Writers Harvest offers chance to nourish soul, while gathering food donations

The public is invited to take part in this special event and admission is free. Attendees are requested to contribute a non-perishable food item or a modest cash donation, all of which will be used during the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday to help those in need.

Writers' Harvest 2010 will feature seven national award-winning fiction writers and poets from the Los Angeles area. Each will give short readings from their works. Those scheduled to participate include:

Richard Lange: His book "This Wicked World" was named by The New York Times as one of the best crime novels of 2009. The 2008 recipient of the Rosenthal Family Foundation Award from the American Academy of Arts & Letters, Lang was also awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2009.

Ching-In Chen: A poet and multi-genre, border-crossing writer as well as a community organizer who has worked in the Asian American communities of the Bay Area and Boston. Chen's novel-in-poems, "The Heart's Traffic" was published in 2009.

 Tony Barnstone: The Albert Upton Professor of English at Whittier College, he is the

author of 12 books. His many honors include the Grand Prize at Ireland's Strokestown International Poetry Festival, the 2006 Benjamin Saltman Award for "The Golem of Los Angeles," and the 2009 John Ciardi Prize in poetry for "Tongue of War: From Pearl Harbor to Nagasaki."

Aimee Bender: Author of five books, including her newest, "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake." Her short fiction has been published in GQ, The Paris Review and Harper's Magazine, and has been heard on Public Radio International's "This American Life" and "Selected Shorts." She teaches creative writing at the University of Southern California.

Jen Hofer: Poet, translator, interpreter, teacher, knitter, public-letter writer, and urban cyclist, Hofer's recent publications include "one" and "The Route," a collaboration with Patrick Durgin. Hofer is a professor in the CalArts Master of Fine Arts Writing Program, the Graduate Writing Program at Otis College in L.A. and the Bachelor of Fine Arts Writing Program at Goddard College (Vermont).

Larry Foundation: The author of two novels, "Angry Nights" and "Fish, Soap, and Bonds," and the collections "Common Criminals" and "Unintended Consequences," Foundation's fiction and non-fiction have appeared in a wide range of publications. In 2008, he received a Christopher Isherwood Foundation Fellowship.

Ralph Angel: The Edit R. White Distinguished Professor of English & Creative Writing at the University of Redlands, Angel is the author of four books of Poetry including the 2007 PEN USA Poetry Award-winning "Exceptions and Melancholies: Poems 1986-2006." He is the recipient of additional prizes and fellowships including a Gertrude Stein Award, a Bess Hokin Award and a Fullbright Foundation fellowship.

Inland Valley Hope Partners is a charitable organization that brings together faith communities, businesses, individuals and community groups, and has a mission to ensure the empowerment of people in need by providing food, shelter and supportive services. The Hope Partners serve some 75,000 children and adults each year through their four food pantries in Ontario, Pomona, Claremont and San Dimas.

Additional information on the Writers Harvest 2010 event is available by calling (909) 593-3511 ext. 4714.

Permits are not required to park in university-restricted lots on weekends. Directions to campus and maps are available at http://laverne.edu/about/maps-directions/.