September 12, 2019
PE Monroe Auditorium @ 7 pm
Campus Read author
2019-2020 Season Schedule
All events are free and open to the public. Tickets may be obtained by calling 828.328.7206 or going to the box office in PE Monroe Auditorium on LR's campus.
October 10, 2019
Belk Centrum @ 7 pm
October 17, 2019
PE Monroe Auditorium @ 7 pm
November 7, 2019
Belk Centrum @ 7 pm
January 23, 2020
Belk Centrum @ 7 pm
Visiting Writer-in-Residence
February 13, 2020
Belk Centrum @ 7 pm
March 5, 2020
Belk Centrum @ 7 pm
April 25, 2020
PE Monroe Auditorium, 2 pm
April 25, 2020
PE Monroe Auditorium, 2 pm
Learn More
Every year, for the past thirty years, Lenoir-Rhyne University’s Visiting Writers Series (VWS) has provided outstanding literary arts programming that is free and open to the public. Many communities have arts festivals or even more specifically literary festivals, but very few have literary arts series.
Every year, VWS invites authors to tell the stories behind their own works in a relaxed environment before university and community audiences. We believe the beauty and power of words help us make sense of the world.
We hope that you will join the hundreds of other supporters to continue to bring world-class writers to our community by becoming a 2019-2020 Patron of the Series. A contribution at any level guarantees you two tickets for Jonathan Safran Foer and Louise Min Jin Lee. Patrons at the $500+ level will also be invited to all VIP receptions throughout the year as well as being invited to special Series events. You may make a donation online or call 828.328.7321 (or 1.800.361.2704). Please consider designating your contribution to the Writers Series Endowment Fund.
Little Read Resources
Purpose
The primary purpose of the Writers Series is to provide exceptional cultural opportunities for our students and at the same time to improve the quality of life in Western North Carolina.
The Writers Series’ mission is “to build a community of readers” because we believe that a community that reads is a more creative, open, and tolerant community. The Series is particularly committed to collaborating with local and regional arts and civic organizations as well as non-profits that serve our diverse communities. We need to be reminded, by reading and hearing a variety of accents and stories, that our African-American, Latino, and Asian neighbors among others are members of cultures with rich artistic traditions and important experiences to share.
Mission Statement
The Visiting Writers Series of Lenoir-Rhyne University believes that reading is an essential element in the creation of vibrant communities. We invite authors to read from their own works in a relaxed environment before university and community audiences. We believe the beauty and power of words help us make sense of the world. Children's writers, mystery writers, essayists, poets, novelists all participate in this celebration of the written and spoken word. We believe that a community of readers is a better community.
Support the VWS
Sponsors
Contact VWS
Dr. Rand Brandes
Titles:
Martin Luther Stevens Professor of English, Director of the Visiting Writers Series, Director of the Lineberger Center
Email:
Lisa Hart
Titles:
Program Consultant, Lineberger Center, Program Consultant, The Little Read, Program Consultant, Visiting Writers Series
Email:
Previous Authors
- 2017-2018
- 2016-2017
- 2015-2016
- 2014-2015
- 2013-2014
- 2012-2013
- 2011-2012
- 2010-2011
- 2009-2010
- 2008-2009
- 2007-2008
- 2006-2007
- 2005-2006
- 2004-2005
- 2003-2004
- 2002-2003
- 2001-2002
- 2000-2001
- 1999-2000
- 1998-1999
- 1997-1998
- 1996-1997
- 1995-1996
- 1994-1995
- 1993-1994
- 1992-1993
- 1991-1992
- 1990-1991
- 1989-1990
- 1988
2017-2018
2016-2017
Alina "Tita" M. Ramirez
Anna Lena Phillips Bell
Julie Funderburk
William Stribling
Marlon James
Sarah Vowell
Leslie Rindoks
Denise Kiernan
Reginald Dwayne Betts
Dan Santat - Little Read Curriculum
2015-2016
2014-2015
2013-2014
2012-2013
2011-2012
2010-2011
2009-2010
2008-2009
2007-2008
2006-2007
2005-2006
2004-2005
2003-2004
2002-2003
2001-2002
Richard Chess, UNC-Asheville
Robert Conley, Tahlequah, OK
Nicolae Dabija, Moldova
Bret Lott, C. of Charleston
Josephine Humphreys, Charleston, SC
John Stone, M.D., Emory U., Alanta GA
Nikki Giovanni, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA
R. T. Smith, Washington and Lee University, Lexington, VA
Kyle Gann, Bard College, Annadal-on-Hudson, NY
Leroy Quintana, El Cajon, California
2000-2001
Carolyn Kizer, San Francisco, CA -- Pulitzer Prize Winner
Ernest Suarez, Catholic U., Washington, D.C.
Pat Conroy, SC
Eavan Boland, Stanford U.
Joe Connelly, NYC
Afaa M. Weaver, Simmons College, Boston
Ron Rash, Clemson, SC
Michael Strickland, New Jersey City U.
Lucinda Roy, Virginia Tech
Benjamin Alire Saenz, U. of Texas, El Paso
1999-2000
Yusef Komunyakaa, Princeton U.
Linda Beatrice Brown, N. Carolina
Donald Hall, New Hampshire
Adrian Rice, Northern Ireland
Nathalie Anderson, Swarthmore College
Jill Jones, N. Carolina
Robert Morgan, Cornell U.
Sue Ellen Bridgers, N. Carolina
Luis Rodriguez, Chicago, IL
Orson Scott Card, N. Carolina
Joseph Bathanti, N. Carolina
Leslie Marmon Silko, Tuscon, AZ
Connie Briscoe, Maryland
1998-1999
1997-1998
1996-1997
1995-1996
1994-1995
1993-1994
1992-1993
1991-1992
1990-1991
Derek Mahon, New York U.
Helen Vendler, Harvard U.
Eamon Grennan, Vassar C.
David Bottoms, Georgia State U.
Olga Broumas, Boston C.
Charles Simic, U. of New Hampshire
Donald Seacrest, U. of Iowa
Linda Lightsey Rice, U.T. Knoxville
Eilean Ni Chuilleanain, Trinity College, Dublin
John Skoyles, Warren Wilson C.
Linda Brown Bragg, Guilford C.
Betty Adcock, Meredith C.
Richard Murphy, Dublin
1989-1990
1988
VWS Sponsors
