The literary reading series was the brainchild of Assistant Professor Kristin Dykstra and local artist Brain Collier. Dykstra and Collier began thinking about a reading series not long after arriving at Illinois State from the State University of New York at Buffalo because they found no established mechanism for bringing in visiting writers. The benefits to the community—having the chance to hear new voices and engage directly with authors—are obvious, but there are more specific benefits for Illinois State students: exposure to authors who are shaping the contemporary literary scene and to the professional rigor that goes into a life of artistic creation.

Last year—with the help of English department faculty Gabriel Gudding, Kass Fleisher, Joe Amato, Christopher Breu, and Elizabeth Hatmaker—Dykstra and Collier presented several events. In March 2003, an art exhibit by Illinois State Professor LJ Douglas was paired with readings by visiting authors Peter Ramos and Roberto Tejada. In October 2003, English Professor Ricardo Cortez Cruz read from his latest work. April 2004 saw “Environments,” an evening of readings by four Illinois State professors and one Illinois Wesleyan University professor: Kathryn Kerr, Nathalie Op de Beeck, Tim Hunt, Kirstin Hotelling Zona, and Michael Theune.

This Fall, one creative writer from Illinois State was paired with a visiting writer from Indiana. Joe Amato, author of Symptoms of a Finer Age and Bookend: Anatomies of a Virtual Self, read with Purdue University poet Dan Morris, author of Bryce Passage. This event marked the opening of a new exhibit, “Falls: A Hydrodynamic Phantasmagoria,” by photographer Mike Bosworth. Curtis White, author of Memories of My Father Watching TV, Requiem, and The Middle Mind, read with University of Notre Dame novelist Steve Tomasula, author of IN & OZ and VAS: An Opera in Flatland. This evening opened an exhibit by visual artist Jennifer Danos.

Dykstra wants this reading series to reach beyond the local university campuses into the community at large and so especially welcomes people who may not have been to a literary reading before. She stresses that the events are free and dress is casual. Visiting authors and artists offer their work for sale and are usually available to meet audience members, talk about their work, and sign their work.