Christian Campbell, a Bahamian and Trinidadian poet whose book Running the Dusk won the Aldeburgh First Collection Prize, gave a reading with Nina Revoyr, the author of four novels including the Lambda Award winner Southland and the 2011 novel Wingshooters. The readings took place as part of the Distinguished Writers Series of the Newhouse Center for the Humanities at Wellesley College. Elena Creef, a professor of Women's and Gender Studies at Wellesley and Newhouse Center fellow, led a...

Espada, a Pulitzer Prize finalist called "the Latino poet of his generation" by the New York Times, has published over fifteen books of poetry, translation, and essays. Girmay is the author of two collections of poetry, for which she has won awards including the Isabella Gardner Poetry Award and the NEA Literature Fellowship, and teaches poetry at Hampshire College. Following the readings, Marjorie Agosín, professor of Spanish at Wellesley College and winner of the Latino Literature Prize for...

Lydia Davis, who published a widely acclaimed new translation of Madame Bovary in fall 2010, gave a reading at the Newhouse Center for the Humanities in September 2011 for the Distinguished Writers Series. Davis received a MacArthur “genius” grant for her writing in 2003, and has published one novel and seven story collections, the most recent of which was a finalist for the 2007 National Book Award. She read a series of works from her Collected Stories, published in 2009, as well as a series...

Cartoonists Lynda Barry and Alison Bechdel have created two of the most significant autobiographies of the 21st-century. In April 2011, Wellesley's Newhouse Center for the Humanities presented readings from Bechdel, author of the syndicated comic Dykes to Watch Out For and the groundbreaking graphic autobiography Fun Home, and Barry, author of the weekly Ernie Pook's Comeek as well as the award-winning graphic novel What It Is. The event focused on how these two acclaimed artists have...

Caryl Phillips is the author of numerous books of nonfiction and fiction, including Crossing the River (winner of the 1993 James Tait Black Memorial Prize), A Distant Shore (winner of the Commonwealth Writer's Prize), and Dancing in the Dark (winner of the 2006 PEN/Beyond Margins Award). In this recording, Phillips reads from A Distant Shore and discusses his work with Margaret Cezair-Thompson, a Professor of Literature and Creative Writing and the author of The True History of Paradise and...

Israel's most celebrated novelist, Meir Shalev has written many novels, including "A Pigeon and a Boy", winner of the 2008 National Jewish Book Award, and "Russan Romance (The Blue Mountain)", one of the top five bestsellers in Israeli publishing history. In this recording, he reads from his newest book Beginnings: Reflections on the Bible's Intriguing Firsts--with help from Wellesley English Professor Larry Rosenwald.

Ha Jin is the award-winning author of five novels, four collections of stories, three volumes of poetry, and one collection of essays. His novels include Waiting, winner of the 1999 National Book Award, and War Trash, winner of the 2005 PEN/Faulkner Award. In this recording, he reads from his newest story collection, A Good Fall, which focuses on Flushing, one of New York City's largest Chinese immigrant communities. Jonathan Wilson, Director of the Humanities Center and Fletcher professor...

Peter Carey's most recent novel, Parrot and Olivier in America, is on the short list for the 2010 Man Booker Prize. Two of his previous novels have already won the award--The True History of the Kelly Gang in 2001, and Oscar and Lucinda in 1988. Carey was born in Austrailia in 1943. He lives in New York City. Peter Carey spoke at Wellesley College's Newhouse Center for the Humanities on September 28, 2010.

Colum McCann reads from his most recent novel, published in June 2009. Born in Dublin, Ireland, Colum McCann is the author of two story collections and five novels, including This Side of Brightness; Dancer; Zoli; and Let the Great World Spin (winner of the 2009 National Book Award). Colum McCann spoke at Wellesley College's Newhouse Center for the Humanities on March, 30, 2010.

Russell Banks reads his short story "Lobster Night", first published in 2000. His novels include The Reserve, The Darling, The Sweet Hereafter, Cloudsplitter, Affliction, and Continental Drift.  Cloudsplitter and Continental Drift were finalists for the Pulitizer Prize.  Russell Banks lives in Saratoga Springs, NY. He spoke at Wellesley College's Newhouse Center for the Humanities on October 26, 2010.