Organized by Ambrosian student and faculty involved with Sigma Tau Delta, the international English Honors Society, this author panel will be the first public event held by the SAU’s representation of the organization in more than 3 years.

The event will host appearances from 3, published and currently active doctorates Misty Urban, X.H Collins and Professor Carl Herzig.

Misty Urban: holds an MFA in fiction and a Ph.D. in Old and Middle English literature from Cornell University. Her short stories have been widely published and have won prizes from Atlantic Monthly, New Letters, Indiana Review, and Writers @ Work. Her debut collection, A Lesson in Manners, won the Serena McDonald Kennedy Award and was published by Snake Nation Press. A second collection, The Necessaries, from Paradisiac Publishing, was a finalist for the 2019 Indie Star Book Award.

X.H Collins: was born in Hechuan, Sichuan Province, China, grew up in Kangding, on the East Tibet Plateau, and now calls Chengdu, China, and Iowa, USA home. Although always wanting to be a writer, she chose a career path of science and earned a MS in cell biology and a PhD in nutrition. She recently retired as a biology professor after teaching for seventeen years. When she’s not teaching or writing, she enjoys spending time with her family, reading, dancing (ballroom and Latin), and cooking.

Carl Herzig: is a fellow of the National Writing Project and a reviewer for several literary and creative arts journals. He leads student service-learning trips to India and has served as an Iowa Humanities Scholar and evaluator for the Hearst Foundation U. S. Senate Youth Program, the Iowa Humanities Board, and the Illinois Council for the Humanities. He is currently professor of English at St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa, where he teaches courses in sacred poetry, contemporary fiction, and creative and expository writing.

The event is primarily for students, but is open for all faculty, staff and employees. Come listen in as 3 local writers share their thoughts on the writing process and their own inspirations!

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