Nationally known poets to read at the Tusculum Review Launch Party

A launch party of the 2009 edition of the Tusculum Review will be held on April 30, at 7 p.m., in the Chalmers Conference Room of the Niswonger Commons on the Tusculum College campus.

The Tusculum Review, the College’s literary magazine, features fiction and nonfiction writing, poetry, prose and art.brent-house-headshotcut

The event is free, open to the public and will feature readings by nationally-known poets Brent House and Clay Matthews, whose work will appear in the new issue. Copies of the new issue will be available at the launch party.

House, a Tusculum Review contributing editor, grew up in Necaise, Miss., where he raised cattle and watermelons on the family farm.  His poetry has appeared in or is forthcoming in the Colorado Review, Cream City Review, Denver Quarterly and Third Coast, among other publications. Currently, he is completing his doctorate degree at Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Matthews has recent work published in H_NGM_N, the Black Warrior Review, the Laurel Review, LIT, Court Green and Forklift, Ohio. He has two chapbooks: Muffler and Western Reruns, which are available for free online.  His first book, Superfecta, was released by Ghost Road Press.

According to Wayne Thomas, assistant professor English at the College and editor of the Tusculum Review, Tusculum College is one of only a few undergraduate colleges in the United States that offers students the opportunity to work for an international literary journal.clay-matthews-headshotcut

The Tusculum Review offers students the chance to learn and refine their skills as reviewers of literature, critics of visual art and editors of the written word. These opportunities provide students with unique qualifications for graduate studies and employment in publishing.

“It is a great experience for them as future writers, editors and publishers,” said Thomas.