Excerpt from Thomas Cech's "The Catalyst"
"But there were more questions to answer. How many doses would be required to effectively stimulate the immune system? How should their...
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Center for the literary arts in New York State
Celebrating literary and arts
conversations at the University at Albany
Greetings from the director
Looking ahead to our upcoming season
We need great writers and exceptional books, now more than ever.
In a world on fire from terrible wars, political strife, migrant crises, income inequality, gun violence, climate change, and collective mental fatigue, our mission statement at the NYS Writers Institute is “to honor the power of literature as a force for individual growth and social good.”
We aim “to celebrate diverse voices in all genres and to foster a vibrant community of readers and writers who engage in meaningful dialogue.”
In this fraught moment, we are proud to present this lineup of events carefully curated to serve as a balm for what ails our society. These authors and their works will counteract despair by offering a refuge of artful writing that illuminates and inspires.
We invite readers of all ages to bring their perspectives, ask their questions, and add their voices to these vital conversations.
We never shirk from our duty to address inconvenient truths and uncomfortable topics. While honoring our commitment to
free speech and unfettered expression, we will insist on a climate of civil discourse and a respectful exchange of viewpoints.
We kick off the season with acclaimed novelist Hannah Lillith Assadi (Aug. 29), daughter of a Palestinian father and Jewish mother, whose upbringing informs her multicultural narratives. We conclude with Kendall Crolius (Dec. 3), author of Knitting with Dog Hair, who will demonstrate the art of knitting hats & scarves with dog hair during a popular visit from lovable therapy dogs who help students alleviate stress of preparing for final exams.
Between those bookends, we will present two dozen programs with something for all ages and every taste. A few highlights:
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bestselling novelist Chris Bohjalian (Sept. 10);
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7th annual Albany Book Festival (Sept. 21);
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world-recognized authority on autism John Elder Robison (Oct. 7);
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acclaimed authors Angie Cruz and Lilliam Rivera (Oct. 8);
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Nobel Prize winner in chemistry Thomas Cech (Oct. 24);
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acclaimed author Edwidge Danticat (Oct. 29);
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marathon reading of William Kennedy’s Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game (Nov. 7);
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2022 Pulitzer Prize winner Joshua Cohen (Nov.12)
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6th edition of our Telling the Truth symposium (Nov. 22);
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and beloved poet Billy Collins (Nov. 25).
We believe that great literature can be a unifying force that speaks to our common humanity and summons our better selves. We invite you to join the conversation.
Paul Grondahl,
Opalka Endowed Director, NYS Writers Institute
Join our mailing list!
Since 1983, more than 2,500 world-renowned writers, poets, newsmakers, and filmmakers have visited the NYS Writers Institute at the University at Albany.
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Fall 2024 events
NATIONAL YOUTH POET LAUREATE
Photo credit: Nicholas Nichols
Monday, July 29
5:30 p.m. Alice Moore Black Arts and Cultural Center
135 South Pearl Street, Albany NY 12202
Stephanie Pacheco is the 2024-2025 National Youth Poet Laureate, and served as the 2023 NYC Youth Poet Laureate and the inaugural New York State Youth Poet Laureate. She was also a member of Urban Word’s 2022 Youth Slam Team.
Hailing from The Bronx, she has been a leading organizer and strategist with several activist organizations including the Healing Centered Schools Task Force, working to mobilize youth against educational injustice.
Presented by the New York State Writers Institute in partnership with the Alice Moore Black Arts and Cultural Center. Major support and funding provided by the Carl E. Touhey Foundation.
FINDING A PLACE IN THE WORLD
Thursday, August 29
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Assembly Hall (2nd floor) Campus Center
Hannah Lillith Assadi, award-winning novelist and 2018 National Book Foundation “5 Under 35” Honoree, grew up in Arizona, the child of a Palestinian father and Jewish mother. Her first novel, Sonora (2018), tells the story of Ahlam, the daughter of a Palestinian refugee and his Israeli wife, who grows up in the arid lands of desert suburbia outside Phoenix. Library Journal said, "This poetic, multicultural novel will enchant younger adults or anyone who has ever felt out of place in the world."
Her second novel, The Stars Are Not Yet Bells (paperback, 2023), tells the story of an elderly woman who confronts a lifetime of secrets, and was named a “Best Book of the Year” by the New Yorker and NPR.
Cosponsored by UAlbany’s Writing & Critical Inquiry Program (WCI) and the English Department’s Creative Writing Program and Young Writers Project.
FILM SCREENING
7 p.m. Friday, September 6
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
(United States, 1996, 135 minutes, color, Rated R) Directed by John Sayles. Starring Kris Kristofferson, Chris Cooper, Elizabeth Peña, Matthew McConaughey.
Chris Cooper stars as the sheriff of a Texas frontier town in this myth-busting contemporary Western about buried secrets and racial strife among Latino, Anglo, Native American and African American communities. Filmmaker John Sayles— who was born and raised in Schenectady— directs his own script, which earned a “Best Screenplay” Oscar nomination.
Shown in association with Chris Cooper’s visit to UAlbany on Monday, Sept. 16th, together with his wife Marianne Leone, with her new book Five Dog Epiphany, as part of the Creative Life series, in conversation with Joe Donahue of WAMC.
IMAGINING UKRAINE
Monday, September 9
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
Dmitry Bykov, major Russian literary figure, is the author of more than 90 books. His newest is VZ: Portrait Against the Background of the Nation (English translation, 2024), a meditation in fiction on the significance of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
An outspoken critic of the Putin regime, Bykov and his work are banned from publication, media and university classrooms in Russia. He narrowly survived an assassination attempt by poisoning in April 2019.
Ian Singleton, novelist, Russian translator, and instructor in UAlbany’s Writing & Critical Inquiry Program (WCI), is the author of Two Big Differences (2021), a novel about two friends, Zina and Valinka, who are caught up in a wave of civil unrest during the 2014 Maidan Uprising in Ukraine— a mass protest against government corruption and Russian political influence. Writer-in-exile Mikhael Iossel called it, “Brightly original, structurally inventive, thoughtful and wise.”
Cosponsored by UAlbany’s Writing & Critical Inquiry Program (WCI) and the English Department’s Creative Writing Program and Young Writers Project.
THE PRINCESS IS FAKE. THE MURDERS ARE REAL.
Tuesday, September 10
7 p.m. Conversation/Q&A with WAMC’s Joe Donahue
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
Chris Bohjalian, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of 24 books, presents his newest novel, The Princess of Las Vegas (2024), one of the most anticipated mystery-thrillers of the year. A Princess Diana impersonator and her estranged sister find themselves drawn into a dangerous game of money and murder in this twisting tale of organized crime, cryptocurrency, and family secrets on the Las Vegas strip.
Bohjalian’s other novels include The Lioness (2022), a Hemingway-inspired tale of murder on an African safari; Hour of the Witch (2021), a story of suspense set among the Puritans of 17th century Boston; The Sandcastle Girls (2012), a sweeping novel of the Armenian genocide; and Midwives (1997), an Oprah’s Book Club pick.
His 2018 novel The Flight Attendant was adapted in 2020 as an HBO MAX series starring Kaley Cuoco.
REIMAGINING SUCCESS AND WORK
Thursday, September 12
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Campus Center West Boardroom
Samhita Mukhopadhyay, former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue and the online community, Feministing, is a UAlbany alum who earned her BA in Women’s Studies in 2000. Her new book is The Myth of Making It (2024), a reimagining of the nature of professional success as we know it—particularly for women in the 21st century.
CNN’s Jill Filipovic called it, “A reexamination of the many falsehoods, misconceptions, and outright delusions about female ambition and professional achievement,” and said, “If you’re burned out or simply asking ‘is this it?’ pick up this book.”
Major support and funding provided by Heidi Knoblauch. Cosponsored by the Massry School of Business, Department of Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies, and the Honors College.
THE CREATIVE LIFE
Monday, September 16
7:30 p.m. Conversation/Q&A with WAMC’s Joe Donahue
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
Marianne Leone, actress, writer and advocate for disabled children, is the author of Five-Dog Epiphany: How a Quintet of Badass Bichons Retrieved Our Joy (Sep. 2024)— a tribute to the rescue dogs who helped her and husband Chris Cooper rediscover happiness after the tragic loss of their son Jesse, who died in 2005 at age 17 from complications of cerebral palsy. An actress in many films, including The Thin Blue Line (1988), True Love (1989), Goodfellas (1990), and The Three Stooges (2012), Leone is best-known for her recurring role in the hit series The Sopranos as the mother of mobster Christopher Moltisanti.
Chris Cooper earned an Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role as backwoods “orchid poacher” John Laroche in the 2002 film, Adaptation, based on The Orchid Thief by Susan Orlean. Cooper collaborates frequently with celebrated filmmaker and Schenectady native John Sayles, appearing in Matewan (1987), City of Hope (1991), Lone Star (1996), Silver City (2004) and Amigo (2010). Other credits include American Beauty (1999), Seabiscuit (2003), Capote (2005), Syriana (2005), The Kingdom (2007), Where the Wild Things Are (2009), A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood (2019), and Little Women (2019). On TV, he starred as Sheriff July Johnson in the widely acclaimed 1989 miniseries, Lonesome Dove.
Major support for The Creative Life is provided by the University at Albany Foundation.
Saturday, September21
10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
University at Albany
1400 Washington Avenue, Albany NY 12222
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Bestselling and award-winning authors
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Book signings
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Children’s Room with authors and fun activities
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Online how-to workshops for aspiring authors.
LIFE AT A BIG BOX STORE IN UPSTATE NEW YORK
Thursday, September 26
4:30 p.m. Conversation/Q&A
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
1400 Washington Avenue Albany NY 12222 - See map.
Adelle Waldman’s much-anticipated new novel, Help Wanted (2024), explores the lives and economic hardships of retail workers at a big box store in Upstate New York. Kirkus called it, “The workplace dramedy of the year.” A New York Times Editors’ Choice, it was noted as a major new book by Lit Hub, Vogue, Vulture, New York, and Elle.
Waldman’s previous novel, The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. (2013), was a national bestseller. Widely-hailed as a 21st century “comedy of manners,” the book told the tale of a successful and self-absorbed young writer, and his romantic conquests in New York City’s hip literary world. The Boston Globe said, “Adelle Waldman just may be this generation's Jane Austen.”
Cosponsored by the UAlbany English Department’s Creative Writing Program and Young Writers Project, and the Writing & Critical Inquiry Program (WCI)
ECOPOETRY
Urayoán Noel, former UAlbany faculty member, is a Puerto Rican poet, performer, translator, and preeminent scholar of Nuyorican poetry. His most recent work of translation is Adjacent Islands (2022) by eco-feminist poet Nicole Cecilia Delgado, inspired by her camping trips throughout the Puerto Rican archipelago. Noel’s most recent collection is Transversal, a New York Public Library Best Book of 2021. Written in Spanish and English, and featuring bold experiments in “self-translation,” Transversal was longlisted for the 2022 PEN America Open Book Award. His 2014 book, In Visible Movement: Nuyorican Poetry from the Sixties to Slam, is the first book-length study of Nuyorican poetry, and the definitive book on the subject.
Tuesday, October 1
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
Join us for a conversation about “Ecopoetics” with poets whose works often explore our relationship with Nature.
Sarah Giragosian, poet and lecturer in the UAlbany Writing & Critical Inquiry Program (WCI), is the author of a new collection, Mother Octopus (2024), co-winner of the 2023 Halcyon Prize. The book features poems that raise questions about the nature of human and animal appetites, and rising levels of material consumption that threaten the natural environment, while also exploring queer forms of intimacy and resilience.
Her previous collections include Queer Fish (2017), winner of the American Poetry Journal Book Prize, and The Death Spiral (2020).
Cosponsored by UAlbany’s Living in Languages initiative of the Departments of English and Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LLC), CHATS Environmental Humanities Lab, English Department’s Creative Writing Program and Young Writers Project, Writing & Critical Inquiry (WCI), and the Honors College.
ADVENTURES WITH AUTISM
Monday, October 7
7 p.m. Conversation/Q&A
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
John Elder Robison is a world-recognized authority on life with autism and the New York Times bestselling author of thoughtful and humorous books about his experiences living on the autism spectrum.
A photographer, educator, neurodiversity advocate, automobile aficionado, and designer of special effects guitars for the rock band KISS, Robison received his autism diagnosis at the age of 40 — when he was already the parent of a second grader with a similar diagnosis.
Prior to that, Robison had merely been pegged as a “social deviant,” because of his tendency to blurt non sequiturs, avoid eye contact, dismantle radios, and dig five-foot holes.
Robison is the neurodiversity scholar in residence at the College of William & Mary and he serves on the Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee, which produces the U.S. government’s strategic plan for autism spectrum disorder research.
Robison’s books include Look Me in the Eye: My Life with Asperger’s (2007), a memoir about growing up with Asperger’s syndrome; Be Different (2011), Raising Cubby: A Father and Son’s Adventures with Asperger’s (2013), and Switched On: A Memoir of Brain Change and Emotional Awakening (2016).
Major support and funding provided by New York State Industries for the Disabled, Inc. (NYSID) and KeyBank.
CELEBRATING NATIONAL HISPANIC HERITAGE MONTH
Tuesday, October 8
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
Angie Cruz, a major voice in 21st century American literature, is the author of acclaimed novels that explore the Dominican American experience in New York City’s under-served neighborhoods, including Soledad (2001), Let It Rain Coffee (2005), and Dominicana (2019).
Her newest novel is How Not to Drown in a Glass of Water (paperback, 2023), the tale of a feisty older Dominican woman living in NYC, and her struggles to survive in the face of debt, eviction, internet scams, unemployment, and family strife.
The Los Angeles Times said the book, “will have you laughing line after line, even when you wonder if you should be.” Cruz is also the author of a new children’s picture book set in Washington Heights, Angélica and la Güira (2024).
Lilliam Rivera a leading YA and middle grade fiction writer is the author her first adult novel, Tiny Threads (Sept. 2024), a supernatural thriller about a young woman from New Jersey who gets her dream job working for a fashion designer in LA – only to discover hideous truths about glamor and beauty lurking in the shadows.
Her newest middle grade novel is Barely Floating (2023), about a 12-year-old girl who channels her rage into synchronized swimming. Booklist named it a “Best Book of 2023.” Other books include We Light Up the Sky (2021), the graphic novel Unearthed: A Jessica Cruz Story (DC Comics, 2021), Never Look Back (2020), and The Education of Margot Sanchez (2017).
Cosponsored by UAlbany’s Black, Indigenous, Latinx and People of Color Faculty Advancement Initiative (BILPOC), Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LLC), CHATS Humanities Labs, Latin American, Caribbean and Latinx Studies (LACS), Center for the Elimination of Minority Health Disparities (CEMHD),UAlbany Libraries, Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the NYS Writers Institute.
BRINGING BLACK HISTORY TO LIFE
Wednesday, October 16
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
Marcus Kwame Anderson is the illustrator of The Black Panther Party: A Graphic Novel History (2021, with David F. Walker), winner of the Eisner Award, the comic book industry’s highest honor, and an American Library Association “Best Graphic Novel of the Year.” His new graphic novel, another collaboration with Walker, is Big Jim and the White Boy (Oct. 2024), an Afrocentric reimagining of Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn. Anderson is the co-creator of the comic book series Snow Daze, and illustrator of stories in Action Lab's Cash and Carrie and F.O.R.C.E.
Joel Christian Gill is the author and illustrator of Fights: One Boy's Triumph Over Violence, named one of the best graphic novels of 2020 by the New York Times. His most recent book as illustrator is the current national bestseller, Stamped from the Beginning: A Graphic History of Racist Ideas in America (2024), an adaptation of Ibram X. Kendi’s 2016 National Book Award winner. His other books include the graphic novel series, Strange Fruit: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History (2014-18), and three volumes of Tales of the Talented Tenth (2015-21).
David F. Walker, journalist, filmmaker, and comic book writer, is the author of the graphic novels, The Black Panther Party (2021), winner of the Eisner Award, and The Life of Frederick Douglass (2019). He is also the co-writer and co-creator of the DC comic hero Naomi, and the Eisner Award-winning series, Bitter Root. Other comic book credits include Power Man & Iron Fist, Nighthawk, and Occupy Avengers for Marvel; Cyborg for DC; Shaft for Dynamite; and Planet of the Apes for Boom. A noted authority on “Blaxploitation” films, he is the author of Shaft’s Revenge (2016), the first new novel starring John Shaft in over 40 years.
Major support and funding provided by the Carl E. Touhey Foundation. Cosponsored by the UAlbany Department of Art and Art History, the Writing and Critical Inquiry Program (WCI), and the English Department’s Creative Writing Program and Young Writers Project.
FILM SCREENING
7 p.m. Friday, October 18
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
(United States, 2023, 80 minutes, b/w and color) Directed by Curt Hahn. Featuring
Lead Belly, Pete Seeger, Harry Belafonte, Odetta, Joan Baez, B. B. King.
This new documentary delves into the fascinating story of blues singer Lead Belly,
featuring interviews with a variety of music legends who were shaped by his work.
With a blend of rare video footage and music performances, viewers are taken on a
remarkable ride through Lead Belly's life and career, from his sharecropper childhood, to time spent in prison, to his remarkable musical career and induction into the Rock &Roll Hall of Fame.
Shown in association with “Lead Belly: Man and Myth, Truth and Lies” on Thurs. Oct. 31 with Grammy-winning folk singer Dom Flemons and Sheila Curran Bernard, author of Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly's Truths from Jim Crow's Lies (2024).
NEW YORK IS BORN!
Sunday, October 20
2 p.m. - Clark Auditorium, NYS Museum, 222 Madison Avenue, Albany
$15 Member – Historic Albany Foundation / $20 Non-member
Visit www.historic-albany.org for ticket information.
Russell Shorto is the author of the runaway 2004 bestseller, The Island
at the Center of the World: The Epic Story of Dutch Manhattan and the Forgotten Colony that Shaped America, a paradigm-shattering book (based on research conducted at the New Netherland Institute in Albany, NY) that highlights the enormous role the Dutch colony played in the formation of American institutions and national culture.
Shorto will provide a glimpse of his forthcoming book, Taking Manhattan: The
Extraordinary Events That Created New York and Shaped America (March 2025). His other books include Smalltime: A Story of My Family and the Mob (2021), Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom (2017), and Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City (2013).
Presented by the Historic Albany Foundation
THE NEW AGE OF RNA
Thursday, October 24
7:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
Thomas Cech, biochemist, received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1989 for his pioneering work on the properties of RNA. His new book is The Catalyst: RNA and the Quest to Unlock Life's Deepest Secrets (2024), one of Lit Hub’s “Most Anticipated Books of the Year.”
For over half a century, DNA has dominated science and the popular imagination as the “secret of life.” But over the last several decades, a quiet revolution has taken place. In a series of breathtaking discoveries, Cech and a diverse cast of brilliant scientists have revealed that RNA ― long overlooked as the passive servant of DNA―sits at the center of biology’s greatest mysteries: How did life begin? What makes us human? Why do we get sick and grow old?
Cosponsored by The RNA Institute at the University at Albany and the Honors College.
HAITI IN THE HEART AND MIND
Tuesday, October 29
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Campus Center West Auditorium
Edwidge Danticat, one of most acclaimed writers of her generation, has enriched and enlarged American literature with her novels and short stories about Haiti and the Haitian-American experience.
Her newest book is We’re Alone (Sept. 2024), an essay collection that explores her profound and enduring connection to Haiti, as well as a deep concern for her beloved island.
Danticat’s first book, Breath, Eyes, Memory (1994), became an Oprah Book Club selection. Other bestsellers include Krik? Krak! (1996), The Farming of Bones (1998), The Dew Breaker (2004) and Claire of the Sea Light (2013).
Cosponsored by UAlbany's Haitian Student Association, the Department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures (LLC), the Writing & Critical Inquiry Program (WCI), and the English Department’s Creative Writing Program and Young Writers Project.
LEAD BELLY: MAN AND MYTH, TRUTH AND LIES
Thursday, October 31
4:30 p.m. - Craft Talk
University at Albany Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
7:30 p.m. - Conversation Q&A
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
Join us for a fun, wide-ranging conversation about Huddie Ledbetter, better known as Lead Belly. One of the most influential American musical artists of all time, Ledbetter left his indelible mark on many genres, including gospel, blues, country, folk, and rock & roll.
Dom Flemons, “The American Songster,” is a Grammy-winning folk musician and— in many ways— an heir to Lead Belly’s artistic legacy. In 2015, he was chosen to host a star-studded 125th birthday celebration for Lead Belly at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, and performed at a Lead Belly tribute at Carnegie Hall in 2016.
Sheila Curran Bernard is the author of Bring Judgment Day: Reclaiming Lead Belly's Truths from Jim Crow's Lies (Cambridge University Press, 2024).
BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION OF EVA MARIE SAINT AND FILM SCREENING
7 p.m. Friday, November 1
Bethlehem Central Middle School
332 Kenwood Avenue
Delmar NY 12054
Come celebrate the 100th birthday of Eva Marie Saint, Bethlehem, New York, native and star of the silver screen, inside the actual building where she attended high school (before it relocated in 1954).
A 1942 Bethlehem Central High School graduate, Saint celebrated her 100th birthday on July 4th. The oldest-living Oscar winner, and one of the last surviving stars of Hollywood’s Golden Age, she is unable to attend the festivities, but will join us in spirit.
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ON THE WATERFRONT
(United States, 1954, 108 minutes, black and white) Directed by Elia Kazan. Starring Eva Marie Saint, Marlon Brando, Karl Malden. Music by Leonard Bernstein.
Eva Marie Saint won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, playing opposite Marlon Brandon in this tale of mobsters and corrupt union bosses on the New Jersey waterfront. The film won eight Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Screenplay.
MAKING SCIENCE FUN FOR KIDS!
Wednesday, November 6
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
Albany Public Library - Pine Hills Branch
517 Western Avenue Albany NY 12203
Registration required: https://theannegriffith.eventbrite.com
Theanne Griffith is a neuroscientist and the award-winning author of the STEM-themed chapter book series, The Magnificent Makers, which is described as “The Magic School Bus for the 21st century.”
Dr. Griffith also co-writes the nonfiction early reader series, Ada Twist, Scientist: The Why Files. Her many books introduce children to the wonders of the human brain, outer space, weather, germs, geology, and other topics. In 2021, The Magnificent Makers was a finalist for the Favorite Early Reader Series of the Kids’ Choice Book Awards, the only national book awards voted on solely by kids.
Major support and funding provided by the Carl E. Touhey Foundation. Presented with the Albany Public Library. Cosponsored by Girls Inc. of the Greater Capital Region, Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York, the UAlbany College of Nanotechnology, Science, and Engineering, and the Department of Biological Sciences.
MARATHON PUBLIC READING
11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Thursday, November 7
Albany Distilling Co.
75 Livingston Avenue
Albany NY 12207
Join us for a total immersion in William Kennedy’s beloved 1978 novel, Billy Phelan’s Greatest Game, an odyssey through the speakeasies and pool halls of Albany’s grimy and glittering underworld.
The book will be read in its entirety by volunteer readers.
Sign up to reserve your spot at bit.ly/Phelan24
Poker player, pool hustler, small-time bookie, and son of Ironweed’s Frances Phelan, Billy drifts through the lurid nighttime cityscape and finds himself in the dangerous position of participating in the kidnapping of John O'Connell Jr., the nephew of all-powerful Albany political boss Daniel P. O'Connell.
Albany Distilling Company, maker of Ironweed whiskey, is located in the North Albany neighborhood where William Kennedy grew up, and where some of the fictional scenes in the Depression-era narrative take place.
Donations will be collected at the door to benefit the food pantry and free meal outreach at Sacred Heart Church, 33 Walter St. in Albany, which was Kennedy’s childhood parish.
PULITZER PRIZE WINNER IN FICTION
Tuesday, November 12
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Assembly Hall (2nd floor)
Campus Center
Joshua Cohen won the 2022 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for his novel, The Netanyahus: An Account of a Minor and Ultimately Even Negligible Episode in the History of a Very Famous Family.
The book presents a fictionalized account of an awkward event in the life of major American literary critic Harold Bloom. An American professor is called upon to play host to medieval historian Benzion Netanyahu and his family, including his son, Benjamin Netanyahu, at an upstate New York college in the late 1950s. With humor and keen insight, the novel dramatizes cultural and intellectual clashes between American and Israeli Jews.
Cosponsored by the English Department’s Creative Writing Program and Young Writers Project.
FOUNDING MOTHER
Thursday, November 14
4:30 p.m. - Conversation / Q&A
University at Albany
Multi-Purpose Room, Campus Center West
Join us for a wide-ranging discussion about the life and work of Phillis Wheatley (Peters) (1753-1784), a major poet of her era, and the first African American to publish a book of poetry. Born in West Africa, she was kidnapped and enslaved at the age of 7 or 8, and eventually sold to a Boston merchant.
Drawing from classical, religious, and African sources, her poetry engages many of the pressing issues of her time, including the American Revolution, and remains salient today. After the 1773 publication of Poems on Various Subjects, she "became the most famous African on the face of the earth" (Henry Louis Gates, Jr.).
Featured panelists:
Wendy Roberts, UAlbany English professor and scholar of Early American Literature, received wide attention in 2023 for rediscovering the earliest known full-length elegy by Phillis Wheatley, “On the Death of Love Rotch.”
Cassander L. Smith, Associate Professor of English at the University of Alabama, specializes in African American and Early American Literature. She is the author of Race and Respectability in an Early Black Atlantic (2023), and Black Africans in the British Imagination: English Narratives of the Early Atlantic World (2016).
David Waldstreicher is the author of The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley: A Poet's Journeys Through American Slavery and Independence (2023), a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography.
Cosponsored by the University at Albany English Department, Young Writers Project, and the Honors College.
THE STRUGGLE FOR AMERICA'S FUTURE
Telling the Truth 2024
5:30 p.m. Friday, November 22
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203
Join us for conversations about the prospects for an enduring
democracy in America, and the future of our nation’s two major political parties — the Republicans and the Democrats.
Panelists to be announced. Previous "Telling the Truth" events were held in 1991, 2017, 2020, 2022.
and 2023.
Major support and funding provided by The Professor Ben-Ami Lipetz NYSWI Fund and Pernille Ægidius Dake.
ONE OF AMERICA'S BEST-LOVED POETS
7 p.m. Monday, November 25
Conversation/Q&A with WAMC's Joe Donahue
Page Hall - University at Albany Downtown Campus
135 Western Avenue, Albany NY 12203 See map.
Billy Collins is one of America’s favorite poets, celebrated for his wit and laugh-out-loud humor, as well as the friendly, conversational style of his poetry.
His new book, Water, Water (Nov. 2024), features sixty poems about the joys and mysteries of daily life. A cat learns to drink from a swimming pool; a nurse calls a name in a waiting room; an astronaut recites Emily Dickinson from outer space —such common and uncommon events are captured here with equal fascination.
The New York Times said, "Collins remains the most companionable of poetic companions." He served as US Poet Laureate from 2001 to 2003, and as New York State Poet under the auspices of the NYS Writers Institute from 2004 to 2006.
Major support for The Creative Life is provided by the University at Albany Foundation.
The first 150 audience members will receive a free copy of Water, Water as a holiday gift from the NYS Writers Institute.
KNITTING WITH DOG HAIR
Tuesday, December 3
2:00 p.m. - Meet and greet with therapy dogs
Science Library Atrium
3:00 p.m. - Demonstration and conversation / Q&A
Science Library Barnes & Noble Reading Room
University at Albany
1400 Washington Avenue
Albany NY 12222 See map
Kendall Crolius is the author of Knitting With Dog Hair: Better A Sweater From A Dog You Know and Love Than From A Sheep You'll Never Meet, an underground classic in America’s knitting community, first published in 1994 and newly-released this year in a 30th anniversary edition.
Come meet an assortment of therapy dogs—all sizes, shapes, and hairstyles— as they perform their very important job of alleviating student anxiety in the days before final exams. Afterward, join us for a fun demonstration of the art of knitting with dog hair, and a chance to examine beautiful samples of sweaters, hats, and scarves that any dog or human would be pleased and proud to wear!
In partnership with the University at Albany Libraries and Hudson Valley PAWS Therapy Dogs via Alliance of Therapy Dogs.
Photo credit: Stephen Stout
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