The Ibis Literary and Performance Reading Series

The Ibis Literary and Performance Reading Series, housed in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Miami hosts two major reading series as well as a craft intensive writing workshop for the Coral Gables and greater Miami community. We work together with The Department of English, The College of Arts and Sciences, The Executive Office of the Vice President and Provost, the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies, the UM Citizen's Board, The UM Auxiliary Services and our community partners at Books and Books and WLRN to bring distinguished writers and poets of national and international reputation to our community.

Polyglot Writers: A Reading Series on Writing Across Languages is an interdisciplinary and community linked series of readings at the College of Arts and Sciences Gallery and a special Writers' Salon at Books & Books. This collaborative series, supported by multiple programs at the University of Miami, promises to engage our community in a fascinating exploration of the fluidity of language as it crisscrosses borders, cultures and people.

Our open mic series, USpeak: Open Verse and Story Performances, provides our community a unique opportunity to hear and be inspired by established writers and poets. In addition to readings by distinguished local authors, students are encouraged to stand up and read during the open mic session. This year we begin our series with a "Back to School Bash" on the Books & Books patio in Coral Gables, featuring not only Literary Death March Champs Hialeah Haikus, but a local flamenco band. The literary evenings are a classic exchange between the Miami literati and emerging student writers and poets.

The mission of our literary and performance reading series is to encourage the reading, writing and performance of poetry and story-based narrative on campus; to foster community, intellectual and artistic engagement; and to create opportunities for our student writers to connect with other writers.

Recent national and international guest writers have included:

• Ngugi Wa Thiong’o
• Edwin Torres
• Edwidge Danticat
• Ninotchka Rosca
• Juan Delgado
• Abraham Yehoshua
• Grace Paley
• Marilyn Hacker
• Terese Svoboda
• Jay Wright
• Roland Merullo
• Jason Nelson
• Chuck Palahniuk
• Michael Hettich
• Fleda Brown
• Diane Goodman