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Herbert Hoover 2011 Artists in Residence

National Park Service
U.S. Department of the Interior
Herbert Hoover National Historic Site News Release

WEST BRANCH, IOWA— This year two writers, M.S. Coe and Gaynell Gavin, are
the Artists-in-Residence at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site. During
their residencies Ms. Coe and Dr. Gavin will be available to interact with
park visitors as they write in the park. Each will also present a public
program. The Artist-in-Residence (AIR) Program at Herbert Hoover National
Historic Site promotes creative means of communicating the park's national
significance and its relevance to visitors.

Gaynell Gavin's prose and poetry has been published in many literary
journals and anthologies. Her poetry chapbook, Intersections, was published
by Main Street Rag Publishing. Her essay, "What We Have," published in
Prairie Schooner, was included among "Notable Essays" in The Best American
Essays 2009. This essay, like much of her work, is grounded in the Midwest.
She is originally from Illinois and is a faculty member at Claflin
University in Orangeburg, South Carolina. Dr. Gavin will be the
Artist-in-Residence from May 28 through June 20.

M.S. Coe grew up in the Sonoran and Mojave deserts. She worked at the
University of Arizona Poetry Center and as a reader for Sonora Review and
is currently an assistant editor of Epoch literary magazine. She teaches
English and creative writing at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York,
where she will receive her MFA degree. Her fiction often explores the
disassociation characters feel when placed into strange environments and
how they reconcile with their surroundings. Ms. Coe will be the
Artist-in-Residence from July 2 through July 20.

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site and the Herbert Hoover Presidential
Library and Museum are in West Branch, Iowa at exit 254 off I-80. Both are
open daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Central Time. For more information go
online at www.nps.gov/heho or call (319) 643-2541. They are supported in
part by the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library Association.

Herbert Hoover National Historic Site
110 Parkside Drive
PO Box 607
West Branch, Iowa 52358

319 643-2541 phone
319 643-7864 fax
www.nps.gov/heho