{"id":931,"date":"2026-03-06T19:43:57","date_gmt":"2026-03-06T19:43:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/?page_id=931"},"modified":"2026-04-15T14:21:57","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T14:21:57","slug":"voices-reading-series","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/voices-reading-series\/","title":{"rendered":"Voices Reading Series"},"content":{"rendered":"
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VOICES<\/strong> History<\/h2><\/div><\/div>
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The VOICES Reading Series has been dedicated for nearly forty years to bringing emerging and established writers from across the nation to read for the St. Mary\u2019s community. These readings typically take place on a monthly basis in the Daugherty-Palmer Commons (DPC) on Thursday nights at 8:15 and are free and open to the public. Each evening has a simple format: the invited poet or prose writer is introduced by a St. Mary\u2019s faculty member and reads for about 40 minutes. At the receptions that follow each reading, audience members have a chance to mingle with the visiting writer who has just read aloud from his or her work. Over the years, St. Mary\u2019s has been honored to hear the voices of poets and prose writers such as Mark Doty, Sharon Olds, Toni Morrison, and Lucille Clifton\u2014and many more.<\/p>\n

When VOICES series founder Michael Glaser arrived in 1970, his personal and professional mission was to expand the role of poetry on campus and to provide students with exposure to living, breathing poetry. By 1976, Glaser and Judith Hall began bringing poets to St. Mary\u2019s for an intensive two-week summer program run on a shoestring budget called \u201cThe Festival of Poets and Poetry.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the early eighties, Michael Glaser asked poet Lucille Clifton, Maryland\u2019s Poet Laureate from 1979-1985, to visit St. Mary\u2019s for the first time. Knowing that she loved Maryland, Michael Glaser suggested that Clifton become a repeat visitor to the College\u2014and she did. For close to two decades, Clifton taught at St. Mary\u2019s and mentored student poets here.<\/p>\n

Clifton\u2019s presence also became the inspiration for the newly emerging VOICES program. While the summertime Festival of Poets and Poetry had been gaining reputation and momentum, the organizers wanted fall and spring semester students to have exposure to the world of contemporary literature that the summer festival brought to campus. The reading series was called \u201cVOICES\u201d because of Clifton\u2019s insistence that the emphasis of the series should be on hearing voices of justice, fairness, and human compassion. After all, the VOICES series began, in the words of Michael Glaser, \u201cnot because poetry matters, but because what poetry is about matters.\u201d<\/p>\n

This effort to bring the world of contemporary writing to the St. Mary\u2019s community has been very successful. In the Summer 2005 edition of The Mulberry Tree, Wrenn Heisler \u201999 writes, \u201cI knew I wanted to be an English major when I heard Robert Hass read. I knew I wanted to be passionate and precise about life and my family when I heard Lucille Clifton read. I knew I was doing the right thing in being an environmentalist when I heard W.S. Merwin read. I knew I wanted to teach when I took my first class with Michael Glaser. I knew I had never looked into eyes as intense as those of Adrienne Rich when I met her at St. Mary\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI met her,\u201d Heisler continues. \u201cThere I was\u2014a measly little English major at St. Mary\u2019s, and I was taking dinner with Adrienne Rich, one of the most illuminating poets of our time.\u201d In fact, all of the writers Heisler mentions are luminaries. Over the past thirty years, the collection of individuals who have come to read at St. Mary\u2019s is astonishing.<\/p>\n

Poets such as Robert Bly, Mary Oliver, Amiri Baraka, Toi Derricotte, and Li-Young Lee have been just a few of the many inspirational voices heard by the St. Mary\u2019s community through the VOICES series. In 2008, Glaser turned the directorship over to Karen Leona Anderson, who has maintained its focus on bringing quality writing and writers to campus along with an emphasis on diversity, collaboration, and aesthetic breadth.<\/p>\n

In addition to individual readings, the VOICES Reading Series has also broadened to include a variety of reading formats linking readers to writers. St. Mary\u2019s alumni, such as Tony Quick and Michelle Johnson, have read from their work; seniors have participated in Senior Invitational Readings; a Women Writers Reading group of female voices has been a regular feature of the Series; and in recent years, the Writer\u2019s Harvest\u2014a group reading led by English faculty member Jennifer Cognard-Black\u2014has raised money to fight hunger. The VOICES series also works each year with the Environmental Studies department, International Languages and Cultures, and Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies to host cross-disciplinary readings.<\/p>\n

Those who have attended the readings frequently cite them as formative events in their lives as poets and writers. \u201cThat one reading changed my life,\u201d is a common refrain from alumni such as Randy Bridgeman, who has continued to write and publish poetry since graduation. Many others have also gone on to become poets, or have found themselves teaching subjects such as art, poetry, and creative writing. Others remember the ideas behind the work, and have found their passions piqued by the subject matter of an evening gathering. For many of those who attended St. Mary\u2019s, VOICES serves to inspire a lifelong passion for reading and writing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>

VOICES<\/strong> Spring Schedule 2026<\/h2><\/div><\/div>
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Thursday, February 12: Writer and Podcaster Nicole Hylton (7:30, Daugherty Palmer Commons)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Come celebrate an SMCM Alumn; introduced by Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nicole Hylton is a writer-of-all-trades from Southern Maryland. She writes poetry, short stories, creative nonfiction essays, and has completed two novellas, plus a memoir. She is also co-host of the podcast Girls\u2019 Lunch. Her work has appeared in <\/span>The Under Review<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Words and Sports Quarterly<\/span><\/i>, Li<\/span>ttle Patuxent Review,<\/span><\/i> Wraparound South<\/span><\/i>, and other publications. Nicole holds a B.A. from St. Mary\u2019s College of Maryland and an M.F.A. from Northern Arizona University, where she taught composition and creative writing. She currently works as a grant writer, helping nonprofits find funding to continue their critical work.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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Thursday, March 12: Novelist Eman Quotah (7:30, Daugherty Palmer Commons)<\/b><\/p>\n

Eman Quotah is the author of two novels: <\/span>The Night Is Not for You<\/span><\/i> and <\/span>Bride of the Sea<\/span><\/i>, winner of the Arab American Book Award for Fiction. Her essays, stories, and book reviews have appeared in USA Today, Literary Hub, Mizna, and other publications. She\u2019s been awarded writing fellowships from MacDowell and Hedgebrook and grants from the Maryland State Arts Council and the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County.<\/span><\/p>\n

When she\u2019s not writing her own work, Eman is a communications consultant. She\u2019s also the secretary of the board for RAWI, which represents writers of Southwest Asian and North African heritage. She lives with her family in Montgomery County, Maryland.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Thursday, April 2:\u00a0 Orquesta Manplesa (7:30, Daugherty Palmer Commons)<\/b><\/p>\n

Introduced by Professor Jos\u00e9 Ballesteros; in collaboration with ILC<\/b><\/p>\n

At the intersection of tradition and youth, just past Mount Pleasant Street, lies Orquesta Manplesa. Named after the Spanish pronunciation of Mount Pleasant, the 9-piece salsa band is focused on upkeeping the musical tradition of Latinos in DC, especially in this historic neighborhood. Orquesta Manplesa lives by one rule: \u201ckeep them dancing.\u201d Their eclectic mix of salsa, spanning eras and regions, keeps the dance floor alive all night. Orquesta Manplesa puts into music what it means to be from DC – community and joy above all else.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div>

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Thursday, April 23: Poet Chet\u2019la Sebree (7:30, Daugherty Palmer Commons)<\/b><\/p>\n

Introduced by Professor Jeff Coleman <\/b><\/p>\n

Chet’la Sebree is the author of the poetry collections <\/span>Blue Opening<\/span><\/i>; <\/span>Field Study<\/span><\/i>, winner of the 2020 James Laughlin Award from the Academy of American Poets; and <\/span>Mistress<\/span><\/i>, nominated for an NAACP Image Award. Her debut essay collection <\/span>turn (w)here: a geography of home <\/span><\/i>is forthcoming in 2026. Currently, she\u2019s an assistant professor at the George Washington University and faculty in Randolph College\u2019s Low-Residency MFA in Creative Writing program.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

About<\/strong><\/h2><\/div><\/div>
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The VOICES Reading Series, established by poets Lucille Clifton and Michael Glaser over 30 years ago, features poets, fiction writers, and nonfiction writers and is intended to bring accomplished writers to the campus to interact with students and faculty. Invited writers read their works throughout the semester on Thursday evenings at 8:15 P.M at Daugherty-Palmer Commons, and all readings are free and open to the public. Once or twice a month, authors give a short reading and then respond during a brief question and answer period. Each reading is followed by a reception, where students and faculty can mingle with the author and other interested writers and readers. The author\u2019s book(s) are also sold during the reception and can be signed by the author. Luminaries such as Mark Doty, Elizabeth Alexander, Toni Morrison, and Naomi Shihab Nye have read in the series.<\/p>\n

Information on events are posted throughout campus, and emails are sent out near the date of the readings; please contact the director, Karen Leona Anderson (klanderson@smcm.edu<\/a>) if you would like to be added to these notifications. In addition, all the events and information on the authors can be found at our Facebook page: Creative Writing Resources at St. Mary\u2019s College of Maryland.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

LATEST<\/strong> NEWS<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
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St. Mary\u2019s College of Maryland Presents An Evening to Honor the Legacy of Lucille Clifton (Virtual)<\/h3><\/a><\/div>
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St. Mary\u2019s College of Maryland Presents An Evening to Honor the Legacy of Lucille Clifton<\/h3><\/a><\/div>
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Revised - An Evening to Honor the Legacy of Lucille Clifton at St. Mary\u2019s College of Maryland<\/h3><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
More VOICES News<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Additional <\/strong>Links<\/h2><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
VOICES Archive<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>
Department of English<\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The VOICES Reading Series has been dedicated for nearly forty years to bringing emerging and established writers from across the nation to read for the St. Mary\u2019s community. These readings typically take place on a monthly basis in the Daugherty-Palmer Commons (DPC) on Thursday nights at 8:15 and are free and open to the public. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":245,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"full-width-content","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-931","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry"},"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/931","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/245"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=931"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/931\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":978,"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/931\/revisions\/978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smcm.edu\/signature-events\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=931"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}