2010-12 Fiction MFA Meghan O'Gieblyn reads from her award-winning essay,
"Sniffing Glue," at Avol's Books. Photo © Oliver Bendorf, 2011-13 MFA.

Upcoming Readings

The Program in Creative Writing's various readings series bring writers and writing professionals to the Madison campus each semester to read from their work, discuss the writing life, or otherwise engage with our writing community. We encourage all Madison community members to sign up to receive e-mails about upcoming literary events.

All readings listed below are free and open to the public unless otherwise noted. We're especially pleased to support readings by members of our own community. Each fall, we hold our Blue Ox Reading Series, featuring readings by our second-year MFA students (and named after the Paul Bunyan murals in the room where the series originally took place). In the spring, our current Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing fellows share their work.

Below you'll find a more-or-less complete schedule of upcoming literary events in Madison. You can also subscribe to our Google Calendar (excerpted at left) to see how these events fit into your schedule and to keep constant tabs on what's happening around town on your phone or other device. If you have an event that you would like added to our calendar, please contact the Readings Coordinator, Sean Bishop.

APRIL 25, 7:30PM, OVERTURE CENTER PROMENADE HALL
     The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing presents
     this year's Fiction & Poetry Fellows: Ari Banias, Miriam Cohen,
     Jaquira Diaz, Sara Gelston, Sarah Hulse, and Alyssa Knickerbocker

MAY 2, 7:00PM, CHAZEN MUSEUM, L160 ELVEHJEM BLDG.
     The Wisconsin Institute for Creative Writing presents
     Ayana Mathis, author of The Twelve Tribes of Hattie

MAY 3, 7:30PM @ THE DRAGONFLY LOUNGE (401 E WASHINGTON)
     Monsters of Poetry presents Lauren Shapiro,
     Kyle McCord, Michael Sheehan, & Wendy Xu

MAY 9, 8:00PM @ H.C. WHITE RM 6191 (600 N PARK ST)
     The Program in Creative Writing presents
     Andrea Lochen, author of The Repeat Year,
     plus this year's Undergraduate Contest Ceremony

The Program in Creative Writing at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been host to many of the best novelists, essayists, story-writers and poets in the country. In the past four years alone, we've featured writers the likes of Jonis Agee, Ann Beattie, Michael Cunningham, Carl Djerassi, Junot Diaz, Mark Doty, Jonathan Franzen, Lauren Groff, Terrance Hayes, Adam Haslett, and Maurice Manning, and many more, not to mention visiting editors and agents on the lookout for the next generation of American literature.

In the coming months and year, we hope to share the liveliness and vibrancy of Madison with the larger literary community. Check back here for video and audio of our featured readers.