Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series continues Thursday and April 25-26

The next installment of the CWU Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series is scheduled for Thursday, April 11, with trans writer and editor Callum Angus.

The Portland-based author will begin with a craft talk at noon titled “Chimeric Writing, Limbic Architectures: Writing about that which resists language,” and will then deliver a 6 p.m. public reading from A Natural History of Transition. CWU student Sheila Richardson will provide an introduction, and a book signing will follow at 7 p.m.

Both free events will be in the Brooks Library Student Commons. They will also be offered virtually, by registering at the links provided on the CWU events calendar (Craft Talk and Public Reading).

Angus edits the literary journal smoke and mold, teaches writing workshops online and in-person, and is currently working on a novel. He is the author of the story collection A Natural History of Transition (Metonymy Press), which was a finalist for a Lambda Literary Award in Transgender Fiction, the Edmund White Award for Debut Fiction, and an Oregon Book Award/Ken Kesey Award in Fiction.

His work has appeared in magazines such as Joyland, Orion, and Nat. Brut, and has been anthologized in Kink, a collection edited by Garth Greenwell and R.O. Kwon. To learn more about Angus and his work, visit his website.

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Author Roy Scranton to be on campus April 25-26

The Lion Rock Visiting Writers Series will continue later this month with a visit from Roy Scranton, an Iraq War veteran, acclaimed author, and associate professor of English at the University of Notre Dame.

Scranton believes climate change and protecting the environment are not just factual issues; they are also moral issues that humankind must confront. During a two-day event on April 25-26, he will discuss his experiences in Iraq to confront the grim realities of climate change. His critically acclaimed book Learning to Die in the Anthropocene offers a response to the problem of climate change by arguing that, to survive, we must come to terms with our own mortality.

On Thursday, April 25, at noon, Scranton will present a craft talk called “Witnessing Climate Change” in the Brooks Library Student Commons. He will then deliver a public reading and book signing at 6 p.m. in Health Sciences, room 102, focusing on Beginning with the End: Climate Change, Ethical Pessimism, and the Limits of Narrative.

At noon Friday, April 26, Scranton will participate in a public panel on climate change at the Ellensburg Public Library. The topic of the panel discussion will be “The Impact of Climate Change on the Youth: Being Optimistic vs. Being Pessimistic.” The panelists will include:

• Pamela McMullin-Messier, Professor and Chair of CWU Department of Sociology (moderator)
• Roy Scranton, author and associate professor of English at the University of Notre Dame
• Carlyn Saunders, KEEN (Kittitas Environmental Education Network)
• Jeff Hashimoto, Science/Environmental Science teacher at Ellensburg High School
• Gwynn Scoville, student from EHS Environment Club, Ellensburg High School

Members of the CWU and Ellensburg communities are invited to join Scranton as he helps us uncover the art of crafting non-fiction by using personal experience and profound knowledge.

The April 25-26 events are funded and supported by the CWU President's Office and are part of the university's Living with Climate Change series. More information will be available soon.