Kelly is the author of two poetry collections: Bestiary (Graywolf 2016), winner of the Cave Canem Poetry Prize, a Hurston Wright Legacy award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award; and The Renunciations (Graywolf 2021), recently shortlisted for the National Book Critics Circle Award in poetry. Kelly’s works have been published in The New Yorker, The Atlantic, The Paris Review, and Foglifter. She’s a professor of creative writing at the University of Iowa.
Febos is the author of the memoir Whip Smart and three essay collections. Febos’s Girlhood, is a national best-seller and National Book Critics Circle finalist. Febos is the recipient of the Jeanne Córdova Nonfiction Award from LAMBDA Literary. Her works have appeared in The Paris Review, The Believer, The Sun, New York Review of Books and The New York Times Magazine. Febos teaches at the University of Iowa in the nonfiction writing program.
Dr. Rachael Peckham, professor of English and coordinator of the Stringer Visiting Writers Series at Marshall, organized the reading event.
“Donika Kelly and Melissa Febos are some of the biggest, best-selling names in contemporary poetry and creative nonfiction,” Peckham said. “I am overjoyed that our campus and Huntington will get to hear them read live, especially considering that Kelly and Febos were recently named finalists for the National Book Critics Circle Award. For them to both receive this prestigious honor simultaneously is remarkable.”
This event is sponsored by the College of Liberal Arts, the Office of Intercultural Affairs, the John Deaver Drinko Academy and with support of a mini-grant from the West Virginia Humanities Council. Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this reading do not necessarily represent those of the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The reading is free and open to the public and can be streamed at www.marshall.edu/livestream. Facial coverings are required for in-person attendance.