Writers Series bringing award-winning authors to GVSU

Authors from around the U.S. will visit Grand Valley State University as part of the 2016-17 Grand Valley Writers Series beginning September 29 with award-winning nonfiction author Donovan Hohn.

Todd Kaneko, series coordinator and assistant professor of writing, said too often people believe that literary events are serious occasions, when, in fact, they create a fun and engaging environment.

"Quite often, a reading can be more like going to a movie or a rock concert," said Kaneko. "There's no reason that a reading can't be a fun, celebratory event, and that's our aim — to celebrate these awesome visiting writers and their work, and to have fun doing so."

Hohn, a former features editor of GQ Magazine and contributing editor of Harper’s Magazine, teaches creative writing at Wayne State University in Detroit. His work has appeared in Harper’s Magazine, The New York Times Magazine, and Outside, among other publications. Hohn was the recipient of the Whiting Writers’ Award, a National Endowment for the Arts Creative Writing Fellowship and a Knight-Wallace Fellowship. Moby-Duck: The True Story of 28,800 Bath Toys Lost at Sea & of the Beachcombers, Oceanographers, Environmentalists & Fools Including the Author Who Went in Search of Them (2012) was a finalist for the Helen Bernstein Prize for Excellence in Journalism, and runner-up for both the PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction. He currently lives with his family in Ann Arbor, where he is currently working on his second book.

Below is a full list of scheduled events. All presentations are free and open to the public.

September 29-Donovan Hohn

October 25-Claire Vaye Watkins and Derek Palacio

January 31-Amorak Huey and Caitlin Horrocks

February 27-Vievee Francis and Matthew Olzmann

March 30-Austin Bunn

For more information, contact Todd Kaneko at (616) 331-8064 or [email protected], or visit the Grand Valley Writers Series website.