Novelist and short story writer Jeff Parker will give a fiction reading at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 15 at Coastal Carolina University. The event is free and open to the public.

The reading, which will be held in Wall Auditorium, is a part of the Words to Say It Visiting Writers Series, which is supported by the Department of English.

Parker is the author of "Ovenman," a novel published by Tin House Books in 2007. His short stories have appeared in The Best American Nonrequired Reading, Ploughshares and Indiana Review. Parker's short story collection, "False Cognate," will be published by Dzanc Books in 2010. His work on his interactive hypertext story, "A Long Wild Smile," appeared in numerous online journals and received praise from the literary community. Parker earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from the University of Florida and an M.F.A. in creative writing from Syracuse University.

Parker is an assistant professor and acting director of the MA in the field of creative writing at the University of Toronto. He is working on both a novel and short story collection. Parker is also the chief operating officer and Russia program director for Summer Literary Seminars Incorporated, which runs annual programs in Russia and Kenya.

For more information, call Dan Albergotti, coordinator of the series, at 843-349-2420.