Ehrlich to read for UI Nonfiction Writing Program Nov. 11

Gretel Ehrlich, a guest of the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program, will read at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 11, in room 101 of Becker Communication Studies Building. The reading is free and open to the public.

Ehrlich is the author of The Solace of Open Spaces; Islands, the Universe, Home; This Cold Heaven: Seven Seasons in Greenland; A Match to the Heart: One Woman's Story of Being Struck by Lightning; Drinking Dry Clouds: Stories from Wyoming; Heart Mountain; and A Journey Home.

She worked in film for 10 years, and then began writing full time in 1978 after the death of a loved one. She had been filming on a 250,000-acre sheep and cattle ranch in northern Wyoming at the time, and that's where she stayed—and where she was hit by lightning in 1991.

After several years of recovery, she traveled to the foothills of the Himalayas and to Greenland, where she become entranced by the subsistence culture of the Inuit hunters.

Ehrlich's work, including essays, short stories and poems have been included in many anthologies including Best Essays of the Century, Best American Essays, Best Spiritual Writing, Best Travel Writing, and The Nature Reader.

In addition, poet Brenda Hillman, an alumna and former faculty member of the University of Iowa Writers' Workshop, will read from Practical Water, her new collection, at 5 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 12, in Prairie Lights Books in downtown Iowa City. The free event will be streamed live and archived on the UI Writing University web site.

prepared by University Relations