In conjunction with the Delta Blues Symposium X: the Fifties, Arkansas State University’s Department of English & Philosophy is honored to welcome John Bensko and Cary Holladay to campus on Friday and Saturday, March 26-27.

Bensko and Holladay will read from their work that Friday at 8 p.m., then Holladay will conduct a fiction workshop and Bensko will conduct a poetry workshop on Saturday morning from 8:30 to 10:45.

Bensko and Holladay are both presently members of the Creative Writing faculty at the University of Memphis.

A poet and fiction writer, Bensko has published in a variety of journals, including Arkansas Review, and has published three books of poems, “Green Soldiers,” “The Waterman’s Children” and “The Iron City.”

Holladay has published two collections of short stories, “The People Down South” and “The Palace of Wasted Footsteps,” along with “Mercury,” a novel set in a fictional Arkansas Delta town.

“Arkansas State is fortunate to have both writers on campus during the Delta Blues Symposium,” a Symposium spokesman said.

All readings and workshops are free and open to the public; however, workshop participants must apply. To be eligible for either workshop, participants need to pre-enroll by submitting either a maximum of 10-15 pages of fiction, or five pages of poetry.

Entries need to be received by Feb. 20. Applicants should Indicate on their envelope for which workshop they want to be considered. Send name, address, phone number, email address (if available), along with a copy of the manuscript to:

Creative Writing Workshops/Delta Symposium Committee, Box 1890, Dept. of English & Philosophy, Arkansas State University, State University, AR 72467-1890.

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