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Open Mic Hosted by Catharsis of PowerLines Poetry - Tuesday, August 23, 2022, 5:00pm

South Alabama Alum, Catharsis of PowerLines Poetry, will perform and host an open mic night for first-year and transfer students at the ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù. If you like to express yourself or want to freestyle your feelings, this is the event for you! Come out and enjoy a night of spoken word with your fellow Jags. Hosted by the English department and the Stokes Center for Creative Writing. Pizza will be provided.

Sarah Giragosian - Wednesday, April 20, 2022 at 7:00pm

The fourth and final event in the English Department's Spring 2022 Ecology Series features poet Sarah Giragosian, whose lecture is titled "Ecopoetics in the Anthropocene."  Giragosian is the author of the poetry collections Queer Fish, a winner of the American Poetry Journal Book Prize (Dream Horse Press, 2017), and The Death Spiral (Black Lawrence Press, 2020). The Death Spiral grounds us in the Anthropocene, a time of mass extinction and climate change, yet refuses to adhere to that "fact." These eco-poems raise questions about the nature of human and animal appetites and the increasing levels of consumption that threaten the environment, while also exploring queer forms of intimacy and resilience in the Anthropocene.  Giragosian teaches at the University at Albany-SUNY. 

Please note: This will be a virtual event. 

Chelsea Rathburn and James Davis May - Thursday, April 7, 2022 at 5:00pm

Celebrate National Poetry Month by enjoying an evening of poetry. Chelsea Rathburn, Poet Laureate of Georgia, is the author of three books of poetry, including the New York Times New & Noteworthy collection Still Life with Mother and Knife, published in 2019 by Louisiana State University Press. James Davis May, recipient of  Poetry Society of America's Cecil Hemley Award, serves as Writer-in-Residence at Mercer University. His first poetry collection, Unquiet Things, was published by LSU Press in 2016 and a finalist for the Poets' Prize. In addition to the public reading, their visit includes guest lectures in two courses and private consultations with currently enrolled poetry students.

Please note: This public event will be held the USA Faculty Club. A book signing and reception with refreshments to follow.

Cade Kistler - Wednesday, March 30, 2022 at 4:00pm

The third event in the English Department's Spring 2022 Ecology Series features Mobile Baykeeper Cade Kistler with "Protecting Mobile Bay: Our Story."  As Program Director, Kistler leads the organization's effort to stop pollution, advocate for cleaner water, and protect Mobile Bay. The Mobile Bay Watershed encompasses 65% of the land area for the state of Alabama, including parts of Mississippi, Georgia, and Tennessee. The Mobile Baykeeper exists to advocate for the Mobile Bay Watershed Coastal Alabama, protecting clean water, clean air, and healthy communities.

Please note: This event is open to the public and will be held in the USA Archeology Museum.

Frye Gaillard and Myra Davis-Branic - Wednesday, March 23, 2022 at 3:30pm

An African American educator in South Carolina, Myra Davis-Branic is the author of Cornbread My Soul: The Davis Family of Eutawville, South Carolina. Her family began their journey in America as slaves on the plantation of the great-great-great grandfather of Frye Gaillard. Frye is the author of the recently re-released Lessons from the Big House: One Family’s Passage Through the History of the South, a family memoir he wrote in 1994. Join us as Myra and Frye talk about their books, their families, and what is revealed about their racial history. 

Please note: This event will be held at the Archaeology Museum.

Cynthia Tucker and Frye Gaillard - Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 4:00pm

Please join us for the launch of Cynthia Tucker and Frye Gaillard's new book, The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance (NewSouth, 2022).

Please note: This event is open to the public and will be held in the Marx Library Auditorium.

Joseph Bathanti - Tuesday, March 8, 2022, 12:30pm and 2:00pm

The Southern Writers' Workshop is a regional author series curated by U.S.A. Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard. This year's writer is Joseph Bathanti. Bathanti, former Poet Laureate of North Carolina (2012-14) and recipient of the North Carolina Award in Literature, is author of seventeen books. Bathanti is McFarlane Family Distinguished Professor of Interdisciplinary Education at Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina. He served as the 2016 Charles George VA Medical Center Writer-in-Residence in Asheville, NC, and is the co-founder of the Medical Center's Creative Writing Program.  Bathanti will lead participants in a free, one-hour class on writing at 12:30 pm. Coffee with refreshments will follow. Bathanti will then read from his work at 2:00 pm as part of the Southern Writers' Workshop.

Please note: These back-to-back events will be held in the USA Faculty Club.

Bridgett M. Davis - Tuesday, February 22, 2022 at 6:00pm

Bridgett M. Davis is author of the memoir The World According to Fannie Davis: My Mother's Life in the Detroit Numbers, which was a New York Times Editors' Choice, a 2020 Michigan Notable Book, and named a Best Book of 2019 by Kirkus Reviews, BuzzFeed, NBC News and Parade Magazine. She is also the author of two novels, Into the Go-Slow and Shifting Through Neutral, shortlisted for the Hurston/Wright Award, and writer/director of the award-winning feature film Naked Acts. A major advocate for promoting and nurturing literary talent by people of color, Davis is co-founder and curator for Words@Weeksville, a monthly reading series held at Weeksville Heritage Center in Central Brooklyn. While at the university, she will lead a creative writing class and provide a public reading.

Please note: The event will be held via Zoom. PHOTO: Nina Subin.

Celebrating Black Voices - Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 3:30pm

Please join the Department of English for a celebration of Black voices. Hear short chats about how instructors lift up Black literature and culture in our courses of all types. Topics include the 2022 documentary film about Africatown, Descendant (written and co-produced by Dr. Kern Jackson); the research interests of faculty and students exploring literature, music, and art; and Black literature and culture in English classrooms. Get the good times rolling as you mingle with faculty and students over Mardi Gras themed goodies! Everyone is welcome!

Please note: This event is open to the public and will be held in the USA Archeology Museum. 

Scott Slovic - Wednesday, February 2, 2022 at 4:00pm

The second event in the English Department's Spring 2022 Ecology Series features Scott Slovic, University Distinguished Professor of Environmental Humanities at the University of Idaho. Slovic served as founding president of the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment, and from 1995 to 2020 he was editor-in-chief of ISLE: Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment. The author or editor of thirty books, his forthcoming volumes include Nature and Literary Studies (Cambridge University Press) and The Bloomsbury Handbook to Medical-Environmental Humanities (Bloomsbury Academic). He currently co-edits the book series Routledge Studies in World Literatures and the Environment and Routledge Environmental Humanities. His blogs, reviews, and interviews regularly appear on the website .

Please note: This event is open to the public and will be held in the Marx Library Auditorium.

David A. Padgett - Monday, January 17, 2022 at 5:00pm

Please join us for the annual African American Studies Program Keynote Address, featuring David A. Padgett: "Creating a 'Beloved Community' for Africatown with Technology-Based Service Learning." David A. Padgett is an Associate Professor of Geography, and Director of the Geographic Information Sciences Laboratory at Tennessee State University. Dr. Padgett is an EthicalGEO Fellow with the American Geographical Society in support of his project "Democratizing Geospatial Technology: A Model for Providing Technical Assistance in Community Based Participatory Mapping to Environmental Justice Stakeholder Communities." This lecture is part of the English Department's Spring 2022 Ecology Series.

Please note: This public event can be attended via Zoom or in-person (HUMB 170). 

Brandon Hobson - Wednesday, November 3, 2021 at 4:00pm

Fiction writer Brandon Hobson, 2018 finalist for the National Book Award, will be reading from his novel Where the Dead Sit Talking. He is the author, most recently, of the novel The Removed, praised by the L.A. Times as "a striking new benchmark for fiction about Native Americans." Hobson is an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation Tribe of Oklahoma and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at New Mexico State University.   This event is free and open to the public and will be held in the USA Student Center Amphitheater.  A book signing and reception with refreshments will follow. In case of rain, the event will be relocated to the USA Student Center Terrace Room. Sponsored by the Stokes Center for Creative Writing and the USA Department of English.  PHOTO: Kay Lynn Hobson.

Kern Jackson - Wednesday, October 13, 2021 at 4:00pm

Join us for an interview of Kern Jackson, Director of the African American Studies Program and Faculty Member in English, conducted by Writer in Residence, Frye Gaillard. Dr. Jackson, the 2021 Hamner honoree, specializes in African American and Southeastern United States folklore and oral narrative.  This event is free and open to the public and will be held in the Marx Library Auditorium. A reception will follow.  Hosted by the USA Department of English and the USA English Graduate Program.

Charlotte Pence - Wednesday, September 29, 2021 at 4:00pm

Join us for Charlotte Pence's first in-person reading from her new book, Code. Dr. Pence's new book of poems, Code, received the 2020 Book of the Year award from Alabama Poetry Society and was a finalist for Foreword Reviews Indie Poetry Book of 2020.  Code details not only the life cycle of birth and death, but also the means of this cycle: DNA itself. A graduate of Emerson College (MFA) and the University of Tennessee (PhD), she is now the director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at University of South Alabama.  This event is free and open to the public and will be held in the USA Student Center Terrace Room. A reception will follow.  Hosted by the Stokes Center for Creative Writing and the USA Department of English.

J. M. Tyree - Saturday, June 26, 2021, 3:30pm

Join Justin St. Clair, Associate Professor of English at the ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù, as he moderates "Inherent Vice: A Conversation with J. M. Tyree." Nonfiction Editor at New England Review and Contributing Editor to Film Quarterly, Tyree has placed his work in a host of enviable venues, including Brick, Lapham's Quarterly, Sight & Sound, The Believer, and McSweeney's. His most recent book, The Counterforce: Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, arrived this spring from Fiction Advocate. This event will be held over Zoom. PHOTO: Ben Walters.

Poetry Heals: Writing Workshop for Healthcare Workers - Saturday, April 24, 2021, 2:00pm

In celebration of National Poetry Month, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing is offering a free writing class for Covid-19 healthcare workers. This interactive writing class will offer prompts, poems, and writing time during the afternoon session. This workshop is intended to inspire healing through poetry. The class is over Zoom on Saturday, April 24 from 2:00-3:30 CST. 

Dr. Mudiwa Pettus - Wednesday, April 21, 2021, 4:30pm

As part of the English Department's Race and Identity Lecture Series, Dr. Mudiwa Pettus, Assistant Professor of English Composition and Rhetoric at Medgar Evers College, CUNY, will present "Against Compromise: What Black Rhetorical Education in the Age of Booker T. Washington Teaches Us About Our Current Moment." This event will be held over Zoom.

Eduardo Corral - Friday, March 26, 2021, 3:00pm

Join poet Eduardo Corral, winner of the Yale Younger Poets Prize, as he shares strategies on how to reimagine your revision process. His debut collection of poetry, Slow Lightning (2012), won the Yale Younger Poets Prize, making him the first Latino recipient of the award. His second collection is Guillotine (2020). Praised for his seamless blending of English and Spanish, tender treatment of history, and careful exploration of sexuality, Corral has received numerous honors and awards, including the Discovery/The Nation Award, the J. Howard and Barbara M.J. Wood Prize, a Whiting Writers’ Award, and a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts.  PHOTO CREDIT: Matt Valentine

Rev. Joseph Brown - Wednesday, March 17, 2021, 4:30pm

As part of the English Department's Race and Identity Lecture Series, Rev. Joseph Brown, SJ, Professor in the Department of Africana Studies at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale, will present "Race and Identity in Literature and Culture." This event will be held over Zoom.

Traci Brimhall - Thursday, March 4, 2021, 5:00pm

Traci Brimhall is the author of Come the Slumberless to the Land of Nod (Copper Canyon, 2020); Saudade (Copper Canyon, 2017), Our Lady of the Ruins (W.W. Norton, 2012), and Rookery (Southern Illinois University Press, 2010). Her poems have appeared in The New Yorker, Slate, Poetry, The Believer, The New Republic, and Best American Poetry. A 2013 NEA Fellow, she’s currently an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Kansas State University.

Dr. Channette Romero - Wednesday, February 24, 2021, 4:30pm

As part of the English Department's Race and Identity Lecture Series, Dr. Channette Romero, Associate Professor of English at the University of Georgia specializing in Native and Multiethnic literature and film, will lead "Buckled Hats and HipHop Tricksters: A Conversation on Political Humor in Indigenous Animation." This event will be held over Zoom.

Lauren Groff - Tuesday, February 23, 2021, 6:00pm

Lauren Groff is the author of the novels The Monsters of Templeton, shortlisted for the Orange Prize for New Writers, Delicate Edible Birds, a collection of stories, and Arcadia, a New York Times Notable Book, winner of the Medici Book Club Prize, and finalist for the L.A. Times Book Award. Her third novel, Fates and Furies, was a finalist for the National Book Award in Fiction, the National Book Critics Circle Award, and the Kirkus Award. Her work has appeared in journals including the New Yorker, Atlantic Monthly, ±á²¹°ù±è±ð°ù’s, Tin House, One Story, and Ploughshares, and in the anthologies 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize: Best of the Small Presses, PEN / O. Henry Prize Stories, and five editions of the Best American Short Stories. She lives in Gainesville, Florida with her husband, two sons, and dog.

Frye Gaillard - Thursday, January 28, 2021, 4:00pm

Frye Gaillard, USA Writer in Residence, will read from his new book, Live As If... A Teacher's Love Story, reflecting on the life and work of his wife, Nancy Gaillard, who died of leukemia in 2018. Partly a memoir of a vibrant marriage, Live As If... also recounts the story of Nancy's work as a public school teacher, principal, and assistant professor at South Alabama, as well as her final journey with leukemia. "If love had a voice and could tell us its story," says best-selling author Patti Callahan Henry, winner of the Harper Lee Award, "it would be this one by Frye Gaillard. As Gaillard recounts the extraordinary life of his wife, Nancy, he . . . offers us a peek into a life so well-lived, a life so full of courage and generosity, that it changes us just by reading about her."

Cynthia Tucker and Frye Gaillard - Wednesday, January 27, 2021, 4:30pm

As the first installment in the English Department's Race and Identity Lecture Series, USA Journalist in Residence Cynthia Tucker and Writer in Residence Frye Gaillard will present "Reflections on Isabel Wilkerson's Caste: A New Perspective on Race in America." This event will be held over Zoom.

Patricia Smith - Tuesday, November 10, 2020, 6:00pm

On Tuesday, November 10, poet Patricia Smith, National Book Award Finalist and four-time individual National Poetry Slam champion, will talk about her transition as a slam poet to the literary scene.

Patricia Smith is the award-winning author of eight critically-acclaimed books of poetry, including most recently Incendiary Art (2017), winner of numerous national awards and finalist for the Pulitzer Prize; Shoulda Been Jimi Savannah (2012), and Blood Dazzler (2008), which focused on Hurricane Katrina. Her other works include the poetry collections Teahouse of the Almighty, Close to Death, Big Towns Big Talk, and Life According to Motown; a children’s book; and the history Africans in America, a companion to the PBS series. Her verse has appeared in Poetry, The Paris Review, The Baffler, The Washington Post, The New York Times, Tin House, and Best American Poetry, among other venues.

David James Poissant - Monday, October 19, 2020, 7:00pm

Are you looking to make over your book? Join talented author David James Poissant for his craft talk "Buying the Flowers Yourself: Beginning, Building, and Revising Your First Novel"! He will discuss what elements the first chapter of a literary novel should have.

David James Poissant is the author of the novel Lake Life (Simon & Schuster, 2020), a New York Times Editors' Choice selection, Publishers Weekly Summer Read, and a Millions Most Anticipated Book of 2020. His story collection The Heaven of Animals was a winner of the GLCA New Writers Award and a Florida Book Award, a finalist for the L.A. Times Book Prize, and was longlisted for the PEN/Robert W. Bingham Prize. His stories and essays have appeared in The Atlantic Monthly, The Chicago Tribune, The New York Times, One Story, Ploughshares, The Southern Review, and in numerous textbooks and anthologies including New Stories from the South, Best New American Voices, and Best American Experimental Writing. His books are currently in print in six languages. He teaches in the MFA Program in Creative Writing at the University of Central Florida and lives in Orlando with his wife and daughters.

Dr. Laura Vrana - Thursday, October 8, 2020, 4:00pm

The 18th Annual Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English will be given by Dr. Laura Vrana, Assistant Professor of English at USA.  Her presentation, "#publishingpaidwho? Black Women's Poetry, Ethics, and Citizen(ship) in Minneapolis, 2020" will take place on Thursday, October 8 at 4 p.m. via Zoom.  This event is open to the public.

Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers - Monday, March 2, 2020, 7:30pm

We're thrilled to announce the third installment of the Annual Songwriter Keynote --- Patterson Hood of Drive-By Truckers live at the ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù on Monday, March 2, 2020!

This special event will feature a musical performance by Patterson Hood, a short presentation on roots music by Peter Cooper from the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, and a roundtable discussion that will include critically acclaimed singer-songwriter Will Johnson.  All attendees will receive a complimentary copy of IMC Volume One.  For more information, please visit .

Patti Callahan - Thursday, February 13, 2020, 3:30pm and 5pm

On Thursday, February 13, join Patti Callahan, New York Times bestselling author of Becoming Mrs. Lewis, as she leads participants in a free, one-hour class on writing historical fiction at 3:30pm. Coffee with refreshments will follow.  Callahan will then read from her work at 5pm as part of the Southern Writers’ Workshop, a new feature to our series in 2020.

Keynote Speaker: Edwidge Danticat - Thursday, January 30, 2020, 5pm

Edwidge Danticat is the author of numerous books, including Brother, I’m Dying, a National Book Critics Circle Award winner and a National Book Award finalist; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah Book Club selection; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award finalist; and The Dew Breaker, a PEN/Faulkner Award finalist and winner of the inaugural Story Prize. The recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, Danticat focuses on national identity, mother-daughter relationships, and diasporic politics. While at the university, she will lead a creative writing class for currently enrolled students and discuss her latest novel published in August of 2019. Co-sponsors include the Office of Diversity and Inclusion, Dwell Mobile, and Phi Kappa Phi. PHOTO CREDIT: Lynn Savarese Photography

Jill McCorkle - Wednesday, November 13, 2019, 5pm

Jill McCorkle has published six novels and four collections of short stories, five of which have been named New York Times notable books. Her work is anthologized in Best American Short Stories, New Stories from the South, and The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction.  McCorkle has received the New England Booksellers Award, the John Dos Passos Prize for Excellence in Literature, the North Carolina Award for Literature, and the Thomas Wolfe Prize. She is core faculty in the Bennington Writing Seminars and frequently teaches in the Sewanee Writers Program. Her new novel Hieroglyphics will be published in spring 2020.  In addition to the public reading, McCorkle will lead a workshop for currently enrolled fiction students.

Thursday, October 3, 2019 - 4:00PM

The English Department presents a public lecture by John G. Peters, University Distinguished Research Professor at the University of North Texas.  His talk, "Silence, Space, and Nothingness in Joseph Conrad’s African Fiction: 'Heart of Darkness' and 'An Outpost of Progress,'" will be held on Thursday, October 3 at 4 p.m. in the USA Archaeology Museum.  A reception will follow.

Monday, September 23, 2019 - 4:00PM

The 17th Annual Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English will be given by Dr. Patrick Cesarini, Associate Professor of English at USA.  His presentation, "Reconstructing Mobile's Civil War Literature" will take place on Monday, September 23 at 4 p.m. in the USA Student Center Terrace Room.  A reception will follow.  This event is open to the public.

Thursday, September 19, 2019 - 5:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents writer and performer Danez Smith at 5pm in the John Counts Room of the Mitchell Center. The event is free and open to the public. A book signing and reception with refreshments will follow.  PHOTO:  Hieu Minh Nguyen

Friday, September 6, 2019 - 2:00PM

Join the USA Libraries for a roundtable featuring three distinguished writers in dialogue on the new Palaemon Press Limited collection at the Doy Leale McCall Rare Book and Manuscript Library.  Professor Emerita and former Alabama Poet Laureate Sue Brannan Walker, ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard, and Director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing Charlotte Pence will discuss features of the collection and its place in the Southern literary tradition.  This event will be held in the Marx Library Auditorium.  All are welcome.

Thursday, September 5, 2019 - 4:30PM

The USA Honors College in partnership with The Book Club and Sigma Tau Delta English Honor Society present a celebration of Toni Morrison's life on Thursday, September 5 at 4:30 p.m.  Join English faculty and students, including Dr. Laura Vrana, Dr. Kern Jackson, Dr. Christopher Raczkowski, Ms. Mary Murphy, Mrs. Deborah Ferguson, Mr. James Craig, and Ms. Mocha Hunter, for a group reading in Seaman's Bethel.  Refreshments will be served.

Thursday, April 18, 2019 - 5:00PM

Diana Khoi Nguyen’s debut collection of poetry, Ghost Of, won Omnidawn’s Open Contest in 2018 and is a finalist for the National Book Award, a rare honor for a first book. This reading will be held in the USA Student Center Terrace Room, with a book signing and reception to follow.

Thursday, March 7, 2019 - 7:30PM

We're thrilled to announce our Annual Songwriter Keynote --- ASK 2019 will feature Josh Ritter, live at Laidlaw on Thursday, March 7th.  The two-act event will feature a musical performance, a reading, and an interactive Q&A.  Please note: this free event will be held in the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center (Mainstage Theatre). Doors open at 7:00 p.m. and the show begins at 7:30 p.m. ASK 2019 is co-sponsored by the Independent Music Collective, USA Department of Theatre and Dance, the USA Department of English, and the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.  PHOTO:  Laura Wilson.

Tuesday, February 12, 2019 - 5:00PM

Jamie Quatro is the author of two books of fiction, Fire Sermon and I Want to Show You More.   This reading will be held in the USA Student Center Terrace Room, with a book signing and reception to follow.  PHOTO:  Stephen Alvarez.

Monday, October 29, 2018 - 7:00PM

With the support of the Alabama Humanities Foundation and the Native American Student Association, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents at the Student Center Outdoor Amphitheater. The author of sixteen novels, six story collections, and a comic book, Jones is a genre-bending writer who spans the worlds of experimental fiction, horror, crime, and more. The event begins at 7pm, with a book signing and reception to follow.

Friday/Saturday, October 19/20, 2018

The English Department will host the conference "Chaucer: Sound and Vision" on October 19 and 20 at the USA Faculty Club.  Michael Kuczynski of Tulane University will be the plenary speaker.

Tuesday, October 2, 2018 - 4:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing and the Center for War and Memory present Frye Gaillard reading from his new book, A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost on Tuesday, October 2 at 4pm in the USA Faculty Club.

Thursday, September 13, 2018 - 7:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing is proud to present Roxane Gay, one of America’s most beloved writers and cultural critics.  Her New York Times best-selling books include Bad Feminist, Hunger, An Untamed State, and Difficult Women. This event will be held in the USA Student Center Ballroom, with a reception and book signing to follow. Co-sponsors include Jaguar Productions, the English Department, AAUW at South Alabama, Phi Kappa Phi , Gender Studies, and the Department of Political Science and Criminal Justice.

Thursday, August 30, 2018 - 4:00PM

The 16th Annual Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English will be given by Dr. Becky McLaughlin, Associate Professor of English at USA.  Her presentation, "Trac(k)ing Chaucer's Cut With Jacques the Knife: 'Wild' Analysis and the Symptomatic Storyteller," will take place on Thursday, August 30 at 4 p.m. in the Marx Library Auditorium.  A reception will follow.

Wednesday, April 4, 2018 - 7:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing is proud to co-sponsor a lecture by journalist and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Elizabeth Kolbert.  Her most recent book, The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, won the 2015 nonfiction Pulitzer and is first on the Guardian’s list of the 100 best nonfiction books ever.  The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 7pm in the Student Center Ballroom.

Thursday, March 22, 2018 - 5:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents poet Jamaal May, who will read from his work in the Terrace Room of the Student Center at 5pm.  A reception will follow.

Monday, February 26, 2018 - 7:30PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing and the Independent Music Collective present John Darnielle of the Mountain Goats at USA's Dramatic Arts Mainstage Theatre in the Laidlaw Performing Arts Center.  The two-act event will feature a musical performance, a reading, and a short interview conducted by the Stokes Center's new writer-in-residence Adam Prince. Doors open at 7 pm and the show will begin at 7:30 pm.

Thursday, February 8, 2018 - 5:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents award-winning writer (and native Mobilian) Michael Knight, who will read from his latest collection, Eveningland, in the Terrace Room of the Student Center at 5pm.  A reception will follow.

Thursday, November 30, 2017 - 11:00AM

Dr. Charlotte Pence’s fall poetry class will be reading with Catharsis to celebrate the end of the semester.  This event will be held in the Room 205 in the Student Center.

Thursday, November 16, 2017 - 7:00PM

Please join us at 7pm on Thursday, November 16 in the Student Center Ballroom.  Charlotte Pence, Director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing, will conduct a Q&A with Yaa Gyasi, the award-winning author of USA's 2016/17 Common Read selection Homegoing.  A reception will follow the presentation.

Monday, October 30, 2017 - 4:00PM

Please help us welcome Stokes Visiting Writer Adam Prince.  He will be reading from his work in the Terrace Room at the USA Student Center on Monday, October 30 at 4pm.  Light refreshments will be provided.

Thursday, October 19, 2017 - 6:30PM

Please help us welcome Nathan Poole, our new Assistant Professor of Creative Writing.  He will be reading from his work at the Faculty Club on Thursday, October 19 at 6:30pm.  A reception will follow.

Wednesday, September 27, 2017 - 7:00PM

Professor Emerita Sue Brannan Walker will celebrate the launch of her new poetry book titled Let Us Imagine Her Name (Clemson University Press, 2017).  This event, co-sponsored by the Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi, will be held at the Faculty Club.  A reception will follow.

Thursday, September 14, 2017 - 7:00PM

The 15th Annual Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English will be given by Charlotte Pence, Director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at USA. Her presentation, "Many Small Fires: A Poetry Reading," will take place on Thursday, September 14 at 7 p.m. at the Faculty Club with a reception following.

Monday, February 20, 2017 - 4:00PM

As part of the Visiting Writers Series, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents Molly Brodak at 4pm in the Archaeology Museum. The event is free and open to the public.  Brodak is the author of A Little Middle of the Night, winner of the 2009 Iowa Poetry Prize, along with three chapbooks of poetry and Bandit: a Daughter's Memoir (Grove Atlantic).

Tuesday, February 7, 2017 - 4:00PM

The English Department and the Stokes Center for Creative Writing present Dr. Nick Sturm, Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing.  His lecture, "Poetry and the Living Archive," will take place on Tuesday, February 7 at 4 p.m. in the Marx Library Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016 - 5:00PM

The 14th Annual Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English will feature Dr. Cris Hollingsworth, Associate Professor of English. His lecture, "Countdown and Aftermath: Edgar Allan Poe and Anxiety in the Age of Rockets" will take place on Wednesday, November 16 at 5 p.m. in the Marx Library Auditorium. The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, November 10, 2016 - 4:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents Poetry Salon with Frye Gaillard and Julie Suk at 4pm in the Archaeology Museum. The event is free and open to the public.

Tuesday, November 1, 2016 - 4:00PM

As part of the Visiting Writers Series, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents Nathaniel Mackey at 4pm in the Archaeology Museum. The event is free and open to the public. An esteemed poet and scholar of 20th century poetics, Mackey has been awarded the National Book Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and The Bollingen Prize, among other awards. His most recent book of poetry, Blue Fasa, was published by New Directions in 2015.

Tuesday, October 18, 2016 - 4:00PM

As part of the Visiting Writers Series, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents Rebecca Morgan Frank at 4pm in the Archaeology Museum. The event is free and open to the public.  Currently the Jacob Ziskind Poet-in-Residence at Brandeis University, Frank is the author of two collections of poetry, The Spokes of Venus (Carnegie Mellon University Press, 2016) and Little Murders Everywhere (Salmon, 2012).

Monday, April 11, 2016 - 4:00PM

As part of the Visiting Writers Series, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents Ada Limón, Michael Robins, and Adam Clay at 4pm in the Archaeology Museum. The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, April 7, 2016 - 4:30PM

The English Department's annual Student Recognition Ceremony will be held at 4:30 PM on Thursday, April 7, 2016 at the Faculty Club.  Carolyn Haines will deliver the address.

Monday, March 21, 2016 - 4:00PM

As part of the Visiting Writers Series, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents Major Jackson at 4pm in the Archaeology Museum. The event is free and open to the public. A prizewinning poet, Jackson is the author of Leaving Saturn (Georgia, 2002), Hoops (Norton, 2006), Holding Company (Norton, 2010), and Roll Deep (Norton, 2015).

Tuesday, January 26, 2016 - 4:00PM

As part of the Visiting Writers Series, the Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents Kirstin Valdez Quade at 4pm in the Archaeology Museum. The event is free and open to the public. The author of Night at the Fiestas (Norton, 2015), Quade's work has appeared in The New Yorker, Narrative, Guernica, The Southern Review, The Best American Short Stories, The O. Henry Prize Stories, and elsewhere.

Wednesday, November 11, 2015 - 4:00PM

The 13th Annual Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English will feature Mira Rosenthal, Director of the Stokes Center for Creative Writing at USA. Her lecture, "Tracing the Lyric: A Reading from Recent Poems and Translations," will take place on Wednesday, November 11 at 4 p.m. in the Archaeology Museum with a reception following.

Thursday, September 3, 2015 - 9:00AM to 4:00PM

The Center for the Study of War and Memory is hosting an interdisciplinary symposium in Seaman's Bethel Hall titled "Remembering America's War in Vietnam, 1965-2015." Andrew Wiest, Distinguished Professor at the University of Southern Mississippi, will deliver the keynote address. Other speakers include Frye Gaillard, Steven Trout, and Elizabeth Rivenbark.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015 - 7:00PM

As part of the symposium "Remembering America's War in Vietnam, 1965-2015," the Center for the Study of War and Memory will be screening the Errol Morris film The Fog of War:  Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara (2003) in the Marx Library Auditorium.  A panel discussion and Q&A with Vietnam veterans will follow.

Monday, April 6, 2015

The Center for the Study of War and Memory is hosting a symposium in the Bethel Hall titled "The Civil War in History and Memory, 1895-2015." Benjamin Cloyd, author of Haunted by Atrocity: Civil War Prisons in American Memory, will be the keynote speaker. Other speakers include Frye Gaillard, Mel McKiven, Elizabeth Rivenbark, and Carol Ellis.

Thursday, April 2, 2015 - 4:00PM

The English Department's annual Student Recognition Ceremony will be held at 4:00 PM on Thursday, April 2, 2015. Actor Laura Cayouette (English MA, '88) will deliver the banquet's keynote address.

Wednesday, November 5, 2014 - 4:00PM

USA Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard will deliver the twelfth Eugenie L. Hamner Lecture for the Graduate Program in English on Wednesday, November 5, 2014.  Prof. Gaillard’s talk, "Journey to the Wilderness," will be held at 4pm in the Marx Library Auditorium.  The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday, October 30, 2014 - 4:00PM / 7:00PM

Award-winning Nashville songwriter Anne E. DeChant will visit USA on Thursday, Oct. 30, appearing at two events sponsored by the Common Read and Gender Studies programs. At 4 p.m., DeChant will join USA Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard at the Marx Library Auditorium for a discussion of "Story-Telling Through Song." The discussion will followed by a 7 p.m. acoustic concert at Satori Coffee House. Both events are free.

Thursday, September 4, 2014 - 2:00PM

Please join Dr. John H. Morrow, Jr. (University of Georgia) and USA faculty members Susan McCready, Dan Rogers, and Steven Trout for a panel discussion in the Marx Library Auditorium.  "The First World War:  100 Years After" will explore the impact of WWI on 20th-century history.  USA Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard will moderate.  Everyone is welcome.

Wednesday, September 3, 2014 - 7:00PM

Dr. John H. Morrow, Jr. (University of Georgia) will discuss his latest book, The Harlem Rattlers and the First World War: The Undaunted 369th Regiment and the African American Quest for Equality (2014).  A signing will follow the presentation.  The event will be held at the Marx Library Auditorium.  Everyone is welcome.

Tuesday, August 5, 2014 - 6:30PM

Writer-in-Residence Frye Gaillard hosts an evening of readings and song featuring author and syndicated columnist Rheta Grimsley Johnson and acclaimed Nashville songwriters Davis Raines and Pamela Jackson. This free event begins at 6:30 at the West Regional Branch of the Mobile Public Library.

Wednesday, July 9, 2014 - 1:30PM

Professor Hong Pan, the Chair of the Foreign Languages Department at Fuzhou University Zhicheng College, will give a presentation on the Victorian novelist Rider Haggard.  This event will be held in the Arts and Sciences Dean's Conference Room (HUMB 122).

Monday, April 14, 2014 - 7:00PM

The Stokes Center for Creative Writing presents a reading by Bill Tremblay, award-winning author, poet, and founder of the Colorado Review.  The event will be held at the ÃØÃÜÑо¿Ëù Faculty Club, and will begin at 7pm.  Everyone is welcome.