The Jack D. Farris Visiting Writers Series was established in 2013 by a bequest from the late Kathleen McClain, class of 1974, as a memorial to her beloved teacher, mentor and friend, Professor Jack D. Farris. The annual series brings to campus a renowned creative writer for lectures, workshops, and a public reading and reception.
Past Visiting Writers
2025: Karen Russell
Karen Russell is the author of six books of fiction, including the NYT bestsellers Vampires in the Lemon Grove and Swamplandia!, one of NYT's ten best books of the year and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. She is the grateful recipient of a MacArthur Fellowship, a Guggenheim Fellowship, the NYPL's Young Lions Award, the Bard Fiction Prize, the National Book Foundation's "5 under 35" Award, and was selected for Granta's Best Young American Novelists and The New Yorker's "20 under 40" list.
2024: Hanif Abdurraqib
Hanif Abdurraqib is an award-winning poet, essayist, and cultural critic from Columbus, Ohio. His newest release, There's Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension (Random House) is forthcoming in March 2024. His previous book, A
Little Devil In America (Random House, 2021) was a winner of the Andrew Carnegie Medal and the Gordon Burn Prize. In 2021, Abdurraqib was named a MacArthur Fellow. He is a graduate of Beechcroft High School.
2023: Ada Limón
2022 (Spring): Meghan O'Gieblyn
2022 (Fall): Dionne Irving
2021: Adrian Matejka
2020 (Spring): Jennifer Clement
Jennifer Clement is the author of Gun Love, Prayers for the Stolen, and Widow Basquiat. As the first female president of PEN International, she created a revolutionary Women’s Manifesto that has been adopted by organizations the world over. In her reflective and insightful talks, she shares her research and writing process and her vision for a future with greater freedom of expression for women worldwide.
2020 (Fall): Caroline Randall Williams
2019: Aisha Sharif
2018 (Spring): Terrance Hayes
2018 (Fall): Stephanie Griest
2017: ZZ Packer
2016: Aimee Nezhukumatathil