Writer Mick Cochrane on Campus April 9

SUNY Buffalo State welcomes writer Mick Cochrane for a reading and discussion of his latest book, Fitz, on Tuesday, April 9, from 1:40 to 2:55 p.m. in Caudell Hall 212. The talk is free and open to the public.

Cochrane’s first novel for young adults, Fitz tells the story of a 15-year-old boy who coerces the father he’s never met to spend a day with him—at gunpoint. Knopf executive editor Erin Clarke called the book “a taut, heartwarming novel…full of characters you will quickly come to love.”

Cochrane is a professor of English and the Lowery Writer-in-Residence at Canisius College, where he has three times been named Peter Canisius Distinguished Teaching Professor. He teaches courses in writing and literature, directs the creative writing program, and coordinates the Contemporary Writers Series.

Born and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, Cochrane earned his undergraduate degree from the University of St. Thomas and his Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Minnesota. His first novel, Flesh Wounds (Nan Talese/Doubleday, 1997), was named a finalist in Barnes and Noble’s Discover Great New Writers competition. His second book, Sport (Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press, 2001), was selected for the annual New York Public Library’s Books for the Teen Age list. The Girl Who Threw Butterflies (Alfred A. Knopf, 2009), his first book for young readers, was named a Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choice in 2009.

Cochrane’s short stories have appeared in the Cincinnati Review, the Northwest Review, the Kansas Quarterly, and the Water~Stone Review. He has also published critical essays on Raymond Carver, Bob Dylan, baseball literature, and the art of biography. He has received grants from the Saltonstall Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities.

This event is sponsored by the English Department.