UT MFA Program Presents “Lectores” Speaker Series June 16–23

The University of Tampa MFA in Creative Writing speaker series, “Lectores,” will feature seven nights of readings with a mix of award-winning visiting authors and UT’s world-renowned MFA faculty from June 16–23.

All readings and events are free and open to the public. All begin at 7:30 p.m. in Falk Theatre, 428 W. Kennedy Blvd. The full series follows:

Thursday, June 16 — Reading by poet Terrance Hayes, whose 2010 collection, Lighthead, won the National Book Award for Poetry.
Friday, June 17 — Readings by journalist Kelley Benham French, who was a 2013 Pulitzer Prize finalist for her Tampa Bay Times series “Never Let Go,” and journalist and nonfiction writer Thomas French, who won a 1998 Pulitzer Prize for his St. Petersburg Times series “Angels and Demons,” and is the author of Zoo Story about Tampa’s Lowry Park Zoo.
Saturday, June 18 — Reading by Annie Liontas, author of Let Me Explain You and co-editor of the anthology A Manner of Being: Writers on their Mentors.
Monday, June 20 — Reading by award-winning poet, essayist, short story writer and novelist Jeffery Renard Allen.
Tuesday, June 21 — Readings by Kevin Moffett, author of Permanent Visitors, which won the John Simmons Short Fiction Award, and Alan Michael Parker, author of seven collections of poetry and three novels.
Wednesday, June 22 — Readings by MFA director and poet Erica Dawson, who won the 2016 Poet’s Prize for her most recent collection of poetry, The Small Blades Hurt, and prolific author Josip Novakovich, who has penned the novel April Fool’s Day, four story collections, three collections of narrative essays and two books of practical criticism.
Thursday, June 23 — Readings by poet and MFA alumnus John Davis Jr., poet and memoirist Sandra Beasley, and author of the national bestseller An Arsonist’s Guide to Writers’ Homes in New England Brock Clarke.

The UT MFA in Creative Writing program works by bringing students for 10-day residencies in January and June and then facilitating individual mentorship between students and writing faculty from a distance.

For more information, go to www.ut.edu/mfacw/lectores or call Lynne Bartis at (813) 257-3514.