Spring 2024 A.K. Smith Reading Series Schedule

Readings are open to all! Food and beverages will be served.

SUSANNA FOGEL

Monday, February 5th @ 7pm / Cinestudio: Screening of CAT PERSON followed by a Q&A.

(Reception prior at 5:30pm in the Austin Arts Center lobby)

Tuesday, February 6th, common hour / Reese Room, Smith House: “Writing for Film” Discussion

Co-Sponsored by the Trinity College Arts Initiative

Susanna Fogel’s credits include directing the film CAT PERSON, a thriller adaptation of the 2017 viral New Yorker short story, co-writing the acclaimed comedy BOOKSMART, for which she was nominated for a BAFTA and a WGA Award, directing and co-writing Lionsgate’s THE SPY WHO DUMPED ME, which won a People’s Choice Award in 2018, and directing and co-writing her debut film LIFE PARTNERS, which she developed at the Sundance Lab.  Her most recent film is WINNER, a darkly comedic biopic of whistleblower Reality Winner she co-wrote with Kerry Howley, which stars Emilia Jones,  Zach Galifianakis, and Connie Britton and will premiere at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival.  

Fogel’s television credits include the first two episodes of the HBO Max series THE FLIGHT ATTENDANT, for which she received the DGA Award for Directing in the Comedy Series category and was nominated for an Emmy, and the pilot of Amazon’s THE WILDS, which ran for two seasons. Fogel directed SMALL LIGHT, a Disney+ limited series about the woman who protected Anne Frank’s family during WWII. The series, which stars Bel Powley and Liev Schreiber, recently won the 2024 Gotham Award for breakthrough series and has been nominated for four Critics Choice Awards and an Independent Spirit Award. 

CT STUDENT CIRCUIT POETS, featuring our own Sadie Zeiner-Morrish 

Readings are free and open to all!

Tuesday, February 27th @ 4:30pm / Reese Room, Smith House

Each year the Connecticut Poetry Circuit selects five student poets from colleges across the state to participate in a series of readings at Connecticut campuses in the spring semester. This year, our own Sadie Zeiner-Morrish is among those selected to represent her college.  We hope you’ll join us to support Sadie and hear the original work of five outstanding young poets.

Sadie Zeiner-Morrish is a sophomore at Trinity College where she is an English/ Creative Writing major.  She is the recipient of the John Curtis Underwood Memorial Prizes in Poetry, third place, and the Trinity College First Year Papers prize.  Her poetry has been published in Just Poetry magazine and The Vernacular magazine.  In addition to writing poetry, Sadie likes to crochet, bake, and sing.   Sadie’s hometown is Washington, New Jersey.

Mia Enikő Alexander is a sophomore at Wesleyan University majoring in Film Studies and minoring in Data Analysis. Her poetry has appeared in Chaotic Merge Magazine, Warmly Zine, and Blue Flag Literary Magazine.  In 2022, she was named Commended Foyle Young Poet of the Year by the UK Poetry Society.  Next semester, she plans to continue working as the Poetry Editor for The Lavender, Wesleyan University’s foremost literary magazine. In her free time, she enjoys re-watching Annie Hall, listening to The Beatles, and playing bass. Her hometown is Hoboken, New Jersey.

August Bishop is a junior at Quinnipiac University where they major in English and Creative Writing, MAT program for Secondary Education in English.  August plays the guitar and writes songs. They have been playing shows on campus with their friends, and working as the Editor in Chief of the literary magazine here Quinnipiac.  August’s biggest goal is to be able to connect with people through their writing.  Their hometown is Monroe, Connecticut.

Meaghan Canavan is a senior at Western Connecticut State University where she majors in Professional Writing.  She is the recipient of  the Ronald K. Goodridge Award for Outstanding Historically Based and Researched Essay or Short Story.  Meaghan is an avid enjoyer of all things creative. She is a big fan of cozy games, indie content, and the otherwise weird. After graduation, they hope to work in a publishing house or a magazine, publishing the work of others. Meaghan’s hometown is Fishkill, New York.

Alexa Schwartz is a senior at the University of Hartford where she majors in English.  Her dramatic monologue, “A Bouncer’s Final Shift at Club Elysian Fields,” and her flash fiction, Good Night, have been published in in the University of Hartford’s Aerie.  She is the recipient of Third Prize in Abrahms Drama (University of Hartford) for her ten-minute play, Daughterhood.  Alexa is interested in the relationship between the text and performance, which she explores through both creative and critical writings.  She is currently applying to graduate school to continue studying English and Drama.   Alexa’s hometown is Farmingdale, New York.

SARA BERKELEY

Thursday, March 21st at 4:30pm / Reese Room, Smith House

Sara Berkeley’s first poetry collection was published in Ireland and Canada when she was 19. This has been followed by six further collections, a novel and a book of short stories. Her work has been widely anthologized in Europe, Canada and the United States.

In her newest collection, Some of the Things I’ve Seen (2023), Sara follows a number of sightlines: watching the landscape from the window of a plane, contemplating the effects of climate change, and witnessing human vulnerability and resilience in her work as a hospice nurse during the height of the pandemic. Throughout these poems, Berkeley maintains a tender awareness of the threats that surround us, especially for the children born into this increasingly uninhabitable world, as well as a keen appreciation of the passion and poetic insight we will all need to survive. 

GINA CHUNG

credit S.M. Sukardi 

Monday, April 8th @ 4:30pm / Reese Room, Smith House

Gina Chung is a Korean American writer from New Jersey currently living in New York City. She is the author of the novel Sea Change, which was longlisted for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, a 2023 B&N Discover Pick, and a New York Times Most Anticipated Book, and the short story collection Green Frog. A recipient of the Pushcart Prize, she is a 2021-2022 Center for Fiction/Susan Kamil Emerging Writer Fellow and holds an MFA in fiction from The New School’s Creative Writing Program and a BA in literary studies from Williams College. Her work appears or is forthcoming in One StoryBOMBThe Kenyon ReviewLiterary HubCatapultElectric LiteratureGulf Coast, Indiana ReviewIdaho ReviewThe RumpusPleiades, and F(r)iction, among others. 

 

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Previous Readings

Click to view a few profiles of previous Reading Series guests.