Acclaimed authors to discuss their craft during annual Writers Series

The Grand Valley Writers Series has a long history of enlisting distinguished and emerging writers to visit the campuses of Grand Valley State University to read from their work for the community, visit classes to interact with students and discuss their career paths.

This year’s Writers Series will feature eight acclaimed authors, two of which are Grand Valley faculty members, during multiple events between September 17, 2018 and April 9, 2019.

Author Marian Crotty will kick off this year’s Writers Series on September 17 when she discusses her craft of fiction writing. Crotty is the author of the short story collection What Counts as Love, which won the John Simmons Award for Short Fiction.

She has received fellowships from the Yaddo Corporation, The Camargo Foundation and the Virginia G. Piper Center for Creating Writing, and also received a Fulbright research grant to the United Arab Emirates. She currently serves as an assistant professor of writing at Loyola University Maryland and as an assistant editor for The Common.

Her fiction work has appeared in Kenyon Review, Southern Review and Alaska Quarterly Review, and her personal essays have appeared in various journals, including Guernica, Gettysburg Review and New England Review.

Below is the full schedule of this year’s Writers Series events. For more information, visit the Writing Series website, or contact Todd Kaneko, Writers Series coordinator and assistant professor of writing at [email protected].

Fiction Craft Talk and Reading with Marian Crotty
September 17, 2018
Fiction craft talk: 1:30-2:45 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2270, Allendale Campus
Reading and book signing: 6-7:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room, Allendale Campus

Fiction Reading and Q&A Session with Distinguished Visiting Alumna Lindsey Drager
October 4, 2018
Reading and book signing: 2:30-3:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room
Q&A session: 4-5:15 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 0072

Nonfiction Craft Talk and Reading with Michele Morano
November 15, 2018
Craft talk: 4-5 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2270
Reading and book signing: 6-7:30 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 0072

Grand Valley Faculty Reading with Chris Haven and Gale Marie Thompson
February 5, 2019
Reading: 6-7:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room

Poetry Craft Talk and Reading with Kaveh Akbar and Paige Lewis
March 14, 2019
Craft talk: 6-7 p.m., DeVos Center, room 203E, Pew Grand Rapids Campus
Reading and book signing: 7:30-8:30 p.m., DeVos Center University Club, Pew Grand Rapids Campus

Translation Craft Talk and Reading with Arunava Sinha
April 9, 2019
Craft talk: 4-5 p.m., Kirkhof Center, room 2270
Reading and book signing: 6-7:30 p.m., Mary Idema Pew Library Multi-Purpose Room