March 16, 2005 -- John Dufresne, an award winning fiction writer, and Jo McDougall, a Delta native and acclaimed poet, will read from their work as part of Delta Blues Symposium XI: Imagining the Delta, sponsored by the Department of English and Philosophy at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro.

The reading is scheduled for Friday, April 8, at 7 p.m. in the Grand Hall of Fowler Center, 201 Olympic Dr. It is free and open to the public.

Born in Massachusetts, John Dufresne earned his master’s of fine arts in the creative writing program at the University of Arkansas. He has published a collection of short stories, “The Way That Water Enters Stone,” the novel “Love Warps the Mind a Little,” and two novels set in Monroe, La., “Louisiana Power & Light” and “Deep in the Shade of Paradise.” As well, he has written a fiction writing manual, “The Lie That Tells a Truth.” His next collection of short stories, “Johnny Too Bad,” will be published this spring. Dufresne teaches in the MFA program at Florida International University.

Another product of the University of Arkansas program, Jo McDougall is winner of the prestigious Porter Prize and has also published five books of poetry: “The Woman in the Next Booth,” “Towns Facing Railroads,” “From Darkening Porches”, “Dirt” and her latest, “Satisfied With Havoc.” For 11 years, she was co-director of the creative writing program at Pittsburg State University in Kansas, and her poetry has been the subject of a short film, “Emerson County Shaping Dream.”

A reception, sponsored by Arkansas Review, will follow with both authors’ books available for purchase and signing.

Funding and other assistance has been provided by the Department of Art, Department of History, Department of Theatre, Department of Music, Heritage Studies Ph.D. Program, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Office of Diversity Initiatives, and Lecture~Concert Series.