Author John Balaban to Speak at USU

Author John Balaban will visit Utah State University for two free, public events as part of USU’s Department of English Speakers Series.

First, he reads from his work Tuesday, Oct. 30, at 7 p.m. at the USU Haight Alumni Center. He will conduct a master class Wednesday, Oct. 31, at 3:30 p.m. in the USU Caine Room (Family Life 212). All are invited to both events.

 

During the Vietnam War, Balaban volunteered as a civilian conscientious objector, first as a teacher of descriptive linguistics at a Vietnamese university and then, after the university was bombed in the Tet Offensive, as the field representative for a group of Americans who funded the treatment of war-injured children.

 

In addition to writing poetry, fiction and nonfiction, he is a translator of Vietnamese poetry and a past president of the American Literary Translators Association. Balaban is poet-in-residence and professor of English at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.

 

Balaban’s visit to USU is made possible through support from the Marie Eccles Caine Foundation, the Associated Students of Utah State University (ASUSU), the Utah Humanities Council, and the department of English at USU.

 

 

Contact: Charles Waugh, charles.waugh@usu.edu, (435) 797-3481
Writer: Marina Hall, marina.hall@usu.edu, (435) 797-3858