Award-winning author Patricia Foster will visit Mount Mercy University for a night of memory and imagination on Wednesday, March 7. The memoirist and essayist will participate in a question and answer session with audience members at 3:30 p.m., in Flaherty Community Room, Basile Hall. The Q&A is free and open to the public. Seating may be limited.
Her autobiography, "Just Beneath My Skin," explores themes related to the critical concerns of the Sisters of Mercy as Foster writes about her experience growing up in the south as a Caucasian female between the 1950s and 1970s, and the experiences women faced during that time period. In this inspiring collection of essays, Foster addresses mixed messages and stereotypes of southern women and expresses herself creatively through autobiography to find her cultural voice and identity. "Kirkus Review" hails Foster's book as "perceptive, thoughtful – and thought-provoking – with abundant moments of insight."
Foster, a professor in the English department at the University of Iowa, has written two nonfiction books and served as the editor for three anthologies of nonfiction prose. She also writes fiction and is a graduate of the prestigious Iowa Writers' Workshop. She won a Lake Effect Fiction Award, a Florida Arts Council Award, a Yaddo residency, four Alabama Arts and Humanities Awards, and a Dean's Scholar Award from the University of Iowa. In 2003, she served as an exchange professor at Paul Valery University in Montpellier, France. Foster holds an M.F.A. in fiction, an M.F.A. in art, and a Ph.D. in women's literature and creative writing.