FESTIVAL FAVORITES
Two Old Dominion alumnae – Natalie Diaz ’00 (M.F.A. ’07) and Sarah McCoy (M.F.A. ’07) – were among the impressive lineup of writers who came to campus in October for the 33rd annual ODU Literary Festival. Diaz, a former member of the Lady Monarch basketball team (pictured above left with coach Wendy Larry following her reading), returned to ODU to complete her master’s degree after playing professional basketball in Europe and Asia for four years. She was awarded the 2007 Pablo Neruda Prize in Poetry and the 2007 Tobias Wolff Fiction Prize. Her first poetry collection, “When My Brother Was an Aztec,” is forthcoming from Copper Canyon. McCoy (above right), published her debut novel, “The Time It Snowed in Puerto Rico,” in 2009. Set on the Caribbean island, where McCoy visited relatives every year while growing up, the book has garnered praise for its rich and authentic detail. National Geographic Traveler magazine included the novel in its “New Books That Transport Us” column in September 2009. McCoy is working on a second novel.

Photos: Steve Daniel