The fall 2026 Fresno Poets’ Association reading series will include book launches for a U.S. poet laureate and a Philip Levine Prize winner, readings by three Fresno State alumni with new books, and a special tribute to one of the university’s most notable alumni authors, the late poet Larry Levis.
The long-running series is hosted by faculty author Brynn Saito, who coordinates Fresno State’s Master of Fine Arts program in creative writing. Each event includes a book signing.
Fresno State MFA faculty
The series kicks off at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 2, at the Fresno State Library (Room 2206) with the annual group reading by the English Department’s creative writing faculty.
Readers will include: Venita Blackburn, author of the novel “Dead in Long Beach, CA”; Steven Church, author of the essay collection “I’m Just Getting To the Disturbing Part”; Ra Jarrar, author of the memoir “Love Is an Ex-Country”; Saito, author of the poetry collection “Under a Future Sky”; Mai Der Vang, author of the poetry collection “Primordial”; and Brenna Womer, author of the hybrid collection “Unbrained.”
Admission is free. Parking costs $5 in suggested Lot P1. Details are on the events calendar.
Book launch for 2024 Levine Prize winner
Georgia author Amanda Hodes launches her debut poetry collection, “Into the Into of Earth Itself” (Black Lawrence Press, 2026) at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Fresno State Library (Room 2206). The book won the 2024 Philip Levine Prize for Poetry, selected by author Diana Khoi Nguyen.
A writer and new media artist, Hodes is an assistant professor at Augusta University. She previously taught at Oberlin College & Conservatory in Ohio. Nguyen, in her Levine Prize citation, praised Hodes’ book as “her own alchemical lyric of excavation that exposes the corporate exploitation of land, exploitative and dangerous ‘dark tourism’ and the extracted innocence of girls.”
Admission is free. Parking costs $5 in suggested Lot P1. Details are on the events calendar.
Fresno Writers Summit
The fourth annual Fresno Writers Summit, from 1 to 8 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Smittcamp Alumni House, will include three sessions featuring readings from 13 Fresno State alumni and students.
The evening session (6:30 to 8 p.m.) pays tribute to Levis, who earned his bachelor’s degree in English from Fresno State in 1968 and went on to publish five acclaimed volumes of poetry. Levis passed away in 1996 at age 49, one year after being honored with the Fresno State Alumni Association’s Top Dog Outstanding Alumnus Award for the College of Arts and Humanities.
Fresno State alumnus author David St. John will be the featured speaker, reading from and discussing the new book “Swirl & Vortex: Collected Poems of Larry Levis” (Graywolf Press, 2026), which he edited. The comprehensive book collects all five of Levis’ books, plus multiple posthumously released books and poems. Joining St. John will be recent winners of the university’s Larry Levis Memorial Prize: alumni Emily Peacock and Dawn Parker, and student Jacob Selway.
The mid-afternoon session (2:45 to 4:15 p.m.) will celebrate new books by three Fresno State alumni authors. Readers will include: Sam Pereira, author of the book “Code Blue: New and Selected Poems” (Bruma Publications, 2026); Olivia Muñoz, author of the debut poetry chapbook “These Women, They Carry Purses Full of Knives” (Blue Mountain Review, 2024); and Jack Chavoor, author of the debut memoir “Ghosts of the Genocide” (Armenian Series, The Press at Fresno State, 2026).
The early afternoon session (1 to 2 p.m.) will be the English Department’s annual Creative Writing Prize Showcase, with performances from award-winning student writers Yeiri Farias, Celeste Jones, Phoua Lee, Sharon K. McClain, Leslie Kay Quintana and Indigo Terán.
General admission is $10 and Fresno State students are free with promo code. Parking is free in suggested lot P1. Details are on the events calendar.
Book launch for U.S. poet laureate emeritus
U.S. Poet Laureate Emeritus Juan Felipe Herrera launches his latest book, “Flourishing Shadows/Sombras Florecientes: A Chicano Howl” (University of Arizona Press, 2026), at 6 p.m. Monday, Nov. 9, at the Fresno State Library (Ellipse Gallery).
Performing with Herrera will be Benjamin Boone and friends, the Ohuaya Collective and the Chicanx Writers and Artists Association. The launch will engage audience members with participatory poetry and art.
Herrera’s publisher calls the Fowler native’s new book “a lyrical journey through migration, memory and resistance — an urgent address to a nation grappling with its identity. Blending autobiography and Indigenous, Chicanx and Beat traditions, Herrera reclaims language as a tool of compassion and truth.”
Admission is free. Parking costs $5 in suggested Lot P1. Details are on the events calendar.
(Story by Jefferson Beavers; lead photo of alumnus David St. John courtesy of Stephanie Diani)
