Hickory – The Lenoir-Rhyne University Visiting Writers Series returned in September for its 35th season and will continue to host an impressive and engaging variety of authors, poets, artists and more on campus this academic year.

The series, established in 1988, features readings and presentations by authors who have distinguished themselves in literature and often meet with students to discuss the stories behind their works. The series’ mission remains the promotion of literary experiences with contemporary writers meant to engage and educate young people at LR. All events, which take place on the LR campus in Hickory unless otherwise noted, are free and open to the public.

Ed Yong

Tuesday, February 13, 2024, 7 p.m., P.E. Monroe Auditorium

Named “the most important and impactful journalist” of 2020 by Poynter, Pulitzer Prize winner Ed Yong is a science staff writer with The Atlantic. He was awarded journalism’s top honor, the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Explanatory Reporting, for his crucial coverage of the coronavirus pandemic. He anticipated the course of virus, the complex challenges that U.S. faced and the government’s disastrous failure in its response.

An accomplished speaker, Yong brings his vast scientific knowledge and engages his audiences through his insightful conversations about the pandemic, the animal kingdom, the challenges of science journalism and more.

Robert Hass

Thursday, March 21, 2024, 7 p.m., Grace Chapel

Robert Hass is a poet of great eloquence, clarity and force, whose work is rooted in the landscapes of his native Northern California. Widely read and much honored, he has brought the kind of energy in his poetry to his work as an essayist, translator and activist on behalf of poetry, literacy and the environment.

A two-time MacArthur Genius Fellow, Hass served as Poet Laureate of the United States from 1995-1997 and as a Chancellor of the Academy of American Poets from 2001-2007. His books of poetry include “The Apple Trees at Olema: New and Selected Poems” (Ecco Press, 2010); “Time and Materials” (2007), which won the National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize; “Sun Under Wood” (Ecco Press, 1996), which won the National Book Critics Circle Award; “Human Wishes” (Ecco Press, 1989); “Praise” (Ecco Press, 1979), which won the William Carlos Williams Award;” and “Field Guide” (Yale University Press, 1973). Hass has also written many books of essays and has co-translated many of Polish-American poet Czesław Miłosz’s works with the author.

The Little Read: “We Are Water Protectors,” Michaela Goade

Thursday – Saturday, April 18-20, 2024, Time TBD, P.E. Monroe Auditorium

Michaela Goade is a Caldecott Medalist and #1 New York Times Bestselling illustrator of “We Are Water Protectors,” also a 2020 Kirkus Prize Finalist. Other books include the New York Times Bestselling “I Sang You Down from the Stars,” “Encounter” and “Shanyaak’utlaax: Salmon Boy,” winner of the 2018 American Indian Youth Literature Award for Best Picture Book.

Over the last few years, Goade’s work has focused on Indigenous KidLit. She is honored to work with Indigenous authors and tribal organizations in the creation of beautiful and much-needed books. An enrolled member of the Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska, Goude’s Tlingit name is Sheit.een and she is of the Kiks.ádi Clan (Raven/Frog) from Sheet’ká. Goade was raised in the rainforest and on the beaches of Southeast Alaska, traditional Lingít Aaní (Tlingit land). Today she lives in Sheet’ká (Sitka), Alaska, a magical island on the edge of a wide, wild sea.

For More Information, please visit www.lr.edu/vws and subscribe and follow the Lenoir-Rhyne University calendar at https://calendar.lr.edu.