Award-winning writer Julia Cooke is the first reader of the season for the celebrated Visiting Writers Series presented by the University of Maine at Farmington. Cooke will read from her work at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 15, in The Landing in the UMF Olsen Student Center. The reading is free and open to the public and will be followed by a book signing with the author.

Cooke’s “Come Fly The World” brings to light the strange, adventurous, and glamorous life of Pan Am stewardesses during the golden age of flying. Publishers Weekly calls the book, “A unique and compassionate portrait of barrier-breaking women in the 1960s and 70s,” and People Magazine writes, “A fascinating history of a bygone era.”

“Come Fly The World” was named to best-of lists from Newsweek, Fortune, People, the New York Observer, Apple, Amazon, and selected for inclusion in Malala Yousafzai’s book club.

Cooke is a journalist and travel writer whose features and personal essays have been published in Time, Smithsonian, Condé Nast Traveler, Saveur, and Virginia Quarterly Review, where she is a contributing editor. Cooke’s essays have been published in A Public Space, Salon, Tin House, and the New York Times, among many others. She was a finalist for a 2014 Livingston Award in International Reporting and was awarded a 2016 New York Press Club Award. Her work is widely anthologized

She holds a BA from Georgetown University and an MFA from Columbia University.

“Come Fly The World” is available for pre-purchase at the UMF University Bookstore and  Devany, Doak, and Garret Booksellers.

The UMF Creative Writing program invites students to work with faculty, who are practicing writers, in workshop-style classes to discover and develop their writing strengths in the genres of poetry, fiction, and non-fiction. Small classes, an emphasis on individual conferencing, and the development of a writing portfolio allow students to see themselves as artists and refine their writing under the guidance of accomplished and published faculty mentors. Students can pursue internships to gain real-world writing and publishing experience by working on campus with The Sandy River Review, a student-run literary magazine; Ripple Zine, a feminist magazine; and The Farmington Flyer, a university newspaper.

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