Vallie Lynn Watson will read from her debut novel, A River So Long, on Thursday, November 8th at 7:30 pm in 40 Irvin. Watson's short fiction has appeared in dozens of literary journals--including Pank, Atticus Review, Nano Fiction, Moon Milk Review, and Corium--and she currently serves as editor for Blip Magazine (formerly Mississippi Review Online). Watson holds a Ph.D. in fiction writing from the Center for Writers, University of Southern Mississippi, and teaches in the creative writing program at Southeast Missouri State University.

"A River So Long is a lean and dirty dance through the unhooked lives of its characters [who] keep trying to find each other in the mess of contemporary American life. A splendid almost documentary rendering of the way things go these days." -Frederick Barthelme, author of Waveland, Elroy Nights, and more.