Franklin College will host “Fright Mic! A Night of Scary Tales and Poems” with bestselling-writer Dan Chaon on Friday, Oct. 28. This event, part of the 2022-23 Carlson-Stauffer Visiting Writer Series, will take place at  7 p.m. in Richardson Chapel. The event is free and open to the public, but reservations are required at bit.ly/3Tk0iAS.

Students from the creative writing and English majors, along with other Franklin College community members, will entertain the audience with their scariest stories and poems. Halloween treats, such as cider and s’mores, will be available for purchase before and after the event to benefit the Apogee, Franklin College’s literary magazine. Costumes are welcome. Following the event, Chaon will sign books, organized by Wild Geese Bookshop, and his latest titles will be available for purchase. Guests are invited to stay and mingle outdoors at the cozy campus fire pits.

Chaon is an American educator and award-winning writer. He is the author of the national bestseller Ill Will, which was recognized as one of the top 10 books of 2017 by a number of publications, including The New York Times, Publishers Weekly and the Los Angeles Times. Raised in Nebraska, Chaon knew from an early age that he wanted to tell stories. He received his undergraduate degree from Northwestern University and his master’s degree from Syracuse University. He enjoyed a long and successful career as an educator, teaching creative writing and literature at Oberlin College, before retiring and pursuing writing full-time.

“The creative writing and English majors who work on Apogee literary magazine have been designing this event since spring.” says Christian Magallanes Moody, Ph.D., assistant professor of English and creative writing and the Apogee faculty adviser. “They’ve assembled a line-up of our campus’s best storytellers and artists to entertain the crowd before Chaon takes the stage. They have a great plan to decorate the chapel to create an eerie atmosphere. I’m really proud of the work they’ve put into the event.”

Moody also added, “What makes the night even more special is to have famous, bestselling writer Dan Chaon headlining the event. Chaon is one of our country’s best fiction writers, and he’s known for his ability to unsettle readers while also being extremely funny and generous. When reviewers talk about Chaon’s novels and stories, they use words like eerie, suspenseful, haunting, beautiful, and terrifying—and this is the atmosphere we know he’ll bring to the night. He’s the perfect ‘Fright Mic!’ guest, because he is a literary superstar who can tell a knockout creepy tale, but he’s also a very funny guy with a big heart.”

The Carlson-Stauffer Visiting Writer Series is made possible through a grant from Indiana Humanities in cooperation with the National Endowment for the Humanities.  The series – previously known as the Creative Writing Reading Series – is now named in honor of two retired English professors, Kathy Carlson and Emily Stauffer.

Contact the Franklin College Office of Communications at (317) 738-8185 for more information. 

By: Lola Reed ’24, Franklin College Pulliam Fellow

POSTED Oct 14, 2022