Jim and Marianne Zarzana, english professors at Southwest Minnesota State University, gave a conjoined reading Monday April 7 of their works in the Whipple Gallery.

Jim Zarzana is a respected member of the english department, having been its director in the past, husband to Marianne, and just released his book, The Marsco Dissident, last year to Amazon Kindle, and plans for a physical release this summer.

Marianne Zarzana is the creative writing program director of the english department, wife to Jim, and one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet.  The two started off the reading with each of them reading a piece that they wrote about each other as writing couples.

When writing these, neither of them showed or consulted the other till they were done, yet the similarities and comparisons are all over the place.  They showed how their different writing styles work of each other, with Jim Zarzana being more of a fiction writer, and Marianne being more of a poet.  They critique each other and each have their own room in their house dedicated to writing.  After they finished their conjoined writers pieces, Jim Zarzana read a few passages from his book, while Marianne Zarzana read some of her poetry.

It was an excellent reading, and it was a pleasure to be a part of the experience.  These two were literally made for each other.