Starting in 2008, Amber Jensen, Christine Stewart-Nuñez, and Mary Woster Haug met regularly at a coffee shop in Brookings, South Dakota to respond to each other’s writing and give each other crucial—and critical—support. Now they are celebrating the fruits of their work—the publication of three new books—with a book tour.
Each author examines the experiences, people, and places that have shaped them through lyrical voice, employing vivid imagery and metaphor to deepen reflection. Their work demonstrates the varied forms of creative nonfiction, ranging from a personal memoir, to a collection of distinct essays, and a braided memoir that weaves personal experience with research about others’ lives.
This book launch will be of special interest for writers in writers' groups, or writers who are considering joining a writers' group. Amber, Christine, and Mary will share their experience of how important their group has been to their success.
Amber Jensen completed her undergraduate studies in English and Spanish at SDSU. After teaching English in Mexico for five years, she continued her studies in literature and writing, earning a graduate degree at SDSU and a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing through the University of New Orleans. Encouraged by mentors in both of these programs, Amber began drafting essays, finding homes for some of them in North Dakota Quarterly, Narrative Inquiry, at Oh-Dark-Thirty, and in Red, White, & True: Stories from Military Veterans and their Families WWII to Present. These essays are now part of her first book, The Smoke of You: A Memoir of Love During & After Deployment. Amber is currently a Senior Lecturer in the School of English and Interdisciplinary Studies at SDSU. She teaches courses in composition, literature, and technical and creative writing.
Christine Stewart-Nuñez is the author of The Poet & The Architect (2021), Untrussed (2016) and Bluewords Greening (2016) —winner of the 2018 Whirling Prize (literature of disability theme). Her debut prose collection, Chrysopoeia: Essays of Language, Love, and Place, was published by Stephen F. Austin State University Press in 2022. Her work has been the basis for international, cross-artistic collaborations with colleagues in music, dance, visual art, and architecture. Christine served as South Dakota’s poet laureate from 2019-2021 and she now teaches in the women’s and gender studies program at the University of Manitoba.
christinestewartnunez.com.
Mary Woster Haug is the author of Out of Loneliness: Murder and Memoir and Daughters of the Grasslands. She has been published in several anthologies and literary journals including River Teeth and Passager. She has twice been nominated for a Pushcart Prize. Mary is professor emerita in the English Department at South Dakota State University and makes her home in Minneapolis, Minnesota.