University Communications and Marketing
MSUB writer-in-residence to present free lecture
March 11, 2015
Contacts:
David Craig, 657-2908
Carmen Price, University Relations & Communications, 657-2266
Free and open to the public, the lecture will be held in the Liberal Arts building, room 205, on Thursday, April 14, at 4:30 p.m.
MSU BILLINGS NEWS SERVICES — Montana State University Billings writer-in-residence Virginia Korus Spragg will speak about what it takes to pursue the craft of writing on April 14, at 4:30 p.m., in the Liberal Arts building room 205.
Spragg will share with students and community members the creative process of writing a screenplay for the stage and screen in a guest lecture titled, Writerly Grit.
Spragg is the co-author of “An Unfinished Life,” a 2005 film starring Robert Redford, Morgan Freeman and Jennifer Lopez. The screenplay received the Christopher Award and Genesis awards. Spragg also wrote the screenplay for the 2013 film “As Cool As I Am,” starring Claire Danes, Sarah Bolger and James Marsden, inspired by the novel written by Pete Fromm.
For the past three years, the Honors Program has hosted a guest writer who teaches an honors seminar on a topic of his or her choosing. Previous writers-in-residence have included Earnest Hemingway’s last assistant, Valerie Hemingway, and contemporary travel writer and founding editor of “Outside Magazine,” Tim Cahill, as well as environmental writer Gary Ferguson.
This year, Spragg will lead the seminar in which students create their own screenplay.
"The writer-in-residence series gives MSUB students a unique opportunity to engage with masters of the craft," Honors Program Director David Craig said. "The guest writer seminars also bring community auditors and honors students together, a combination of which produces unusually vibrant and exploratory discussions."
For more information about the write-in-residence program, visit msubillings.edu/honors/residence.