Get ready for another unforgettable season of poetry! It's such a pleasure to announce our Fall 2026 Reading & Lecture Series, featuring guest writers Bianca Stone, Elissa Washuta, Sarah Minor, Layli Long Soldier, Juan Villoro, Francisco Cantú, Coral Bracho, Luci Tapahonso, Danielle Williams, Sherwin Bitsui, Margaret Randall, Adrian Matejka, and Maya C. Popa.
Warm thanks goes to the College of Humanities, the W.A. Franke Honors College, and from supporters in the Poetry Center's Walt Whitman Circle for their underwriting support.
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Fall 2026 Reading series
Thursday, September 10, 7:00 PM
Bianca Stone
Bianca Stone is the author of many books, including the poetry collections What is Otherwise Infinite which received the 2022 Vermont Book Award, and The Near and Distant World. Learn more >
Thursday, September 17, 7:00 PM
Distinguished Visitors in Creative Writing Reading: Elissa Washuta & Sarah Minor
Elissa Washuta is a member of the Cowlitz Indian Tribe and the author of White Magic, Starvation Mode, and My Body Is a Book of Rules. Sarah Minor is the author of Carousel: An Essay on Seeing; Slim Confessions: The Universe as a Spider or Spit; and the award-winning collection Bright Archive. Learn more >
Thursday, October 8, 7:00 PM
Layli Long Soldier
Layli Long Soldier is author of the collection We and Whereas. Whereas won the National Books Critics Circle award, the PEN/Jean Stein Book Award, and was a finalist for the National Book Award. Learn more >
Thursday, October 15, 7:00 PM
Distinguished Visitors in Creative Writing Reading: Juan Villoro and Francisco Cantú
Award-winning Mexican author and celebrated journalist Juan Villoro is the author of more than 40 books, including most recently El Partido Del Fin Del Mundo. Francisco Cantú is the author of The Line Becomes a River, a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, as well as the translator for El Partido Del Fin Del Mundo. Learn more >
Thursday, October 29, 7:00 PM
Coral Bracho
Coral Bracho has published most of her poetry books in Ediciones Era, including her Collected Poems: Poesía reunida 1977-2023. Among her grants and prizes are the Aguascalientes National Poetry Prize and a Guggenheim fellowship. Learn more >
Thursday, November 5, 7:00 PM
Ofelia Zepeda Reading for Indigenous Poets and Sun Tracks 100th Publication Celebration: Featuring Luci Tapahonso, Danielle Williams & Sherwin Bitsui
Luci Tapahonso is the inaugural Diné Nation Poet Laureate and the author of six award-winning books. Danielle P. Williams is a Black and Chamorro poet, essayist, translator, spoken-word artist and the author of Who All Gon' Be There? and Chamorrita Song. Sherwin Bitsui is the author of The Next Sky along with three additional collections of poetry. He is the recipient of a Whiting Award, an American Book Award, and the PEN Book Award. Learn more >
Thursday, November 19, 7:00 PM
Margaret Randall
Margaret Randall is a poet, essayist, oral historian, translator, photographer, and social activist. The author of more than 65 books, her most recent books include the poetry collections The Calendar’s Whim and Wild Card, and the prose collection Pages Lost and New. Learn more >
Thursday, December 3, 7:00 PM
Adrian Matejka & Maya C. Popa
National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize finalist Adrian Matejka is the author of six poetry collections, including his latest, Be Easy: New & Selected Poems. Maya C. Popa is the author of three poetry collections: her latest If You Love That Lady, and the collections Wound Is the Origin of Wonder, and American Faith, winner of the North American Book Prize. Learn more >