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UC’s spring Visiting Writers Series promises robust, diverse line-up

Lovers of literature, poetry and the written word can look forward to a rich series of visiting writer presentations, offered through UC’s College of Arts and Sciences department of English, coming this spring.
bowlina3@ucmail.uc.edu (Anne Bowling) | Fri, Dec 20, 2024

Lovers of literature, poetry and the written word can look forward this spring to a rich series of visiting writer presentations, offered through the University of Cincinnati's Department of English.

The series features poetry and fiction readings, agent discussions, and the Robert and Adele Schiff Fiction festival, which will include four authors and the panel discussion ‘Influence and Inspiration.’

“In putting together the upcoming series, we chose to invite writers who are diverse in diverse ways, in terms of identity, aesthetics, geography, life experience,” says Jennifer Habel, coordinator of creative writing.

We've invited wildly talented artists whose writing we admire.

Jennifer Habel Coordinator of Creative Writing

“We’ve invited writers to campus who will be good company, who will inspire our students, and who have had different paths to publication,” she said. “Most importantly, we’ve invited wildly talented artists whose writing we admire.”

For more than 70 years, UC has hosted writers from across genres to present to the community, inspired writers and interested readers. Past participants have included winners of the Nobel and Pulitzer Prizes.

“Listening to an author read or discuss their work as part of a live audience is a uniquely meaningful experience,” said Habel. “They might also feel inspired to write their own poetry or prose, or feel a greater sense of permission to do so. People who attend our events will encounter the work of exciting and often incredibly accomplished writers.”

Here’s a rundown of the spring lineup, which kicks off in February. All events will be held in the Langsam Poetry Room, 646 Langsam Library.

Dawn Lundy Martin, poet and essayist

Talk: "Influences and the Mystery of Poetry," Feb. 4, 2025, 5:30 p.m.

Poetry reading, Feb. 6, 2025, 5 p.m.

Dawn Lundy Martin, professor and distinguished writer-in-residence, Bard College.

Dawn Lundy Martin, professor and distinguished writer-in-residence, Bard College. Photo/Provided

Martin is an American poet and essayist. She is the author of five books of poems: Instructions for The Lovers; Good Stock Strange Blood, winner of the 2019 Kingsley Tufts Award for Poetry; Life in a Box Is a Pretty Life, which won the Lambda Literary Award for Lesbian Poetry; DISCIPLINE; A Gathering of Matter / A Matter of Gathering, and three limited edition chapbooks. Her nonfiction can be found in n+1, The New Yorker, Ploughshares, The Believer, and Best American Essays 2019 and 2021. 

Adrienne Celt, fiction writer

Fiction reading, Feb. 27, 5:30 p.m.

Talk: "The Writer and the Literary Agent: A Conversation," February 28, 3:30 p.m.

Award-winning fiction writer Adrienne Celt.

Award-winning fiction writer Adrienne Celt. Photo/Provided

Adrienne Celt is the author of three novels: End of the World House, which was named a most-anticipated title by Glamour, Harper's Bazaar, Town & Country, and more; Invitation to a Bonfire, which was a 2018 Indie Next Pick and an Amazon Book of the Month; and The Daughters, which won the 2015 PEN Southwest Book Award for Fiction. 

Emma Patterson is a literary agent at Brandt & Hochman, where she has been since 2013. She represents fiction ranging from dark, voice-driven literary novels to historical and upmarket fiction to feminist fiction with a speculative bent; narrative non-fiction that includes memoir, investigative journalism, and history; and select children's titles. Her authors are NYT bestsellers as well as finalists or winners of awards such as the Pulitzer, The Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, PEN Awards, O. Henry Awards, and others.

The series resumes in April, beginning with The Robert and Adele Schiff Fiction Festival, featuring Lydi Conklin, Ananda Lima, Maurice Carlos Ruffin, and Adam Ehrlich Sachs. It closes out with a reading from poets Julie Carr and Gillian Conoley. Find out more about the rest of the series here.

Featured image at top: The Department of English in UC's College of Arts and Sciences will host several engaging speakers early next year Photo/LubosHouska/Pixabay.