Great Writers, Great Readings Series

Great Writers, Great Readings was launched by Hofstra University in recognition of the importance of writing and literature in a liberal arts education. In addition to a baccalaureate degree in English, Hofstra currently offers an M.F.A. in Creative Writing and an M.A. in English. The program's faculty include playwright Erik Brogger, author Julia Markus and two Guggenheim Fellows: novelist Martha McPhee and poet Phillis Levin.

Each Great Writers, Great Readings event brings a notable author to campus to meet with creative writing students for a short workshop and question/answer session. The author also conducts a reading and book signing that is open to the public. Sometimes the authors use this forum as an opportunity to introduce new, unpublished works.

Guest Authors

Fall 2012-Spring 2013: Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Mark Strand, best-selling author Colum McCann, acclaimed nonfiction writer and former Guggenheim fellow Vivian Gornick, Erik Brogger and author and National Book Award finalist Marilyn Nelson.

Fall 2011-Spring 2012: John Edgar Wideman, Gerald Stern, Alice McDermott, Tom Sleigh, and David Lindsay-Abaire

Fall 2010 to Spring 2011: Tomaž Šalamun, Stephen Dunn, Thomas Lynch, Amy Hempel, Martha McPhee, Christopher Durang

Fall 2009 to Spring 2010: Patricia Hampl, Frank Bidart, Craig Lucas, Mona Simpson and Rosanna Warren

Fall 2008 to Spring 2009: Ann Beattie, Molly Peacock, Deborah Eisenberg, Paul Muldoon and Sarah Ruhl

Fall 2007 to Spring 2008: Eavan Boland, Antonio Cisneros, Kiran Desai, Edmund White, Jonathan Letham and Lynn Nottage

Fall 2006 to Spring 2007: John McPhee, Sharon Olds, Terrance Hayes, Richard Greenberg and Lorrie Moore.

Fall 2005 to Spring 2006: Charles Simic, Haruki Murakami, Donald Margulies, Jean Valentine, Edward P. Jones and Jonathan Franzen.

Fall 2004 to Spring 2005: Jamaica Kincaid, Louise Glück, Cynthia Ozick, Kenneth Lonergan, Vivian Gornick and William S. Merwin.