The event is free and open to the public and is funded by the Dorothy and Wedel Nilsen Visiting Writers Series and Southeast Missouri State University Press.
Kinder is the author of two novels, The Universe Playing Strings and An Absolute Gentleman; two collections of short fiction, A Near-Perfect Gift and Sweet Angel Band; and co-author of a dual media biography titled Old Time Fiddling: Hal Sappington, Missouri Fiddler.
Her new short story collection, The Dancers Son and Other Stories, was a finalist for the 2016 Richard Sullivan Prize in Fiction, and her recent novel, The Universe Playing Strings, was a finalist for the 2017 Binghamton University John Gardner Fiction Award. Her short-stories, non-fiction, and poems have appeared in over 60 publications, including Notre Dame Review, Connecticut Review, Confrontation, Appalachian Journal, and, most recently Missouri Life.
Kinder was a professor of English at the University of Central Missouri from 1989 to 2002, with emphases in creative writing and women writers. She is a founder of Pleiades Press, and served as coordinator of creative writing and editor of Pleiades literary journal. She currently serves as editor emerita and readsfor Pleiades, principally as judge for the journals realistic national fiction contest. She also serves as an advisory editor with New Letters journal and BkMk Press, and is a co-editor at Sweetgum Press and Cave Hollow Press, both of which promote regional writing.
A songwriter and musician, Kinder maintains a video/photo archive of performances by local musicians. She lives and writes in Warrensburg, Missouri, with her husband and their canine and feline companions, Lily, Pip, Pearly and Twitch.
A book signing will follow the reading, and books will be available for purchase at the event. For more information, contact Dr. James Brubaker at (573) 651-2624 or jbrubaker@semo.edu.