UC Davis students take center stage at author events this week and next week. Both programs are free and open to the public.

Prized Writing — A presentation by some of the contributors to the newest edition of this annual anthology from the University Writing Program — showcasing the work of undergraduates from around the university. The new edition, 2009-10, comprises 27 essays, covering the gamut from science and technology to the humanities and social sciences.

The program for next week includes Rachel Aquino and Mikaela Watson, whose works for the new volume delve into the symbiotic relationship between the senses and creativity, said Amy Clarke, a lecturer in the University Writing Program and the editor of Prized Writing.

Aquino's essay, “Let Them Eat This: Applewood Bacon Cupcakes, Noah’s Ark and Tasty Cake Creations," reveals how taste compelled a family to turn their passion for baking into a lucrative business.

Watson's essay, “Méliès and McLaren: Motion Moving the Story," describes how, in the early days of cinema, filmmakers employed trickery to create visual effects.

The Prized Writing program is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday, April 21, in 126 Voorhies Hall. The organizers said cupcakes from Let Them Eat Cake will be the featured refreshment. Copes of the book will be available for purchase.

For more information, contact Amy Clarke, amclarke@ucdavis.edu.

NewsWatch video on the University Writing Program.

Life Meds, Volume 2 — Sergio Sanders, UC Davis undergraduate, offers another collection of poems and words of wisdom — invisible, spirit-moving "meds" to get your day started, give substance to your life and inspire self-respect, and to teach you how to look at life in a more positive light. Book signing, 2-4 p.m. Thursday, April 28, main bookstore, Memorial Union. (This listing reflects a one-week postponement.)

More authors

Conversations with Writers: Ryan Van Meter — Sponsored by the University Writing Program, which declared that Van Meter reinvented the memoir in his recently released book, If You Knew Then What I Know Now, a collection of 14 linked essays that reconstruct the middle-American experiences of coming of age and coming out.

Van Meter is an assistant professor of creative nonfiction at the University of San Francisco. His essays have appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Indiana Review, Gulf Coast, Arts & Letters and Fourth Genre, among other publications, and have been selected for such anthologies as Best American Essays 2009.

He grew up in Missouri and studied English at the University of Missouri-Columbia. After graduating, he lived in Chicago for 10 years and worked in advertising. He holds a Master of Arts degree in creative writing from DePaul University and a Master of Fine Arts degree in nonfiction writing from the University of Iowa.

The Van Meter conversation is scheduled from 4 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, April 20, 126 Voorhies Hall.

For more information, contact Karma Waltonen, kjwaltonen@ucdavis.edu.

Reading and Writing Across the Curriculum Conference — Bringing together regional experts in student writing. Among them: UC Davis Professor Dana Ferris, associate director of the University Writing Program, who will deliver the keynote address, titled “Facilitating Success for Language Minority and At-Risk Students: What I Learned from George.”

The University Writing Program is a co-sponsor with the Writing Across the Curriculum Program at California State University, Sacramento.

The conference is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Friday, April 22, in the Foothill Suites in Sacramento State's University Union.

People planning to attend are asked to RSVP by e-mail, wac@csus.edu.

More information, including the complete program.

UC Davis contact: Carl Whithaus, associate professor, University Writing Program, cwwhithaus@ucdavis.edu.

More Poetry in the Garden — With Amy Champ, a graduate student of performance studies at UC Davis, a filmmaker, and a teacher of yoga and meditation, as well as a poet. Her research and writing deal with yoga studies, women’s sacred arts, ritual performance and transnational feminism. Noon-1 p.m. Thursday, May 12, Wyatt Deck. (In the event of rain, this program will be moved to the Foster Room, 1138 Meyer Hall.)

More writing

Tomales Bay Workshops — Presented by UC Davis Extension with support from from Creative Writing Program at UC Davis and the Albert and Elaine Borchard Foundation. This annual program brings writers and aspiring writers into close community with award-winning, nationally known poets and writers, and respected editors and agents for four days of intensive conversation about craft.

This year's workshops are scheduled from Oct. 19 to 23. The tuition (including room and board) is $1,795. A $250 discount is offered to people whose applications are postmarked by May 6, to returning participants, to UC Davis faculty and career staff, and alumni association members, and writing groups (with three or more members attending the workshops).

The foundation is offering three fellowships — one each for poetry, fiction and nonfiction-personal essay — covering the full tuition. The application deadline for the fellowships is May 6, with the awards to be announced July 1.

More information about the workshop.