Seavey Visiting Writers Series

Internationally recognized writers visit Susquehanna University for free public readings. For more information about the Writers Institute call 570-372-4660

2023–24 Authors

Phuc Tran

Sept. 26, 7 p.m.
Isaacs Auditorium

Phuc Tran has been a high school Latin teacher for more than 20 years while simultaneously establishing himself as a highly sought-after tattooer in the Northeast. Tran graduated from Bard College in 1995 with a B.A. in classics and received the Callanan Classics Prize. He taught Latin, Greek and Sanskrit in New York at the Collegiate School and was an instructor at Brooklyn College’s Summer Latin Institute. Most recently, he taught Latin, Greek and German at the Waynflete School in Portland, Maine. His 2012 TEDx talk, “Grammar, Identity and the Dark Side of the Subjunctive,” was featured on NPR’s Ted Radio Hour. He has also been an occasional guest on Maine Public Radio discussing grammar, the classics and Strunk and White’s legacy. He currently tattoos at and owns Tsunami Tattoo in Portland, Maine, where he lives with his family.


Manuel Muñoz

Oct. 24, 7 p.m.
Isaacs Auditorium

In 2023, Manuel Muñoz was named a recipient of the prestigious fellowship from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, also known as a “genius grant,” and winner of the Joyce Carol Oates Prize. His collection, The Consequences: Stories , which was published by Graywolf Press in 2022, was a finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize and was shortlisted for The Story Prize. The author of two previous collections of short stories, Zigzagger and The Faith Healer of Olive Avenue , and a novel, What You See in the Dark , Muñoz has been recognized with a Whiting Writer’s Award, three O. Henry Awards, and two appearances in The Best American Short Stories. His frequently anthologized work has appeared in The New York Times, Virginia Quarterly Review, American Short Fiction, ZYZZYVA and Freeman’s. A native of Dinuba, California, Muñoz currently lives and works in Tucson, Arizona.


Karla Kelsey & Monica Prince

Nov. 28, 7 p.m.
Isaacs Auditorium 

Karla Kelsey is a poet and author of five books, most recently Blood Feather. A recipient of awards from the U.S. Fulbright Commission, the Poetry Society of America and Yale University, Karla is co-publisher of SplitLevel Texts. She currently directs Susquehanna University’s creative writing program.

Monica Prince teaches activist and performance writing and serves as director of Africana Studies at Susquehanna University. She is the author of Roadmap: A Choreopoem, How to Exterminate the Black Woman: A Choreopoem, and Letters from the Other Woman, and the co-author of the suffrage play, Pageant of Agitating Women, with Anna Andes, department head of theatre at Susquehanna. Her work appears in Wildness, The Missouri Review, The Texas Review, The Rumpus, MadCap Review, American Poetry Journal, and elsewhere.

A Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net nominee obsessed with maxi skirts with pockets and yoga, Prince writes, teaches and performs choreopoems across the nation.


Elizabeth McCracken

Feb. 13, 7 p.m.
Isaacs Auditorium 

Elizabeth McCracken is the author of eight books, including The Hero of This Book, The Souvenir Museum, Bowlaway, Thunderstruck & Other Stories (winner of the 2014 Story Prize and long-listed for the National Book Award) and The Giant’s House (a National Book Award finalist). She has received grants and fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Arts, the Liguria Study Center, the American Academy in Berlin, the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown and the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study. Thunderstruck & Other Stories won the 2015

Story Prize – her other stories have won three Pushcart Prizes, a National Magazine Award and an O. Henry Prize and have been published in The Best American Short Stories, The Pushcart Prize, The O. Henry Prize, The New York Times Magazine and many other places.


Cody-Rose Clevidence

March 26, 7 p.m.
Isaacs Auditorium 

Cody-Rose Clevidence is the author of Aux Arc / Trypt Ich (Nightboat, 2021), Listen My Friend, This is the Dream I Dreamed Last Night (The Song Cave, 2021), Flung/Throne (Ahsahta, 2018) and BEAST FEAST (Ahsahta Press, 2014), as well as several chapbooks (Fonograf, flowers and cream, NION, garden door press and Auric). They live in the Arkansas Ozarks with three incredibly beautiful, sentient and perceptive pets.


Image of Patrick Thomas Henry in front of a cherry blossom tree.

Making Public: A Celebration of Publications and Literary Projects

April 23, 7 p.m.
Isaacs Auditorium 

Susquehanna University’s annual publications launch features the latest issues and award
winners from Apprentice Writer, Essay, Flagship, Rivercraft, Sanctuary and many more.

Guest Speaker Patrick Thomas Henry ’09 serves as the fiction and poetry editor for Modern Language Studies. His short stories have been featured in various publications, such as Superstition Review, West Branch online, Sundog, Carolina Quarterly and Lake Effect, among others. Additionally, his essays can be found in North Dakota Quarterly, Michigan Quarterly Review, Essay Daily, The Millions and other publications. Notably, his work was chosen for inclusion in Best Microfiction 2020. Currently, he holds the position of assistant professor and creative writing coordinator at the University of North Dakota. Connect with him on Twitter @Patrick_T_Henry and visit his website at patrickthomashenry.com.

Refreshments and copies of each publication will be made available following the event.

Lectureships & Speaker Series 

Susquehanna’s diverse selection of lectureships and speaker series brings together esteemed scholars, industry leaders and influential voices to share their expertise and perspectives with the campus community. These events serve as vibrant platforms for critical thinking, fostering a culture of intellectual exploration and innovation.

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Virtual Tour of the Writers Institute

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