
for his first book of poetry, “Some Ether”
(Graywolf, 2000). He also wrote “Blind Huber”
(Graywolf, 2002) and co-authored “A Note Slipped
Under the Door” (Stenhouse Publishers, 2000) with
Shirley McPhillips.
His poems, essays and nonfiction have appeared in
such publications as The New Yorker, The Paris
Review, The Nation, Fence and The New York Times.
Flynn has been awarded fellowships from the
Guggenheim Foundation, Library of Congress, Amy
Lowell Trust and Fine Arts Work Center.
For more information or for assistance related to a
disability, contact Gary Short at 662-915-7439 or
by e-mail at
gshort@olemiss.edu. To learn more about the Department
of English, visit