NYS Writers Institute Announces Spring 2024 Season

The New York State Writers Institute is kicking off its spring season at the University at Albany with more than 30 events featuring writers and creatives who will discuss topics ranging from artificial intelligence and the arts to climate change, homelessness, immigration and other social issues.

This season’s lineup includes craft talks, readings, conversations, film screenings, online workshops and performances, as well as the 4th annual Albany Film Festival on Saturday, April 6. Featured guests include a former Poet Laureate of the United States, three Pulitzer Prize winners, two National Book Award winners, five National Book Award finalists, an Oscar-nominated playwright/actor/director, and one of America’s most acclaimed writers and poets who received the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama in 2013.

"As the Writers Institute opens its 41st year of acclaimed programming in 2024, this remarkable spring lineup reinforces our reputation as one of the nation’s preeminent literary organizations," said Paul Grondahl, the Opalka Endowed Director for the Institute. "We have always placed a premium on presenting the highest literary quality, discovering new and diverse voices, and challenging our audiences with conversations about difficult subjects in a spirit of tolerance and respect.”

The spring lineup also celebrates the 180th anniversary of UAlbany’s founding in 1844 with a roster of guests with strong connections to the University, including former Writers Institute writing workshop teacher Elizabeth Benedict; UAlbany faculty members Jennifer Burns, Lynne Tillman, Amina Henry, Shaun Patrick Tubbs and Kyra Gaunt; UAlbany alumni Jennifer Lemak, Molly Guptill Manning, Alice Green and Stephen Soucy; UAlbany staff member Richard Mirabella; and UAlbany emerita professor Lydia Davis.