Series and Conferences

Each semester, through our Writers Series, the English Department brings prominent writers of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction to UNH to read from their work in public presentations and, in most cases, to spend in-class time with students during the day. Our Speakers Series sponsors Professors of English and other disciplines from various academic institutions for a visit to UNH during which they present a current paper and discuss their research. The first Friday of every month is reserved for our First Fridays Series, which features UNH English Department professors presenting their current research. Our Visiting Journalist series brings a prominent journalist to campus for a full week during which he or she works with students and gives a public lecture. All series are free and open to all students and the public.

Recent Writers Series visitors include Mark Doty, Tom Perrotta, Meredith Hall, Nahid Rachlin, Alistair MacLeod, Billy Collins, Edward P. Jones, ZZ Packer, Phillip Lopate, Ha Jin, Li-Young Lee, and Russell Banks.

Recent speakers include Barbara Walsh, journalist; Patricia Meyer Spacks, University of Virginia; Linda Woodbridge, Pennsylvania State; Ayanna Thompson, Arizona State; and Jonathan Culler, Cornell; among others.

2009-2010 Writers Series

Fall 2009

Thursday, October 1
Jaed Coffin
Author of the memoir A Chant to Soothe Wild Elephants
5 p.m., MUB 1

Thursday, October 15
Ralph Angel
Author of Exceptions and Melancholies: Poems 1986-2006
Sponsored by the Frederick Hyde Hibbert '88 Fund
5 p.m., MUB 1

Thursday, November 5
Julia Glass
Winner of the National Book Award for the novel Three Junes
5 p.m., MUB 2

Spring 2010

Thursday, March 4
Victor LaValle
Author of the novel Big Machine
5 p.m., MUB 1

Thursday, April 15
Wes McNair
Author of Lovers of the Lost: New and Selected Poems 
5 p.m., MUB 1

The Department also hosts a bi-annual composition conference, and has hosted other major conferences in the past, including a literary conference, a British post-modern poetry conference, and a journalism conference.