13th Annual
Great Writers, Great Readings Series
Photo by Anthony Alvarez
Wednesday, March 15, 6:30 p.m. A. Van Jordan
A. Van Jordan has published four books of poetry: The Cineaste, Quantum Lyrics, M-A-C-N-O-L-I-A, and Rise. His poetry is influenced by music, film, race, history, and pop culture. His most recent book, The Cineaste, marries his love of film with poetry in pieces that re-examine a wide range of seminal films such as Nosferatu (1922), The Homesteader (1919), Run Lola Run (1998), and Oldboy (2003) through the perspectives of both the voyeur and the character onscreen. Jordan has been awarded the AnisfieldWolf Book Award, the Lannan Literary Award, and the Whiting Writers’ Award, as well as fellowships from the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and United States Artists, among others. He currently teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College and serves as the Henry Rutgers Presidential Professor at Rutgers University–Newark. Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library
Photo by Gasper Triangle
Wednesday, April 5, 6:30 p.m. Susan Orlean
The New York Times bestselling author Susan Orlean’s explorations of American stories, both familiar and obscure, have earned her a reputation as one of America’s most distinctive journalistic voices. A staff writer for The New Yorker for over 20 years and a former contributing editor at Rolling Stone and Vogue, she has been praised as “an exceptional essayist” by Publishers Weekly. Orlean’s most recent book, Rin Tin Tin, explores the life and legacy of the iconic German shepherd. In The Orchid Thief — the national bestseller that inspired the Academy Award-winning film Adaptation — Orlean delves into the life of John Laroche, a charismatic schemer once convicted of trying to steal endangered orchids from a state preserve in southern Florida. Orlean’s work has inspired two successful films: Blue Crush, the story of young women surfing in Maui, and Adaptation, the metafilm directed by Spike Jonze. Meryl Streep, who portrayed Orlean in the film, was nominated for an Academy Award.
Photo by Adrian Mendoza
Guthart Cultural Center Theater, Axinn Library
Monday, March 27, 6:30 p.m. In Celebration of Women’s History Month Hofstra Cultural Center presents Rebecca Solnit
Join us as we close out Women’s History Month with a reading by San Francisco writer, historian and activist Rebecca Solnit. Solnit is the author of 18 books about geography, community, art, politics, hope, and feminism and the recipient of many awards, including the Lannan Literary Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. She is a frequent contributor to the political site Tomdispatch.com and a contributing editor at Harper’s, where she is the first woman to regularly write the “Easy Chair” column (founded in 1851). She will discuss her latest books as well as the recent U.S. election and what it means for feminism and the environment. Fortunoff Theater, Monroe Lecture Center
• hofstra.edu/gwgr