Visiting Writers Series Announces Spring 2022 Lineup

Each evening features a public reading of the author's work as well as a master class.
February 7, 2022

The Wells College Visiting Writers Series will kick off its spring 2022 lineup with an appearance this Wednesday, Feb. 9 by Madeline ffitch, author of the acclaimed novel Stay and Fight, which was a runner-up for the 2020 PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel.

She will teach a master class at 5:00 p.m. on the topic, “Snakes, Styrofoam and Sugar Maples: Writing Our Environment” in the Main Building’s Faculty Parlors, followed by a public reading of her work at 7:30 p.m. in the Art Exhibit Room, located on the third floor of Macmillan Hall.

The spring 2022 series will also feature G’Ra Asim (March 10), a writer, musician and assistant professor of creative writing at Washington University who released his nonfiction debut last year; a virtual appearance by Ryka Aoki (April 20), a poet, composer, teacher and novelist whose works include two Lambda Award finalists; and Jaswinder Bolina (April 28), a poet and essayist who has published in McSweeney’s, the Best American Poetry series, and many other journals and anthologies.

Each event features the author reading from their work, and also teaching a master class during which they discuss their craft in a more intimate setting. All events, including the master classes, are free and open to the public and will also be streamed live on the Wells College Visiting Writers YouTube Channel.

Please note that masks are required of all individuals inside any building on the Wells College campus, regardless of vaccination status.

VISITING WRITERS SERIES: SPRING 2022

Madeline ffitch

Wednesday, Feb. 9, 2022
MASTER CLASS: "Snakes, Styrofoam, and Sugar Maples: Writing Our Environment"—5:00 p.m., Faculty Parlors, Main Building
READING—7:30 p.m., Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall
Madeline ffitch writes and organizes in Appalachian Ohio. She was a founding member of the punk theater company, the Missoula Oblongata, and is the author of the story collection Valparaiso, Round the Horn. Madeline has been awarded residencies at Yaddo and at the MacDowell Colony. She is also the author of the novel Stay and Fight from Farrar, Straus and Giroux—a finalist for the PEN Hemingway Award, the Lambda Literary Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and the Washington State Book Award. This event is co-sponsored with the Wells College Center for Sustainability and the Environment.

G’Ra Asim

Thursday, March 10, 2022
MASTER CLASS—5:00 p.m., Faculty Parlors, Main Building
READING—7:30 p.m., Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall
G’Ra Asim, a writer and musician, is an assistant professor of creative writing at Washington University in St. Louis. His nonfiction debut, Boyz n the Void: a mixtape to my brother, was released in May 2021 via Beacon Press. He has served as a writing director at the African American Policy Forum and a graduate teaching fellow in Columbia University’s Undergraduate Writing Program. His work has appeared in Slate, Salon, Guernica, the Baffler, and the New Republic. When not writing prose or teaching, he sings, plays bass and writes lyrics for DIY pop punk quintet, babygotbacktalk.

Ryka Aoki

Wednesday, April 20, 2022
VIRTUAL MASTER CLASS—5:00 p.m., Zoom
VIRTUAL READING—7:30pm, Zoom
Please visit wells.edu/visiting-writers for the Zoom links to both events.
Ryka Aoki (she/her) is a poet, composer, teacher, and novelist whose books include Light from Uncommon Stars, He Mele a Hilo and two Lambda Award finalists, Seasonal Velocities and Why Dust Shall Never Settle Upon This Soul. Ryka’s work has appeared or been recognized in publications including Vogue, Elle, Bustle, Autostraddle, PopSugar and Buzzfeed. Her poetry was featured at the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center, and she was honored by the California State Senate for “extraordinary commitment to the visibility and well-being of Transgender people.” This event is co-sponsored with the program in Women’s, Transgender and Queer Studies.

Jaswinder Bolina

Thursday, April 28, 2022
MASTER CLASS: “The Personal Political”—5:00 p.m., Faculty Parlors, Main Building
READING—7:30 p.m., Art Exhibit Room, Macmillan Hall
Jaswinder Bolina is the author of three collections of poetry—Carrier Wave, Phantom Camera, and The 44th of July, which was long-listed for the 2019 PEN America Open Book Award and a finalist for the 2019 Big Other Book Award. He has also published a collection of essays, Of Color, with McSweeney’s. His individual poems and essays have appeared in the Best American Poetry series, the Norton Reader, on the Poetry Foundation website, and have been featured in many other literary journals and anthologies. He is on the faculty of the M.F.A. program in creative writing at the University of Miami.

About the Visiting Writers Series

The Visiting Writers Series at Wells College presents several events each semester featuring authors who have distinguished themselves in poetry, fiction and/or nonfiction. These writers not only give public readings of their work—they often conduct master classes and writing workshops, participate in classes and discussions and are interviewed by campus publications. The Visiting Writers Series is made possible by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Gov. Kathy Hochul and the New York State Legislature. See more at wells.edu/visiting-writers or on Facebook at facebook.com/WellsVisitingWriters.

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