West Virginia University Press author and WVU graduate Valerie Nieman will read from her works at 6 p.m. Friday, Oct. 6, at the University Towne Center Barnes and Noble Bookstore.

Nieman will read fromFidelities, her collection of 18 short stories, as well as from her newest publication,Wake, Wake, Wake, a collection of poetry published by Press 53.

Fidelities, primarily set in the Applachia of the Mountain State, is a collection of stories about the people, places, and subtleties of West Virginia.

Therese Boyd, a professor of creative writing at Penn State praisesFidelitiespanoramic shotof life in rural Appalachia.

Ruth Moose, a creative writing professor at UNC -Chapel Hill, saysNieman writes stories that show real people in real life.She also praises Niemans ability to write from multiple points of view saying,Nieman is one of few writers who is equally at home and at ease in both male and female viewpoints.

In conjunction with the Oct. 6 reading, the Morgantown Writers Group will sponsor a writers workshop with Nieman on Saturday, Oct. 7, at the Morgantown Public Library on Spruce Street. The workshop will focus on Ekphrastic poetry (poetry inspired by works of art). Registration will begin at 9:30 a.m. with the workshop lasting until 11:45 a.m. Adutch treatlunch will follow.

Fidelities,published by the Vandalia Press, is Niemans first published collection of short stories. She has previously authoredSurvivors,a novel about the aftermath of the Veitnam War, and her new collection of poetryWake, Wake, Wake.

Nieman is a graduate of WVU s Perley Isaac Reed School of Journalism. Since graduation, she has developed a career as a fiction writer while being a full-time journalist as well as currently being an assistant professor at the North Carolina A&T State University where she teaches English and Journalism.

The Morgantown Writers Group holds critiques and workshops focusing on short stories, poetry, genre and memoirs twice a month. The Morgantown Writers Group has published an anthology titledThe Mist On The Monand has several writers that have received awards at the West Virginia Writersspring competition.

The Vandalia Press is the WVU Pressliterary imprint, specializing in contemporary poetry, fiction and creative nonfiction. Since 2001, Vandalia Press has published one or two literary titles each year by regional writers or by other authors whose work has a strong connection to Appalachia or West Virginia.

For information about the writers workshop or the Morgantown Writers Group contact George Lies at glies@wvu.edu .

For additional information about the book reading, visitwww.wvupress.comor call 1-866-WVUPRESS.