Keynotes | Commencements

Chris Abani

NYT Bestselling Novelist
Nigerian-born Poet
PEN Freedom to Write
FYE Novel: Graceland

Diane Ackerman

NYT Bestselling Author
Naturalist, Essayist, Poet
FYE: Zookeeper's Wife
FYE: The Human Age

Eula Biss

Nonfiction Writer
Essayist & Critic
NBCCA Winner
FYE: On Immunity

Richard Blanco

Inaugural Poet Laureate
Cuban-American Writer
Gay Rights Advocate
FYE Memoir: Los Cocuyos

Amy Bloom

NYT Bestselling Novelist
Short Story Writer
Novels: Lucky Us • Away
National Magazine Award

Augusten Burroughs

NYT Bestselling Memoirist
Running with Scissors
Lust & Wonder

Bryan Doerries

Social Impact Theater
Graphic: The Odyssey of...
Translator of Ancient Greek
FYE: The Theater of War

Mark Doty

Distinguished Poet
National Book Award
NYT Bestselling Memoirist
Dog Years: A Memoir

Andre Dubus III

#1 NYT Bestselling Novelist
House of Sand and Fog
Poverty & Violence Issues
FYE Memoir: Townie
Josh Fox

Josh Fox

Director of Gasland Films
How to Let Go & Love
LennonOno Peace Award
Experimental Theater

Natalie Goldberg

Bestselling Author & Poet
Writing Down The Bones
Buddhist Themes
Visual Artist

Adam Gopnik

Int'l Bestselling Author
Memoir and Fiction
Essay and Criticism
The Moth Storyteller

Sara Gruen

NYT Bestselling Novelist
Water for Elephants
Animal Rights Advocate
Keynote Speaker

Juan Felipe Herrera

US Poet Laureate (2015-17)
Performer & Activist
Children's & YA Books

Okey Ndibe

Nigerian American Author
Novels, Memoir, Essays
Commentator & Humorist
Issues of Immigration

Katha Pollitt

Poet, Essayist, Writer
NBCC Award for Poetry
Columnist for The Nation
PRO: Abortion Rights

Claudia Rankine

Poet & Playwright
NYT Nonfiction Bestseller
NBCCA & Forward Prize
FYE: Citizen

George Saunders

NYT Bestselling Writer
Man Booker Prize Winner
MacArthur "Genius" Award
FYE: Tenth of December

Tracy K. Smith

US Poet Laureate (2017-19)
Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet
Memoir: Ordinary Light
Nat'l Book Award Finalist

Natasha Trethewey

Pulitzer Prize-winning Poet
United States Poet Laureate (2012-2014)
FYE: Native Guard

Lidia Yuknavitch

Bestselling Novelist
Acclaimed Memoirist
LGBTQ Issues
Misfit's Manifesto