The 2021 Inprint Poets & Writers Ball celebrates Houston’s literary spirit with George Saunders and others

February 25, 2021, by

Although writing and reading are solitary and quiet acts, the 2021 Inprint Poets & Writers Ball—Inprint’s annual fundraising gala which went virtual this year—was a festive, engaging, collective, and inclusive experience, especially for those passionate about sustaining Houston’s literary arts scene. More than $280,000 was raised, surpassing the fundraising goal by close to 20%, thanks to the generosity of 250 donors who tuned in from all over the country on Saturday, February 6.

Raising funds to support Inprint programs, while delivering a memorable and high-quality evening that celebrates the power of creative writing and reading, has always been at the heart of the unique annual black-tie event and what has made the Inprint Ball a favorite gala for many patrons. Although the Inprint Ball looked a little different this year, gala supporters and their guests were able to enjoy the festivities from home.

The presentation portion of the evening began at 7:30 pm CST featuring welcome remarks by Inprint Board President Marcia West, followed by a video tribute in memory of recently departed Inprint founders Glenn Cambor and Karl Kilian. This was followed by what is often a beloved part of the evening for many attendees—a series of short readings by Inprint fellowship and prize recipients, all of whom are MFA and PhD students and alumni from the University of Houston. Five Inprint fellows, including Raquel Abend van Dalen, Lauren Berry, Matthew Salesses, Novuyo Rosa Tshuma, and Sasha West, each read excerpts from their new work and spoke about how Inprint’s support has impacted their writing life. Continue reading

Life As An Emerging Poet Part 2

June 6, 2012, by

Here is Part 2 of our story, Life As An Emerging Poet. On Monday, we posted Part 1 featuring an interview with Glenn Shaheen. Poets Glenn Shaheen and Lauren Berry will give a reading from their work on Thursday, June 7th, 7 pm at Brazos Bookstore. For more information, visit www.brazosbookstore.com

Lauren Berry, who received her MFA from the University of Houston Creative Writing Program, was a National Poetry Series winner in 2009 for her first collection of poetry, The Lifting Dress. Her book was selected by Terrance Hayes and published by Penguin. Among the many eminent names that Lauren lists in her acknowledgements page, we are proud that Inprint is the first! Lauren was the recipient of the Inprint Paul Verlaine Prize in Poetry and served as poetry editor of Gulf Coast, the nationally renowned literary journal published by the graduate students in the UH CWP. We are happy to have her back in Houston after a year teaching in Wisconsin, and were able to catch up with her this week.

Inprint:  Can you tell us what you are doing now, career-wise?

Lauren: Right now I have the pleasure of teaching twelfth grade English and ballet at YES Prep North Central. Our campus is a charter school with a drive to get low-income students in Houston into college with the expectation that they will return to our beloved city and devote themselves to better serving its community. YES is an acronym for Youth Engaged in Service, a commitment which informs much of the work that we do. In the fall, I will start my third year with the school. Continue reading

Life As An Emerging Poet

June 4, 2012, by

As summer begins, a pool of recent grads, especially those with liberal arts or creative writing graduate degrees, will begin to ponder the timeless question—What do I do with this degree?

At Inprint, we are lucky because we interact with graduate students in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Houston all the time. We are proud to be able to give fellowships, prizes, and other support to these students because we know how important they are to the literary life of this city; we know how much they give back to the community; and we know how important they are to the creative world in general. We can’t help but feel pride as they graduate and go forth into the universe and fulfill their artistic destinies. It isn’t easy for them–the publishing world and the academic creative writing job market is a competitive one, and for poets it is often tougher.

This week, however, we get to highlight two UH Creative Writing Program alums who are making their mark in the world of poetry. Lauren Berry and Glenn Shaheen, authors, respectively, of the poetry collections, The Lifting Dress and Predatory, will read from their work on Thursday, June 7, 7 pm at Brazos Bookstore.  For more information, visit  www.brazosbookstore.com.

We had a chance to talk to Glenn over the weekend.

Inprint:  Glenn, can you tell us a little bit more about your and Lauren’s Texas book tour? What will you be reading from?  You have old friends and professors in Houston, does reading in front of them have more meaning for you or does it make you more nervous?

Glenn: We’re just hitting up a few places in east/north Texas, starting with Houston, then moving on to Austin, Dallas, and Denton. We’ll both be reading from our new (and only) books, Predatory (me) and The Lifting Dress (Lauren). Probably some new stuff, too, though that’s always nerve wracking, but maybe in a good way. Continue reading