CCA's Writers Series is open to the public and hosted by the MFA Program in Writing. Featured events also comprise the Friday Seminar course requirement for MFA Writing candidates.

Jess Walter is the author of six novels, including The Zero: A Novel (P.S.) (Harper 2006), for which he was a National Book Award finalist, and Citizen Vince (Harper 2008), an Edgar Award-winner for best novel. Walter's books have been translated into more than 20 languages and his essays, short fiction, criticism, and journalism have been widely published, in Harper's, Esquire, McSweeney's, Byliner, Playboy, ESPN (the magazine), Details and many others.

His most recent novel, Beautiful Ruins (Harper 2012), inaugurates the MFA Program in Writing's Summer Book Club.

"A literary miracle." -- NPR's Fresh Air
"A high-wire feat of bravura storytelling." -- New York Times Book Review
"A masterpiece ... damn near perfect." -- Salon