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Poet Mai Der Vang Will Read Jan. 16 on Campus

In the ������Ƶ Creative Writing Reading Series, Poet Mai Der Vang will appear on Tuesday, Jan. 16.

Mai Der Vang’s debut poetry collection, Afterland (2016), was selected by Carolyn Forché as the winner of the Whitman Award, given by the Academy of American Poets. She earned her MFA in poetry from Columbia University where she was awarded the Corrente Poetry Fellowship.

All the readings are free and open to the public at the Peter J. Shields Library, second floor, at 7 p.m. The is presented by the Creative Writing Program in the Department of English, College of Letters and Science, and co-sponsored by the U.C. Davis Library.

Daylong Festival to Screen 'Stand Up Planet,' Three Other Films, Jan. 20

������Ƶ will host its first South Asian Film Festival on Saturday, Jan. 20, 2018, screening four films with a broad view of South Asians around the world—one of them featuring alumnus and comedian Hasan Minhaj.

Minhaj, a correspondent for The Daily Show who grew up in Davis and earned his bachelor’s degree in political science at ������Ƶ in 2008, stars in Stand Up Planet. In the documentary, he travels to Mumbai, India, and Johannesburg, South Africa, to find the funniest comics tackling gritty issues of gender, poverty, and race, and then brings one from each country to Hollywood to perform.

Stand Up Planet, a U.S. production directed by David Munro, will start at 1 p.m. at the International House, 10 College Park. Admission is free for students, with a $10 suggested donation for other viewers. Tickets are sold at the door.

It is the second in the lineup of films; two other movies will also screen at the International House, while the closing film will show at the Varsity Theater in downtown Davis. The first film shows at 10 a.m. and the last at 6 p.m.

More information .

Contributed by Kathleen Holder, College of Letters and Science

Suspense Novelist Alafair Burke Appearing on CPR’s 'Authors on Stage,' Sacramento

We’re laying tracks for our next "Authors On Stage" on Jan. 29 with New York Times best-selling novelist Alafair Burke for The Wife.  Burke has published 12 novels in three mystery-suspense series, along with five stand-alone books. She’s a former New York prosecutor and now a law school professor, Monday, Jan. 29 at the Harper Alumni Center on the Sac State campus.

The Wife, on sale Jan. 23: It’s a  “domestic thriller” along the lines of Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris and The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware, which means twists and turns and a surprise ending.

Synopsis: Life seems ideal now that defense attorney and single mom Angela has married Jason, a brilliant economist, and moved to Manhattan. In her new persona, the tragic secrets of her past seem safe.

But her marriage begins unraveling when two women from Jason’s past appear with accusations against him. Angela believes her husband is guiltless, but is forced to question everything when one of the woman mysteriously disappears. Now Angela must choose between defending her husband and saving herself. Mix that with deceit, murder, courtroom drama and shocking revelations and we’ve got another page-turner from Burke.  

One telling indicator is this:  Burke’s publisher, Harper, is promoting The Wife as the “much-anticipated follow-up to ‘The Ex,’” which got huge buzz when it hit bookshelves last year. For instance, the Mystery Writers of America nominated it for an Edgar Award for best novel of 2016, and BookBub Blog CQ included it in its list of “The 22 Biggest Thrillers of 2016.”  Can Burke top that with The Wife?

A few years ago, Burke partnered with “queen of suspense” Mary Higgins Clark to co-write their subsequent four-title “Under Suspicion” suspense series, centered around a TV show featuring cold-case murders. Their latest is Every Breath You Take. But that’s another story.

Contributed by Allen Pierleoni, journalist, who will also interview the author at the event