By Kallie Stahl 

The 22nd Annual Villanova Literary Festival begins Thursday, Feb. 20! A reception and book signing with the author will follow each reading. All events begin at 7 p.m. The festival, co-sponsored by the English Department, the Creative Writing Program, the Honors Program, Africana Studies, Global Interdisciplinary Studies, The Writing Center, Gender and Women’s Studies, and Falvey Memorial Library, is free and open to the public.

Dinaw Mengestu — Thursday, February 20, Dougherty Hall, West Lounge 

Mengestu is the author of three novels, all of which were named New York Times Notable Books: All Our Names (2014), How To Read the Air (2010), and The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears (2007). He is a 2012 MacArthur Fellow and recipient of a Lannan Literary Fellowship for Fiction, Guardian First Book Award, and Los Angeles Times Book Prize, among other honors.

• The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/791181
• How to Read the Air: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1272238
• All Our Names: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1495140
• Children of the Revolution: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/2027588

Bryan Washington — Tuesday, March 24, Falvey’s Speakers’ Corner 

Washington’s debut collection of short stories, Lot, was published by  in 2019. His fiction and essays have appeared in The New York Times, The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, BBC, The Paris Review, Tin House, and numerous other publications. He’s also a National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 winner, and the recipient of an O. Henry Award.

• Lot: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/2027589
• Link to writing available online via his website: https://brywashing.com/work/

Brenda Shaughnessy — Thursday, April 2, Falvey’s Speakers’ Corner 

Shaughnessy is the author of five poetry collections, including The Octopus Museum (2019), So Much Synth (2016) and Our Andromeda (2012), which was a finalist for the Kingsley Tufts Award, The International Griffin Prize, and the PEN Open Book Award. A 2013 Guggenheim Foundation Fellow, Shaughnessy is Associate Professor of English and Creative Writing at Rutgers University-Newark.

• Our Andromeda: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/2027580
• So Much Synth: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/2027578
• The Octopus Museum: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/2027579
• Human Dark With Sugar: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1090094

Robin Coste Lewis — Tuesday, April 21, Falvey’s Speakers’ Corner 

Coste Lewis is the poet laureate of Los Angeles. In 2015, her debut poetry collection, Voyage of the Sable Venus, won the National Book Award in poetry–the first time a poetry debut by an African-American had ever won the prize in the National Book Foundation’s history. Lewis’ writing has appeared in various journals and anthologies such as Time Magazine, The New Yorker, The New York Times, The Paris Review, Transition, and Best American Poetry.

• Voyage of the Sable Venus: and Other Poems: https://library.villanova.edu/Find/Record/1601510

Kallie Stahl ’17 MA is Communication and Marketing Specialist at Falvey Memorial Library.

Villanova University proudly welcomes Martin Ganda ’07, author of the book I Will Always Write Back to campus on Thursday, Sept. 19. Ganda’s book was chosen as the University’s One Book Villanova for the 2019-2020 academic year. The goal of the One Book Villanova program is to find a common subject that will unite us in good conversation about a culturally rich topic from which we draw great insight.

As part of his visit to campus, Ganda will be available for a book signing from 4:30-5:30 p.m. in Speakers’ Corner of Falvey Memorial Library. Please be sure to bring your copy of the book and meet the author! Ganda will deliver the One Book Lecture as part of the St. Thomas of Villanova Celebration from 6:00-7:00 p.m. in the Villanova Room, Connelly Center.

We will have a limited number of FREE books available for students on a first-come, first-serve basis at the book signing on Thursday, Sept. 19, at 4:30 p.m. at Falvey Library. Additional copies of the book will be available to borrow from Falvey Library with a valid Wildcard.

Visit the One Book page for the complete schedule of events during Ganda’s visit to campus.