American Short Story Author to Present Masterclass and Reading

Feb. 23, 2018

BLOOMINGTON, Ill.— Danielle Evans, American short story writer and author of the critically acclaimed Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, will present a masterclass and reading at Illinois Wesleyan University on Monday, Feb. 26. The masterclass will take place at 4 p.m. in State Farm Hall Room 201 followed by a reading at 7 p.m. in the Beckman Auditorium of the Ames Library. Both events are free and open to the public.

Evans explores racial identity in a post-Civil Rights America in her works. She is a graduate of Columbia University and the Iowa Writers' Workshop, and a National Book Foundation's "5 under 35” honoree. In 2011, she received a PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize for debut fiction for her first book, Before You Suffocate Your Own Fool Self, a short story collection about mixed-race and African-American teenagers, women and men struggling to find a place in their families and communities.

Having written her first short story at age 23, Evans has been published in The Paris Review, A Public Space, The Best American Short Stories 2008 and The Best American Short Stories 2010. She currently teaches in the MFA program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Evans’ visit is sponsored by Sigma Tau Delta, the English Honor Society, Tributaries and the Colwell Endowed Chair of English.

By Vi Kakares '20