The Warren County Community College Visiting Authors Series continues on Wednesday, November 18, with a reading and master class by the renowned novelist René Steinke. The reading, beginning at 7:30 p.m. in room 123A, is free and open to the public. It will be followed by a brief Q & A with the audience and a book signing.  Books will be available for purchase at the reading. 

Steinke’s most recent novel, “Friendswood” (Riverhead), was named one of National Public Radio’s Best Books of 2014.  Her previous novel, “Holy Skirts,” an imaginative retelling of the life of the artist and provocateur, Baroness Elsa von Freytag-Loringhoven, was a Finalist for the National Book Award. Her first novel is “The Fires.” Her essays and articles have appeared in The New York Times, Vogue, O Magazine, Salon, and Bookforum. She is the former Editor of The Literary Review, where she remains Editor-at-Large. Formerly having taught at the New School and Columbia University, she is currently the Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Fairleigh Dickinson University. She lives in Brooklyn. 

Preceding the reading, Steinke will conduct a fiction writing master class at the college, commencing at 4:00 p.m. This event is also free and open to the public, but pre-registration is required. Interested attendees should contact Professor BJ Ward at (908) 835-2531 or ward@warren.edu.  

The WCCC Visiting Authors Series is supported by a grant from the Warren County Cultural and Heritage Commission. All facilities comply with ADA regulations and are fully accessible. Sign language interpreters are available with two weeks’ notice.  

Warren County Community College offers students the option of earning an Associate of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, the first and only degree of its kind in New Jersey and one of only five in the nation to be recognized as a viable A.F.A. by the Association of Writers and Writing Programs (AWP).  For directions to the campus or for more information about the A.F.A. in Creative Writing, please visit www.warren.edu or call 908-835-WCCC.