MONROE - The Monroe Arts Center will wind up the 2011 Writers Series at 7 p.m. Thursday, May 19, with a free presentation by noted Wisconsin author David Rhodes.
Rhodes is the third writer to be featured in the series.
As a young man from Des Moines, Rhodes worked in fields, hospitals, and factories across Iowa. In the early 1970s, he attended college and received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Writing from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. Shortly thereafter he sold his first novel, "The Last Fair Deal Going Down." He published two subsequent novels in rapid succession: "The Easter House" (1974), and "Rock Island Line" (1975). At that time he was acclaimed as "one of the best eyes in recent fiction." In 1976, a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed from the chest down, since which time, he continued writing but stopped publishing.
In 2008, after a 30-year absence from publishing, Rhodes returned to the literary scene with his newest novel "Driftless." The Chicago Tribune said, "'Driftless' is the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years," and the Wall Street Journal commented, "'Driftless' is a fast-moving story about small town life with characters that seem to have walked off the pages of Spoon River Anthology."
Involving a cast of extraordinary characters who live in the small town of Words, Wis., 'Driftless' offers an unsentimental portrait of a small midwestern town apparently left behind by the march of time. The town's characters include a middle-aged couple guarding the family farm from the schemes of their milk co-operative; a lifelong paraplegic who suddenly regains the use of her legs, a bad-tempered retiree who discovers a cougar living in his haymow, and a former drifter who binds a community together.
Rhodes and his wife, Edna, live on 35 acres of land about 10 miles outside of Wonewoc, located in the "driftless region" of Wisconsin.
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. For more information, call (608) 325-5700 or online at www.monroeartscenter.com. Monroe Arts Center events are underwritten by Corporate Underwriter Colony Brands, Inc., and Media Underwriters Monroe Publishing, LLC, and Big Radio.
Rhodes is the third writer to be featured in the series.
As a young man from Des Moines, Rhodes worked in fields, hospitals, and factories across Iowa. In the early 1970s, he attended college and received a Master of Fine Arts Degree in Writing from the University of Iowa Writers Workshop. Shortly thereafter he sold his first novel, "The Last Fair Deal Going Down." He published two subsequent novels in rapid succession: "The Easter House" (1974), and "Rock Island Line" (1975). At that time he was acclaimed as "one of the best eyes in recent fiction." In 1976, a motorcycle accident left him paralyzed from the chest down, since which time, he continued writing but stopped publishing.
In 2008, after a 30-year absence from publishing, Rhodes returned to the literary scene with his newest novel "Driftless." The Chicago Tribune said, "'Driftless' is the best work of fiction to come out of the Midwest in many years," and the Wall Street Journal commented, "'Driftless' is a fast-moving story about small town life with characters that seem to have walked off the pages of Spoon River Anthology."
Involving a cast of extraordinary characters who live in the small town of Words, Wis., 'Driftless' offers an unsentimental portrait of a small midwestern town apparently left behind by the march of time. The town's characters include a middle-aged couple guarding the family farm from the schemes of their milk co-operative; a lifelong paraplegic who suddenly regains the use of her legs, a bad-tempered retiree who discovers a cougar living in his haymow, and a former drifter who binds a community together.
Rhodes and his wife, Edna, live on 35 acres of land about 10 miles outside of Wonewoc, located in the "driftless region" of Wisconsin.
The event is free and open to the public. Tickets are not required. For more information, call (608) 325-5700 or online at www.monroeartscenter.com. Monroe Arts Center events are underwritten by Corporate Underwriter Colony Brands, Inc., and Media Underwriters Monroe Publishing, LLC, and Big Radio.