Renee Simms reading for the forthcoming novel "Festivals"
Channel: Department of English, Arizona State University
Date: 2020-02-10

The Creative Writing Program in the Department of English at ASU presented a reading and book signing by two of its star alumni: Renee Simms, who earned a Master of Fine Arts in 2007, and Dustin Pearson, who earned a Master of Fine Arts in 2017.

Renee Simms received her MFA from Arizona State University, a JD from Wayne State University Law School, and a BA from University of Michigan. She is a recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship, was a John Gardner Fiction Fellow at Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and received fellowships from Ragdale and Vermont Studio Center. In addition to teaching in the Rainier Writing Workshop, Renee teaches at University of Puget Sound where she is an associate professor of African American Studies and contributing faculty to English. Renee’s debut story collection Meet Behind Mars was a Foreword Indies Finalist for Short Stories and listed by The Root as one of 28 brilliant books by black authors in 2018. Renee is currently at work on a novel and a collection of linked essays.

ASU Tempe campus
Thursday, Oct. 24, 2019