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Great Writers, Great Readings is presented by Hofstra University's Department of English in collaboration with the Hofstra Cultural Center.
Launched by Hofstra University in recognition of the importance of writing and literature in a liberal arts education, Great Writers, Great Readings events bring notable authors to campus to meet with creative writing students for a short workshop and question/answer session. Authors may also conduct 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 Sometimes the authors use this forum as an opportunity to introduce new unpublished works.
Join the #HofstraGWGR Conversation on Social
Spring 2025
21st Annual Great Writers, Great Readings Series
The following events take place at the Guthart Cultural Center Theater, first floor, Axinn Library, South Campus.
Free and open to the public. Call the Hofstra Cultural Center at 516-463-5669 for more information.
We are pleased to welcome the community, including family members, local schoolchildren, alumni and friends, to athletic and cultural events on campus. All events are free and open to the public. Please register in advance at events.hofstra.edu.
Monday, April 14, 6:30-8 p.m.
CELEBRATING OUR OWN
Faculty, alumni, and students of Hofstra discuss their craft of writing.
Film Screening and Discussion:
LOVE, BROOKLYN
Screenplay by
Paul Zimmerman, Adjunct Associate Professor of English
Three longtime Brooklynites navigate careers, love, loss, and friendship against the rapidly changing landscape of their beloved city. With humor and keen observation, first-time feature director Rachael Abigail Holder invitesus into a world where past and present collide, mining Paul Zimmerman’s script and her charismatic cast for a
layered, later-in-life coming-of-age story. The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival.
In addition to exploring the modern face of Brooklyn, Zimmerman’s script unpacks contemporary dynamics of sex, relationships, and family. - Deadline
Thursday, March 6, 1-2:25 p.m.
Department of English, Hofstra Cultural Center
and the
Hofstra University Museum
present the
Borderlands: Long Island Lit
Khaholi Bailey and June Gervais
Acclaimed Long Island writers Khaholi Bailey and June Gervais discuss writing about the borderlands of Long Island, from class to race to gender and identity, through both fiction and memoir. Both writers will read from their books and join in conversation with Associate Professor Kelly McMasters, director of publishing studies.
KHAHOLI BAILEY is a writer of fiction and memoir. Her essays and short stories have appeared in Catapult, Breadcrumbs, Midnight and Indigo, and Flapperhouse. Miseducation of a 90’s Baby is her first book. She holds a BA in creative writing from Hunter College.
JUNE GERVAIS is the author of the novel Jobs for Girls with Artistic Flair. Her essays and stories have appeared in Lit Hub, Writer’s Digest, Sojourners, The Common, Cordella, Big Fiction, The Missouri Review, The Southampton Review, Image Journal, Consequence Magazine, and elsewhere. She grew up on Long Island and received her MFA in Writing and Literature from Bennington College in Vermont. Alongside writing, she has worked as a full-time activist/organizer; a freelance graphic designer, writer, and editor; and arts director at a not-for-profit.
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Wednesday, February 12, 2:40-4:05 p.m.
EMILY RAPP BLACK
Emily Rapp Black is the author of Poster Child: A Memoir; The Still Point of the Turning World, a New York Times bestseller and an Editor’s Pick; Sanctuary; and Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg. A former Fulbright scholar and the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, her work has appeared in numerous publications including VOGUE, The New York Times, TIME, The Wall Street Journal, O, The Oprah Magazine, and The Los Angeles Times.
Emily Rapp Black, will read from and discuss her latest memoir Frida Kahlo and My Left Leg, an account of how the experiences, art, and disabilities of Frida Kahlo shaped Black’s understanding
of her own life as an amputee.
Guthart Theater, Axinn Library, First Floor, South Campus
Related Event
4:30-5:30 p.m.
The event will culminate in the Hofstra University Museum of Art to view the exhibition EVERY body, EVERY mind: Honoring the 35th Anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act and for an informal conversation with Emily Rapp Black and attendees.
Emily Lowe Gallery, Behind Emily Lowe Hall, South Campus
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