Ed Vasta taught a broad range of literary and humanistic subjects during his 40 years at Notre Dame, and he published scholarly books, articles, and reviews as a medieval scholar. He also worked on short stories, novels, and screenplays, and now, in retirement, he devotes his attention to his lifelong love of creative writing, for which he received a Creative Writing Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1979. Currently, OakTara Publications, which specializes in religious fiction, is producing two of his novels: Love and Redemption and To Carthage We Came, as well as his collection of children’s stories, Mud Pie Mysteries. Also under OakTara’s consideration is the publication of his third novel, Family Passions, and his collection of short stories, Tales from the Hidden Apple.
The principal motivating purpose for Vasta’s reading this year is to pay homage to Richard Sullivan, his creative writing professor and faculty colleague at Notre Dame. In Sullivan’s honor, Ed Vasta will read “The Little Hidden Apple,” Vasta’s first short story, which was published with Sullivan’s help.