Colorado State University’s literary scene will be in full bloom over the month of April with three different readings for the Creative Writing Reading Series.
Pulitzer Prize finalist Jos Charles will visit campus for two separate events.
On Thursday, April 13, Charles will read alongside poet and Mountain/West Poetry Series author Tommy Archuleta, whose debut collection Susto was published in March 2023 by The Center for Literary Publishing. The reading will take place in Instrumental Rehearsal Hall in the University Center for the Arts at 7:30 p.m. It is free and open to the public.
April schedule for the Creative Writing Reading Series
7:30 p.m., April 13 – Jos Charles and Tommy Archuleta at the University Center for the Arts, Instrumental Rehearsal Hall
11 a.m., April 14 – Jos Charles at the Smith Alumni Center, Event Hall
7 p.m., April 27 – MFA graduate students John Kneisley, Meeka Todd and Bryce O’Tierney at the Gregory Allicar Museum of Art, Hoffert Learning Center
Charles will return for a poetry reading at 11 a.m. on Friday, April 14, at the Smith Alumni Center. The event is sponsored by the Rocky Mountain Medieval and Renaissance Association.
She will read from her widely celebrated collection feeld and discuss her engagement with the medieval in its development. Associate Professor of English Lynn Shutters describes feeld as, “a startling collection that addresses the vicissitudes of desire, identity and trans life.”
Last but not least: The final MFA thesis reading of the semester will culminate on Thursday, April 27, and feature graduate students John Kneisley (poetry), Meeka Todd (creative nonfiction) and Bryce O’Tierney (poetry). Student readings like this present a wonderful opportunity for students, faculty, staff and the Fort Collins literary community to come together and celebrate our promising early-career writers as they read from their thesis or major work in progress—the result of three years’ rigorous study and attention to craft.
About Jos Charles
Charles is the author of the poetry collections a Year & other poems (Milkweed Editions, 2022), feeld, a Pulitzer-finalist and winner of the 2017 National Poetry Series selected by Fady Joudah (Milkweed Editions, 2018), and Safe Space (Ahsahta Press, 2016).
She currently teaches as a part of Randolph College’s low-residency MFA program. Charles has an MFA from the University of Arizona and is currently a Ph.D. student at the University of California Irvine. She resides in Long Beach, California.
About Tommy Archuleta
Archuleta is a mental health and substance abuse counselor for the New Mexico Corrections Department. His work has appeared in the New England Review, the Laurel Review, Lily Poetry Review, the Cortland Review, Guesthouse and the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-a-Day series. A native of Santa Fe, New Mexico, he lives with his family on the Cochiti Reservation.
About the CSU Creative Writing Reading Series
The CSU Creative Writing Reading Series is made possible by the Organization of Graduate Student Writers, the CSU Department of English, the College of Liberal Arts, the Lilla B. Morgan Memorial Endowment, the donor sponsor of the Crow-Tremblay Alumni Reading Series, CSU Libraries and other generous support.
