For release: September 15, 2011
For press information, contact Gabrielle Maxey, 901/678-2843

Richard Tillinghast

A native of Memphis, Tillinghast has published ten books of poetry, as well as three non-fiction books - Damaged Grandeur, a critical memoir of the poet Robert Lowell; What Is Real, a selection of his critical writings about poetry; and Finding Ireland: A Poet’s Explorations of Irish Literature and Culture, an introduction to the country through its literature, architecture, history, and art.

His most recent poetry collections are The New Life and Selected Poems. Other books of poetry include Six Mile Mountain, The Stonecutter’s Hand and Today in the Cafe Trieste.

A graduate of the University of the South at Sewanee, Tenn., Tillinghast earned master’s and doctoral degrees from Harvard University.

The River City Writers Series is sponsored by the Writing Program, the Creative Writing Club, the Department of English, the Hohenberg Foundation and Student Event Allocation, with support from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and the Moss Chair of Excellence.

RCWS is one of the longest-running reading series in the nation; this year marks its 35^th anniversary of providing U of M students and others the opportunity to meet award-winning writers.

For more information, email creativewriting@memphis.edu or holladay@memphis.edu,

or call 901-678-4692.