Fresno State MFA Faculty Reading
Fresno State's Master of Fine Arts Program in Creative Writing presents an evening with faculty authors Venita Blackburn, Steven Church, Ra Jarrar, Brynn Saito, Mai Der Vang, and Brenna Womer.
The reading, as part of the Fresno Poets' Association series, includes a book signing. Author books for sale from Judging by the Cover. The event is sponsored by the Fresno State MFA program and Fresno Poets' Association philanthropic partners.
Time: 6 to 8 PM
Date: Wednesday, September 2, 2026
Place: Fresno State Library (LIB 2206)
Admission: Free
Venita Blackburn is the author of the award-winning story collection, Black Jesus and Other Superheroes, along with her second collection, How to Wrestle a Girl. Her debut novel, Dead in Long Beach, California, is about the mania of grief, all of human history, and a lesbian assassin at the end of the world.
Steven Church is the author of six books of creative nonfiction, most recently the collection of essays I'm Just Getting to the Disturbing Part: on Work, Fear, and Fatherhood and the book-length essay One With the Tiger. He also edited the anthology The Spirit of Disruption: Selections from The Normal School.
Ra Jarrar is the Palestinian author of the memoirs You Are A Teen Mom: Instructions and Love Is An Ex-Country, the novel A Map of Home, and the collection of stories Him, Me, Muhammad Ali. She is a filmmaker and performer who has appeared in independent films and on the A24 TV shows Ramy and #1 Happy Family USA. She is a recipient of a Creative Capital Award, an American Book Award, and others.
Brynn Saito’s third book of poems, Under a Future Sky, was published in 2023. A California Arts Council Individual Artist Fellow, Brynn is the recipient of the Benjamin Saltman Award and a nominee for the Northern California Book Award. Brynn recently coedited with Brandon Shimoda The Gate of Memory: Poems by Descendants of Nikkei Wartime Incarceration.
Mai Der Vang is the author of three collections of poetry, all published by Graywolf Press. Her honors include the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize from the Academy of American Poets, an American Book Award, finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry, the First Book Award from the Academy of American Poets, among others. She is the recipient of a Guggenheim and Lannan Literary Fellowship.
Brenna Womer is a queer, childfree, Latine prose writer and poet. She is the author of the full-length, mixed-genre collections Unbrained and honeypot, as well as the chapbooks cost of living and Atypical Cells of Undetermined Significance. She teaches at Fresno State and lives with her three rescue dogs: Honey, Dot, and Pico.
INFORMATION
Additional Info:
All attendees are encouraged to wear a mask when indoors.
Parking costs $5 in recommended Lot P1. Campus access at the Shaw and Maple entrance. (Campus map)
There will be no livestream available. A recording will be made for future posting to the Fresno State MFA YouTube channel.
All participants are welcome. For disability related accommodations or access information, please contact Brynn Saito at bsaito@mail.fresnostate.edu or 559.278.1569. Requests should be made at least one week in advance of the event.