Authors to Give Public Readings at Drew University

A series of public readings by acclaimed authors is coming to Drew University in Madison next week.

The readings, all by Drew alumni, take place 5 p.m. Monday through Friday in Mead Hall as part of Drew's "Sentences 5" conference. The conference explores the genres of fiction, creative non-fiction, memoir and journalism.

Here's who's reading and when, and a description of their work from a university announcement for the event (schedule subject to change):

• Monday: Ron Felber, a former law enforcement official whose articles for True Detective launched his career as an author, has written eight books, including "Il Dottore: The Double Life of a Mafia Doctor," which inspired the television series "The Mob Doctor." His latest work, "A Man of Indeterminate Value," was published by Barricade Books this year.
• Tuesday: Award-winning poet Loren Kleinman has published works in Nimrod, Journal of New Jersey Poets, Resurgence (UK), HerCircleEzine, Aesthetica Annual and other literary journals. With 10 years of writing and editorial experience, she has also contributed to trade and commercial magazines like Premier Romance, Bonita Magazine, Premiere Hotels, Premiere Spas, Luxury Travel Advisor, Travel Agent Magazine, Newark Council Monitor, The New Writer and Open Wide Magazine (UK).
• Wednesday: Former Peace Corps volunteer Mark Jacobs spent 18 years in the Foreign Service working in Latin America, Turkey and Spain. He has published over 80 short stories in commercial and literary magazines including The Atlantic and The Iowa Review. His novels include "Stone Cowboy," "A Handful of Kings" and "Forty Wolves."
• Thursday: Gloria Rojas’ career in journalism includes serving as a general assignment reporter whose coverage ranges from what she describes as “the trivial and amusing to the [overwhelmingly] tragic.” In the early 1980s, she covered the beginnings of the HIV/AIDS epidemic and early research on DNA. She has also interviewed and written about world leaders, including Israeli Ambassador Abba Eban and King Faisal of Saudia Arabia.
• Friday: New York Times bestselling author Wendy Mass has written 14 novels for young people, which have been nominated for 61 state book awards and translated into 14 languages.  "A Mango-Shaped Space" is a past winner of the ALA Schneider Family Book Award. In addition to her other popular books, Mass wrote for the hit TV show "Monk," most notably being credited with the storyline for "Mr. Monk Goes to the Theater," which aired during the second season.

For more information about Sentences 5 visit http://depts.drew.edu/grad/sentences/home.html.