SEMO English department to host award-winning author Luke Rolfes for r…

Rolfes’ first two books — “Flyover Country”, which examines the “crushing truths and strange consolations of Middle America”, and “Impossible Naked Life”, which offers readers a “unique and often quite strange perspective” in common settings — were winners of the Georgetown Review Press Short Story Collection Contest and the Acacia Fiction Prize.

In addition to his writing, Rolfes works as an assistant professor of creative writing at Northwest Missouri State University, and co-edits GreenTower Press and Laurel Review, a biannual magazine that publishes submitted works of poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and “those that blur the lines between genres.” He also edits “Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors”, an anthology series that publishes works of poetry, fiction, essays and photography by and about veterans, service members and their families around the United States.

“Rolfes is an exceptional storyteller, who infuses his writing with a keen observational eye and wry humor. His stories are poignant but also funny, and always entertaining,” Brubaker said.

The English department’s Visiting Writer Series invites one poet and one fiction writer to campus each year, providing those interested with a “chance to engage with diverse literary voices and perspectives.”