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Kerry Howley to Present at Free Oct. 27 Event at Ohio Wesleyan University
DELAWARE, Ohio – Essayist and journalist Kerry Howley will read from her critically acclaimed book “Thrown” this month at Ohio Wesleyan University. The book, a darkly comic look at cage fighting, is described by critics as “compulsively readable, informative, hilarious.”
Howley, M.F.A., an assistant professor with the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program, will speak at 4:10 p.m. Oct. 27 in Room 301 of Merrick Hall, 65 S. Sandusky St., Delaware. She will take questions following the reading.
In researching “Thrown,” Howley spent three years in the company of mixed martial artists. The book-length essay is narrated from the perspective of an excitable, semi-fictionalized graduate student. “Thrown” was a New York Times notable book of 2014, Time Magazine’s No. 2 nonfiction book of the year, NPR’s best book of 2014, and a Salon critics’ choice top 10 book of 2014. The book is forthcoming in German, Dutch, British, French, and Swedish editions.
In her New York Times book review, Katherine Dunn writes, “Thrown is compulsively readable, informative, hilarious. … It is also a ferocious dissection of the essence of the spectator.” Publisher’s Weekly says the book “threatens to remap the entire genre of nonfiction” with “brilliant, dexterous prose.”
Howley’s essays, excerpts, and reporting have appeared in publications including The Paris Review, Harper’s, New York Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, Slate, The Atlantic, and The Wall Street Journal. Her recent works include profiling tennis player Serena Williams, boxer Manny Pacquiao, and female trophy hunter Rebecca Francis.
Howley earned her master’s degree from the University of Iowa, where she served as an Arts Fellow and as the 2012 Provost’s Visiting Writer in Nonfiction. Learn more about Howley at www.kerryhowley.com.
Her visit is sponsored by Ohio Wesleyan’s Department of English and is part of the Poets and Writers Reading Series. Learn more about the department and its creative writing concentration at www.owu.edu/english.
Founded in 1842, Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier liberal arts universities. Located in Delaware, Ohio, the private university offers nearly 90 undergraduate majors and competes in 23 NCAA Division III varsity sports. Through Ohio Wesleyan’s signature OWU Connection program, students integrate knowledge across disciplines, build a diverse and global perspective, and apply their knowledge in real-world settings. Ohio Wesleyan is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” listed on the latest President’s Higher Education Community Service Honor Roll with Distinction, and included in the U.S. News & World Report and Princeton Review “best colleges” lists. Learn more at www.owu.edu.