Is food really the way to a man’s heart? We may argue endlessly about that, but it will be hard to argue with Utah native and award winning poet and author Dianne Nelson Oberhansly, who on Friday, August 28, 2015, will reveal the unexpected effects food has on men and women both.

Dianne will be reading from her latest book, The Madonna of Starbucks, in which she takes an imaginative look at the part food plays in affecting psychological and emotional behavior, at its mystical force in exposing private human moments, at its effect, as Hawthorne would say, of digging up and revealing “the mysteries of the human heart.” Dianne’s husband, Curtis, will play several guitar selections during the evening as musical transitions between readings.

The Wednesday preceding Dianne’s reading, August 26, at 7:00 pm in the Springdale library, the Springdale Library Book Club will be discussing A Brief History of Male Nudes in America, which Dianne published in 1993 and which won the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction. At her August 28th presentation, Dianne will entertain questions and comments from the audience on both this stylistically polished book as well as on The Madonna of Starbuck’s, an opportunity book clubbers rarely get. We encourage everyone to attend both events.

Dianne, who has an MFA in Creative Writing from Arizona State University, won the Flannery O’Conner Award for A Brief History of Male Nudes in America, and was awarded the Utah Fiction Book of the Year for her co-authored novel, The Downwinders: An Atomic Tale. Dianne has published stories and poems in such journals as The Iowa Review, Ploughshares, The New England Review, and Beloit Fiction Review. She lives in rural Utah , is a Writing Panelist for Young Arts foundation, teaches at various writing workshops, and is a hiker, food enthusiast and serial dinner party hostess as you may suspect, and an Arts supporter.

Admission – Free

 

This project is supported by Utah Arts and Museums, with funding from the State of Utah and the National Endowment for the Arts .

 

Support for this event provided by The National Endowment for the Arts - Art Works

 

This event has received funding from the Utah Humanities Council. The Utah Humanities Council promotes history and heritage, literature and literacy, and public discussion of issues important to our communities. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website or the lectures do not necessarily represent those of the Utah Humanities Council or the National Endowment for the Humanities.