Celebrated writers of poetry, fiction, and literary non-fiction visit campus several times each year to give lectures, readings, discussions, and book signings. For the Spring 2025 Creative Writers Reading Series, the three visiting writer readings will take place live and in person only.
The BFA program is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, bringing some special events to this year's Creative Writers Reading Series.
All events are free and open to the public. For additional information, visit us on Facebook at Penn State Behrend - BFA Creative Writing.
The Creative Writers Reading Series is produced by Penn State Behrend's B.F.A. in Creative Writing degree program with support from the Clarence A. and Eugenie Baumann Smith Fund.
Penn State encourages persons with disabilities to participate in its programs and activities. If you anticipate needing any type of accommodation or have questions about the physical access provided, please contact Dr. Tom Noyes in advance of your participation or visit.
Spring 2025 Smith Creative Writers Reading Series
Smith Readings begin promptly at 6:00 p.m. (preceded by receptions at 5:30 p.m.).
March 20 – Allegra Hyde, Fiction
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Allegra Hyde will participate in the Smith Creative Writers Reading Series.
Allegra Hyde is the author of the story collection The Last Catastrophe, a New York Times Editors’ Choice selection. Her debut novel Eleutheria was named a “Best Book of 2022” by The New Yorker, shortlisted for the VCU Cabell First Novelist Prize, named a finalist for the Ohioana Book Award, and featured on Late Night with Seth Meyers. Her first story collection, Of This New World, won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award. Hyde has received four Pushcart Prizes and an O. Henry Prize. Her work has also been anthologized in Best American Travel Writing, Best of the Net, and Best Small Fictions. Her fiction, nonfiction, and humor writing has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's Magazine, American Short Fiction, BOMB, and many other venues. She has received fellowships and grants from the MacDowell Artist Residency, the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, the Sewanee Writers’ Conference, The Elizabeth George Foundation, the Lucas Artist Residency Program, the Jentel Foundation, The Studios at Key West, VCCA, the U.S. Fulbright Commission, and elsewhere. She teaches creative writing at Smith College.
April 10 – Avitus B. Carle, Fiction
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Avitus B. Carle will participate in the Smith Creative Writers Reading Series.
Avitus B. Carle’s first book, These Warm Bodies, a collection of flash fiction, won the Moon City Press Fiction Award. She lives and writes outside of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She is a graduate of Old Dominion University with a B.A. in English–Creative Writing, West Chester University with an M.A. in English, and Spalding University with an M.F.A. in Fiction. Her flash, fiction, and nonfiction have appeared in F(r)iction, Jellyfish Review, The Offing, No Contact, Lost Balloon, The Rumpus, JMWW, Hippocampus Magazine, and elsewhere. Her story “Soba” was included in the 2020 Best of the Net Anthology, and her experimental flash, “Abernathy_Resume.docx,” was included in the 2022 Best of the Net Anthology. Her story “A Lethal Woman” will be included in the 2022 Best Small Fictions Anthology.
April 17 – Julie Danho, Poetry
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Julie Danho will participate in the Smith Creative Writers Reading Series.
Julie Danho’s first full-length collection, Those Who Keep Arriving (2020), won the Gerald Cable Book Award from Silverfish Review Press. Her chapbook, Six Portraits, received the 2013 Slapering Hol Press Chapbook Award, and her poems have appeared in journals such as Pleiades, Alaska Quarterly Review, Blackbird, and New Ohio Review and have been featured on The Writer's Almanac, Poetry Daily, and Verse Daily. She has been awarded fellowships from the Rhode Island State Council on the Arts and the MacColl Johnson Fund. Julie has an M.F.A. from Ohio State University and works as an editor in Providence, Rhode Island.
Additional Readings
Readings begin promptly at 6:00 p.m.
March 27 - Behrend Reads: 20th Anniversary Edition
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Join us for the annual Behrend Reads event, where Behrend's faculty and staff read from their creative work. This year, we’ll be celebrating the BFA in Creative Writing Program’s 20th Anniversary. There will be a coffee and cookie reception at 5:30 p.m.
April 3 - BFA Alumni Reading: 20th Anniversary Edition
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Join us for the BFA in Creative Writing Program's 20th Anniversary Alumni Reading. There will be a coffee and cookie reception at 5:30 p.m.
April 24 – Sweet Sorrow Senior Readings
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Graduating students from the Bachelor of Fine Arts program in Creative Writing read from their work.