Former USU graduate, Brandon Schrand (American Studies 2003) will be on campus as a visiting speaker March 21-23.

Brandon presently teaches in the MFA Program at University of Idaho, and he is author of The Enders Hotel, which is a memoir about growing up in Soda Springs, Idaho. The Enders Hotel was the 2007 River Teeth Nonfiction Prize-winner and a 2008 Barnes and Noble Discover Great New Writers selection.  Brandon’s second memoir entitled Works Cited: An Alphabetical Odyssey of Mayhem and Misbehavior is due out Spring of 2013.  He has been published in numerous journals (including The Missouri Review, River Teeth, The Utne Reader, and Ecotone), three times in Best American Essays, and he was the winner of the Pushcart Prize and a four time Pushcart “special mention”.





There will be several events open the public, so please mark your calendars for these:

Thursday afternoon: 3:00-5:15: Master Class (location to be announced).
All faculty, graduate students, and undergraduate students are invited; however, seating is limited for this event.  Please email Candi Checketts if you would like to reserve a seat (candi.checketts@usu.edu). Brandon will be speaking about the writing craft and using research in the genre of memoir. He will be answering participant questions. During the second half of the event, he will do a reading (books will be available for signing).  This event is sponsored by the Center for Women and Gender and the Graduate Student Senate.

Friday afternoon: Noon-1:15:  CHaSS Alumni Speaker Series.  Alumni House.  Open to the public. Light refreshments will be served.
Brandon will be the only CHaSS Alumni speaker for Spring, so please plan to attend this event and announce it to your classes.

A sampling of Schrand’s works are available at the following links:
“The Bone Road” (published in Shenandoah) is an essay about fatherhood (specifically, understanding the father he no longer remembers as well as his adoptive father) http://www.wlu.edu/Documents/shenandoah/sampler/Schrand.pdf

“Eleven Ways to Consider Air” (published in Ecotone) is a multi-faceted mediation that includes discussions of air in the West, Schrand’s asthma, his family’s history of smoking, and air quality near Monsanto plants.
http://brandonrschrand.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/schrandair.pdf

“Works Cited” (published in The Missouri Review) is the basis for Schrand’s forthcoming book entitled Works Cited: An Alphabetical Odyssey of Mayhem and Misbehavior. Schrand combines the form of an annotated bibliography with a memoir and discusses literary and popular works that were influential.
http://brandonrschrand.files.wordpress.com/2007/11/works-cited-pdf2.pdf

In addition to the public events during Brandon Schrand’s visit, faculty and graduate students are invited to attend a potluck at my house on the night of Brandon’s arrival.
Wednesday evening: 5:30-8:30, Potluck Dinner at Evelyn Funda’s home at 834 Juniper Drive (which is 1380 East, in the Hillcrest Neighborhood). Graduate Students and Department Faculty are invited.  Evelyn will provide a main dish and drinks.  Everyone else is asked to bring salad, side dishes, or dessert.  (We’d be grateful to know if you are coming—please email Evelyn or Candi).