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The Southern Indiana Reading Series presents a virtual reading and Q&A by Edgar Kunz, acclaimed poet,听Thursday, April 11 at 4:30 p.m.听听

Edgar Kunz is the author of two poetry collections:听Fixer, published by Ecco in 2023 and named a New York Times Editors鈥� Choice Book, and听Tap Out, published by Ecco in 2019. This appearance is part of his Spring听Fixer听North American Tour where he will visit poetry centers and colleges in Chicago, Illinois, Nashville, Tennessee, Manchester, Connecticut, St. Louis, Missouri and Evansville, Indiana.听听

Kunz has been a National Endowment for the Arts Fellow, a MacDowell Fellow, and a Wallace Stegner Fellow at Stanford University. His recent poems appear in听The New Yorker,听The Atlantic,听Poetry,听The American Poetry Review (APR), and听Oxford American. He lives in Baltimore and teaches at Goucher College.听

鈥淜unz's reading gives the audience an opportunity听to hear an exciting new voice, a presence that is helping define what contemporary Poetry is.鈥� says Rosalie Moffett, Assistant Professor of English.听

Nov 11, 2021

Fall 2021 Guests to the Reading Series

The听Southern Indiana Reading Series has another fantastic virtual event coming up.听On听November 11th, at 6PM CST听we will be hosting two critically acclaimed authors: poet,听Phillip B. Williams听and novelist,听Jessamine Chan.听Each will read from their new books, after which there will be a Q&A session.听听

The poems in Williams' second collection,听Mutiny,听"rebuke classical mythos and western canonical figures, and embrace Afro-Diasporan folk and spiritual imagery... Phillip B. Williams conjures the hell of being erased, exploited, and ill-imagined and then,听through a force and generosity of vision, propels himself into life, selfhood, and a path forward."

Of听The School for Good Mothers,听Leni Zumas,听writes:听鈥淭his taut, explosive novel is all the more terrifying because it edges so close to reality.听With the story of one woman struggling to get her daughter back, Jessamine Chan spotlights the punishing scrutiny and judgment aimed at mothers everywhere鈥攅specially those who aren鈥檛 wealthy or white. Frida鈥檚 predicament embodies the fraught question so many women are taught to ask:听Am I good enough?鈥�

听was born in Chicago, Illinois and earned his MFA from Washington University, where he was听 a Chancellor鈥檚 Graduate fellow. He is the author of the poetry collection听Thief in the Interior听(2016), winner of the Kate Tufts Discovery Award and听a Lambda Literary Award, as well as the chapbooks听Burn听(2013)听and听Bruised Gospels听(2011).

A Cave Canem graduate, Williams is the recipient of a Whiting Award and a Ruth Lilly Fellowship. He is听coeditor of the online journal听Vinyl听and teaches at Bennington College.

The Southern Indiana Reading Series听will be hosting two stunning and accomplished writers: poet,听听and novelist听听Each will read from their recently published books, after which there will be a Q&A session.听

Fall 2018-Spring 2019 Guests

The Southern Indiana Reading Series is made possible by the Indiana Arts Commission; the Vanderburgh Community Foundation Alliance; and the National Endowment for the Arts, a federal agency.

Spring 2019 Guests to the Reading Series

Hanif Abdurraqib & Elena Passarello

Tuesday, February 19thPerformance Center
4:30 pm

听is a poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. He is the author of听The Crown Ain't Worth Much, nominated for a Hurston-Wright Legacy Award and听They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, named a best book of 2017 by听NPR,听Pitchfork,听Oprah Magazine,听The Chicago Tribune,听Slate,听Esquire,听GQ, and听Publisher's Weekly, among others. Abdurraqib has multiple forthcoming books including a book on A Tribe Called Quest titled听Go Ahead In The Rain, the new collection of poems听A Fortune For Your Disaster听and a history of Black performance in the United States titled听They Don't Dance No Mo'.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Hanif's reading.

听is an actor, a writer, and the recipient of a 2015 Whiting Award. Her second essay collection with Sarabande Books,听Animals Strike Curious Poses, was named a Notable Book of 2017 by The New York Times Book Review, and her first,听Let Me Clear My Throat, won the gold medal for nonfiction at the 2013 Independent Publisher Awards. Her essays on performance, pop culture, and the natural world have been published in听Oxford American,听Slate,听Creative Nonfiction, and听The Iowa Review, among others.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Elena's reading.

Meg Day & Marty McConnell

Wednesday, March 20th
Griffin Center
7:00 pm

听is the author of听Last Psalm at Sea Level, winner of the Barrow Street Press Poetry Prize and The Publishing Triangle鈥檚 2015 Audre Lorde Award. Day is the author of two chapbooks:听When All You Have Is a Hammer听(winner of the 2012 Gertrude Press Chapbook Contest), and听We Can鈥檛 Read This听(winner of the 2013 Gazing Grain Chapbook Contest). Day鈥檚 poems appear or are forthcoming in recent anthologies, including听Best New Poets of 2013,听听We Will Be Shelter: Poems for Survival听edited by Andrea Gibson, and听Troubling the Line: Trans & Genderqueer Poetry & Poetics.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Meg's reading.

first poetry collection,听wine for a shotgun, received the Silver Medal in the Independent Publishers Awards, and was a finalist for both the Audre Lorde Award and the Lambda Literary Awards. Her second poetry collection,听when they say you can鈥檛 go home again, what they mean is you were never there, won the 2017 Michael Waters Poetry Prize.听Gathering Voices: Creating a Community-Based Poetry Workshop, McConnell鈥檚 first book of nonfiction, was recently published by YesYes Books. She is a seven-time National Poetry Slam team member, the 2012 National Underground Poetry Individual Competition (NUPIC) Champion, and appeared twice on HBO鈥檚 Def Poetry Jam.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Marty's reading.

Matthew Graham

Thursday, April 11thGriffin Center
4:30 pm

Matthew Graham听is the author of three previous books of poetry,听New World Architecture听(Galileo Press, 1985),听1946听(Galileo Press, 1991) and听A World Without End听(River City Publishing, 2006), and the recipient of awards and fellowships from the Academy of American Poets, Pushcart, the Indiana Arts Commission and the Vermont Studio Center. Graham is a Professor of English at the 91社区. He will be reading from his new book of poetry,听The Geography of Home.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Matthew's reading.

Fall 2018 Guests to the Reading Series

Chelsea & Mark Wagenaar

Thursday, September 27th
Griffin Center
4:30 pm

Chelsea Wagenaar听is the author of听Mercy Spurs the Bone, selected by Philip Levine as the winner of the 2013 Philip Levine Prize, and听The Spinning Place, winner of the 2018 Michael Waters Poetry Prize. She holds a PhD in English literature and creative writing from the University of North Texas. Recent poems appear or are forthcoming in听Cave Wall,听Birmingham Poetry Review, and听The Southern Review, and recent nonfiction appears in听Grist. Wagenaar currently teaches as a visiting assistant professor at Valparaiso University. She lives in Indiana with her husband, poet Mark Wagenaar, and their two children.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Chelsea's reading.

听is the 2016 winner of Red Hen Press鈥檚 Benjamin Saltman Prize for听Southern Tongues Leave Us Shining. His first two collections,听The Body Distances听(A Hundred Blackbirds Rising) and听Voodoo Inverso, won UMass Press鈥檚 Juniper Prize and the University of Wisconsin Press鈥檚 Felix Pollak Prize in Poetry, respectively. His poems have appeared in or are forthcoming from听The New Yorker,听Tin House,听32 Poems,听FIELD,听The Southern Review,听Image, and many others. Wagenaar teaches literature and creative writing at Valparaiso University.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Mark's reading.

Michael Martone

Thursday, October 4th
Traditions Lounge
4:30 pm

Michael Martone听was born & raised in Fort Wayne, Indiana. He is a professor of English at the University of Alabama and the author of several books, including听Fort Wayne Is Seventh on Hitler鈥檚 List,听Alive and Dead in Indiana,听Unconventions: Attempting the Art of Craft and the Craft of Art, and听Racing in Place: Collages, Fragments, Postcards, Ruins. His latest collection of essays,听Brooding: Arias, Choruses, Lullabies, Follies, Dirges, and a Duet, was released by University of Georgia Press in March 2018.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Michael's reading.

James Han Mattson

Thursday, November 8th
Kleymeyer Hall
4:30 pm

听was born in Seoul, Korea, and raised in North Dakota. He has worked as a staff writer and editor for Pagoda Foreign Language Institute, the Korean National Commission for UNESCO, and Logogog鈥揝outh Africa. His first novel,听The Lost Prayers of Ricky Graves, was an Amazon Literature and Fiction Pick, an Amazon Best Book of the Month, a Publishers Lunch Bookseller Pick, a Kindle First Pick, a New York Post Required Reading, and was featured on NPR鈥檚 Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. He is currently an assistant professor of creative writing at Murray State University.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of James's reading.

Spring 2018 Guests to the Reading Series

Kaveh Akbar & Ruth Awad

Thursday,听February听15th
Griffin听Center
4:30 pm

Central听Library
6:30 pm

听poems appear recently in听The New Yorker,听Poetry,听The New York Times,听The Nation, and elsewhere. His first book,听Calling a Wolf a Wolf, is just out with Alice James in the US and Penguin in the UK. He is also the author of the chapbook听Portrait of the Alcoholic. The recipient of a Pushcart Prize, a Ruth Lilly and Dorothy Sargent Fellowship from the Poetry Foundation, and the Lucille Medwick Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America, Kaveh was born in Tehran, Iran, and teaches in the MFA program at Purdue University and in the low-residency MFA program at Randolph College.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Kaveh's reading.

is a Lebanese-American poet whose debut poetry collection听Set听to Music a Wildfire听won the 2016 Michael Waters Poetry Prize from 91社区's听Southern Indiana Review听Press.听She is the recipient of a 2016 Ohio Arts Council Individual Excellence Award,听the 2012 and 2013 Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize, and the 2011听Copper听Nickel听Poetry Prize. Her work has appeared in听New Republic, The Missouri Review,听CALYX, Nashville Review, The Adroit Journal, and elsewhere.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Ruth's reading.

Dan Chaon听

Thursday,听March听29th
Griffin听Center
4:30 pm

听most recent book is听Ill Will, a national bestseller, named one of the ten best books of 2017 by听Publishers Weekly. Other works include the short story collection听Stay Awake听(2012), a finalist for the Story Prize; the national bestseller听Await Your Reply听and听Among the Missing, a finalist for the National Book Award. Chaon鈥檚 fiction has appeared in听Best American Short Stories,听The Pushcart Prize Anthologies, and听The O. Henry Prize Stories. He has been a finalist for the National Magazine Award in Fiction, the Shirley Jackson Award, and he was the recipient of an Academy Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Chaon lives in Ohio and teaches at Oberlin College.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Dan's reading.

Fall 2017 Guests to the Reading Series

Casey Pycior

Thursday, September 7th
McCutchan Art Center/Pace Galleries
4:30 pm

听debut short story collection,听The Spoils, was published by Switchgrass Books in 2017. He was awarded the 2015 Charles Johnson Fiction Prize at听Crab Orchard Review, and his work has appeared in听Beloit Fiction Journal,听Midwestern Gothic,听Harpur Palate,听BULL,听Wigleaf, and听Yalobusha Review, among many other places. He holds an MFA in fiction writing from Wichita State University and a PhD in creative writing from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Pycior joined the English Department at 91社区 this Fall (2017).

Matthew Guenette听&听Maggie Smith

Thursday, October 12th
Griffin听Center
4:30 pm

Red Bank Library
6:30 pm

听is the author of three full-length poetry collections:听Vasectomania听(University of Akron Press, 2017),听American Busboy听(University of Akron Press, 2011), and听Sudden Anthem听(Dream Horse Press, 2008). He is also the author of the chapbook听Civil Disobedience听(Rabbit Catastrophe Press, 2017). His听poems have appeared in numerous journals and reviews, and he has had residencies at the Vermont Studio Center and the Hessen-Wisconsin Fellowship. A graduate of the MFA program at Southern Illinois University, Matt currently teaches composition and creative writing at Madison College in Madison, WI, where he lives with his wife, two kids, and a 20-lb cat named Butternut.

听is the author of three books of poetry:听Good Bones听(Tupelo Press, September 2017);听The Well Speaks of Its Own Poison听(Tupelo Press, 2015); and听Lamp of the Body听(Red Hen Press, 2005). Smith is also the author of three prizewinning chapbooks. Her poems appear in听The Best American Poetry, the听New York Times,听The Paris Review, Ploughshares, The Gettysburg Review, Guernica, Plume, AGNI, Virginia Quarterly Review, and elsewhere. In 2016 her poem 鈥淕ood Bones鈥� went viral internationally and has been translated into nearly a dozen languages. Public Radio International called it 鈥渢he official poem of 2016.鈥�

Spring听2017 Guests to the Reading Series

Annie Kim & Jenny Molberg

Wednesday, March 29th
University Center, Traditions Lounge
3:00 pm

听first collection,听Into the Cyclorama, won the 2015 Michael Waters听Poetry Prize. Her poems have appeared in journals such as听The Kenyon Review,听Ninth Letter,听Mudlark,听Asian American Literary Review, and听DMQ Review. A graduate听of Warren Wilson College鈥檚 MFA program for writers and the recipient of听fellowships from the Virginia Center for Creative Arts and Hambidge Center,听Kim works at the University of Virginia School of Law as the assistant dean for听public service.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Annie's reading.

听debut collection,听Marvels of the Invisible, won the 2014听Berkshire Prize and is available from Tupelo Press. Her poems have听appeared or are forthcoming in听The Missouri Review,听North American Review,听Copper Nickel,听The New Guard,听Mississippi Review,听The Adroit Journal,听Smartish Pace,听Zone 3,听Best New Poets, and elsewhere. Molberg holds an MFA from American听University and a PhD from the University of North Texas. She currently teaches听at the University of Central Missouri and is co-editor of听Pleiades.

Click听here听to listen to an audio recording of Jenny's reading.