Three distinguished authors – a writing theorist, a novelist and an essayist – will headline three scholarly and creative conferences presented by the Department of English in March.

The 2015 Northern California Writing Centers Association conference will take place March 6 and 7, featuring a keynote address from Peter Elbow. The sixth annual Undergraduate Conference on Multiethnic Literature of the Americas will take place March 13, featuring a keynote address from Manuel Muñoz. And the 35th annual Young Writers’ Conference will take place March 25, featuring a keynote address from Elena Passarello.

A key figure in the student-centered movement of teaching writing, Peter Elbow is a professor emeritus of English at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. He has written nine books, including the influential “Writing Without Teachers” and “Writing With Power” as well as the recent “Vernacular Eloquence: What Speech Can Bring to Writing.” He has published numerous essays on writing, teaching and evaluation.

Elbow will deliver his keynote address on Saturday, March 7 at 8:30 a.m. in the Satellite Student Union. The keynote address is free and open to the public. Parking is free in suggested lots P6 and P15. For information, contact Magda Gilewicz at magdag@csufresno.edu or 559.278.0334.

A Central Valley native and recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts literature fellowship, Manuel Muñoz teaches creative writing at the University of Arizona. Author of two short-story collections and the novel “What You See in the Dark,” his writing has appeared in The New York Times, literary journals including Glimmer Train, as well as on the National Public Radio program “Selected Shorts.”

Muñoz will deliver his keynote address on Friday, March 13 at 2 p.m. in the Alice Peters Auditorium (Peters Business Building, room 191) inside the University Business Center. The keynote address is free and open to the public. Parking costs $3 in suggested lots P5 and P6. For information contact Samina Najmi at snajmi@csufresno.edu or 559.278.2660.

A rising star in creative nonfiction and recipient of numerous fellowships, Elena Passarello teaches creative writing at Oregon State University. Author of the memoir “Let Me Clear My Throat,” which won the Independent Publisher Book Award gold medal for nonfiction and was a finalist for the Oregon Book Award, her writing has appeared in the Oxford American, Slate, Creative Nonfiction, The Normal School and others.

Passarello will deliver her keynote address on Wednesday, March 25 at 9:15 a.m. in the Satellite Student Union. The keynote address is free and open to the public. Parking costs $3 in suggested lots P6 and P15. For information, contact Tanya Nichols at tanichols@csufresno.edu or 559.278.2467.

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