UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Esteemed author Rachel Cantor will read as part of the Mary E. Rolling Reading Series at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 16 in Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium. The reading is free and open to the public.
Cantor is the author of two novels, “A Highly Unlikely Scenario” and “Good on Paper,” both published by Melville House. Her stories have appeared in such publications as Paris Review, One Story, Ninth Letter, The Kenyon Review, and New England Review. Some of her stories have also been anthologized, nominated for the Pushcart Prize, short-listed by the O. Henry Awards and Best American Short Stories, and awarded runner-up Bridport and Graywolf/SLS prizes.
In addition to her awards, Cantor has received scholarships and fellowships from artist colonies in both the United States and elsewhere. She has also received fellowships to the Bread Loaf and Sewanee Writing Conferences.
The New York Times praised her most recent novel, “Good on Paper,” by saying, “Cantor is unafraid of asking big questions explicitly, like whether fidelity — to texts or to people — is possible.” The Boston Globe said of the novel, “It is not often that a novel comes along that is laugh-out-loud hilarious and thought-provokingly philosophical. ‘Good on Paper’ is both.”
In addition to her fiction writing, Cantor contributes as a freelance writer to nonprofits that work in developing countries. She currently lives in Brooklyn, where she is working on completing her third novel.
The Mary E. Rolling Reading Series is a program within Penn State’s Creative Writing Program in English. It receives generous support from Penn State’s College of the Liberal Arts, the Department of English, the Joseph L. Grucci Poetry Endowment, the Mary E. Rolling Lectureship in Creative Writing, and University Libraries.
A full listing of upcoming readings can be found at sites.psu.edu/psuwriters/.