Constance Squires, February 27, 2025
An author whose latest novel explores the lasting impact of the Oklahoma City bombing will read from her work at 7 p.m. on Feb. 27 at Pittsburg State University as part of the ongoing Distinguished Visiting Writers Series.
The author, Constance Squires, teaches creative writing at the University of Central Oklahoma. Her latest novel, “Low April Sun,” weaves a story of loss, mystery, and the search for closure. Blending suspense with deep emotional insight, the novel examines how past tragedies continue to shape the present.
The reading will be held in the basement of the Wilkinson Alumni Center at the corner of Ford and Joplin streets. A reception will follow.
Rilla Askew, October 24, 2024
Acclaimed Oklahoma author Rilla Askew will read from her work at 7 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 24, in the lobby of the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts at Pittsburg State University.
Oklahoma-born Askew is the author of eight books, many of which are focused on her native state. Her work takes on themes of place, the outsider, religion and politics, greed and ambition, race, and women’s lives.
Her most recent book, a collection called “The Hungry and the Haunted,” is set primarily in Eastern Oklahoma during the 1970s.
Joe Dornich, October 25, 2022
Award-winning author Joe Dornich will hold a reading on campus October 25 as the next in the Distinguished Visiting Writer Series. Planned for 7 p.m., it will be held in the Governors Room of the Overman Student Center and is open to the public. In addition to his public reading, Dornich will visit creative writing classrooms and spend time with students and faculty while on campus.
S. Portico Bowman, October 3, 2022
Writer and former Pittsburg State University art professor S. Portico Bowman will return to campus on Monday, Oct. 3, for a reading of her debut novel, “Cashmere Comes from Goats.” The reading will begin at 7 p.m. in the Governors Room of the Overman Student Center. The event is free and open to the public; it is sponsored by the PSU Distinguished Visiting Writers Series and the Student Fee Council.
Joan Kwon Glass, February 21, 2023
Poet Joan Kwon Glass, whose recent collections have focused on grief, recovery, and life after great loss, will read from her works at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 21, in the Governors Room in the Overman Student Center at Pittsburg State University. The event is free and is sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series and the Student Fee Council.
Joshua Davis and Allison Blevins, April 28, 2022
Poets and alumni Joshua Davis (MA ‘09) and Allison Blevins (MA ‘11) will read from their work at 7 p.m. April 28 as part of the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series at Pittsburg State University. The event, free and open to the public, will be in the Governor’s Room of the Overman Student Center. It is sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series and the Student Fee Council.
After graduating from Pittsburg State, Davis earned an MFA from Stonecoast at the University of Southern Maine, an MFA from the University of Mississippi, and is now a doctoral candidate in literature at Ohio University. A former John and Renee Grisham fellow, he teaches poetry, fiction, and multi-genre workshops, and high school English near Tampa, Florida. Recent poems have appeared in The New Southern Fugitives, Tinfish, and Apalachee Review.
After graduating from Pittsburg State, Blevins earned her MFA at Queens University of Charlotte. She is the author of the poetry collection “Slowly/Suddenly” (Vegetarian Alcoholic Press, 2021) and the nonfiction collection “Handbook for the Newly Disabled, A Lyric Memoir” (BlazeVox, 2022). Her hybrid collection “Cataloguing Pain” (YesYes Books, 2022), a finalist for the Pamet River Prize, is forthcoming. She is also the author of "Susurration” (Blue Lyra Press, 2019), “Letters to Joan” (Lithic Press, 2019), and “A Season for Speaking” (Seven Kitchens Press, 2019), part of the Robin Becker Series. Blevins serves as the director of Small Harbor Publishing and as the executive editor at The Museum of Americana.
Whitney Terrell, March 24, 2022
Writer Whitney Terrell will be visiting PSU at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 24. The event will be in Grubbs Hall 107. The event is free, and is sponsored by the Distinguished Visiting Writers Series and the Student Fee Council. Whitney Terrell's novel, The Good Lieutenant (FSG), was selected as a best book of 2016 by The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and Refinery 29. It was long-listed for the Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Fiction. He is also the author of The Huntsman (Viking), a New York Times notable book in 2001, and The King of Kings County (Viking), which was selected as a best book of 2005 by the Christian Science Monitor. He is currently an Associate Professor of English at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where he teaches Creative Writing. He has also taught fiction at Princeton University and was the Hodder Fellow for 2008-2009. Whitney was born, raised, and today lives in Kansas City with his wife and two sons.
