The Creative Writing Reading Series, Lory Student Center
Each school year at Colorado State University, the Department of English, through its Creative Writing Reading Series, welcomes major literary voices to the Lory Student Center to share their work live on stage and to engage with the local community.
Visiting writers hold audience question and answer sessions, book signings, class visits and other outreach activities.
The series features Pulitzer Prize winners, U.S. poets laureate, National Book Critics Circle Award winners, Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award winners, NAACP Image Award nominees, Oprah’s Book Club selections, National Book Award finalists and recognized voices in young adult literature.
Writers and special events: Fall 2019, spring 2020
Susan Steinberg | September 26 | This event has ended
Susan Steinberg is the author of three short story collections: Spectacle, Hydroplane, and The End of Free Love. Her first novel, Machine, was published by Graywolf Press in August 2019.
Brian Turner | October 10 | Co-sponsored by Adult Learner and Veteran Services | This event has ended
Brian Turner is the author of the poetry collections Here, Bullet and Phantom Noise, which was short-listed for the T. S. Eliot Prize; as well as My Life as a Foreign Country: A Memoir. He earned an M.F.A. from the University of Oregon before serving for seven years in the U.S. Army, with deployments in Iraq and Bosnia-Herzegovina.
The Writers Harvest: Ramona Ausubel and Darcie Dennigan | November 7 | This event has ended
The Department of English’s creative writing program welcomes two esteemed writers to read their work and engage with the audience as part of this nationwide series of events to fight hunger. Attendees are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items, which will be given to the Larimer County Food Bank.
Ramona Ausubel is author of two collections of short stories, Awayland and A Guide to Being Born; as well as two novels, Sons and Daughters of Ease and Plenty, and No One is Here Except All of Us.
Darcie Dennigan has published three books of poetry – Corinna a-Maying the Apocalypse, Madame X, and Palace of Subatomic Bliss – and one of performance texts, The Parking Lot and other Feral Scenarios.
Her first novel, Slater Orchard, was published in September 2019.
Prageeta Sharma | February 13
Prageeta Sharma is the recipient of the 2010 Howard Foundation Award, and author of the poetry collections Bliss to Fill; The Opening Question, winner of the 2004 Fence Modern Poets Prize; Infamous Landscapes; and Undergloom.
Her new volume, Grief Sequence, was published in 2019.
Click for author bio and event information.
The Center for Literary Publishing Presents: Brandon Krieg and Kazim Ali | April 2
Brandon Krieg is author of Magnifier, winner of the 2019 Colorado Prize for Poetry. His previous collections are In the Gorge and Invasives — a finalist for the 2015 ASLE Book Award in Environmental Creative Writing — as well as a chapbook, Source to Mouth.
Kazim Ali’s books encompass several volumes of poetry, including Inquisition, Sky Ward, The Far Mosque, The Fortieth Day, All One’s Blue, and the cross-genre text Bright Felon. His novels include The Secret Room: A String Quartet.
Click for author bios and event information.
The Crow-Tremblay Alumni Reading: M. Evelina Galang | April 30
M. Evelina Galang is author of Her Wild American Self, a collection of short stories, and the novels One Tribe and Angel de la Luna and the 5th Glorious Mystery. She is the editor of Screaming Monkeys: Critiques of Asian American Images.
The Crow-Tremblay Alumni Reading — possible through the contributions of an anonymous donor — celebrates the achievements of graduates of Colorado State University’s Creative Writing program. Past readers include Steven Church, Jennifer Dick, Justin Hocking, Yusef Komunyakaa, Devin Murphy, Wendy Rawlings, and Felicia Zamora.
Click for author bio and event information.
M.F.A. READINGS | December-March
Students in their final year of the English department’s creative writing graduate program give live public readings from their thesis or other major works in progress.
Join us as we celebrate these promising young writers. Events start at 7 p.m.:
- Dec. 5 – Geneava McCarthy, Evan Senie
- February 27 – Margaret Browne, Christine Engelen, Sarah Green, Michelle LaCrosse
- March 26 – Courtney Ellison, Susannah Lodge-Rigal, Danny Schonning, Michelle Thomas
Visit the Department of English events calendar for more on these free, live reading events as details become available.
Support the Creative Writing Reading Series
Your gift helps us to bring the best emerging and established writers to join in conversations with members of the CSU and Fort Collins communities. To donate, please visit https://advancing.colostate.edu/CWRS
The Creative Writing Reading Series is sponsored by a grant from the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment — a premier supporter of arts and culture at CSU. Please help grow this fund with your gift by visiting https://president.colostate.edu/lilla-b-morgan-endowment/.