An established writer and educator will be visiting IU as part of a series by the College Arts & Humanities Institute.
Roxane Gay will speak at 7 p.m. Wednesday in Franklin Hall.
Her presentation will be followed by a question-and-answer session and the opportunity to have a book signed by the author.
Jonathan Elmer, director of the College Arts & Humanities Institute, said CAHI has been trying to link up with other IU campuses and faculty to bring in leading talents in literature.
These include Junot Diaz, Margaret Atwood and Juan Felipe Herrera.
“Roxane Gay speaks powerfully to many people about personal issues and about our shared political world,” Elmer said. “I see Roxane’s visit as continuing that programming. Her visit, just to back up the point about partnering, is a collaboration with the Susan Gubar Fund, directed by Stephanie Li.”
Gay, also an associate professor at Purdue University, is known for her published works. One of them, “Bad Feminist,” is a collection of essays that explore the idea of feminism and how it can conflict with pop culture and interests and also includes some of Gay’s personal experiences.
Her other work “An Untamed State” is slated to be adapted into a feature-length film.
Gay will publish two more works, “Difficult Women” and “Hunger: A Memoir of (My) Body,” within the next year.
Wednesday’s lecture will deviate from the norm, and Gay will speak directly from her work, Elmer said.
“As a writer, she is direct and honest and passionate,” Elmer said. “Roxane will be reading from her work, rather than giving a traditional talk. I’m looking forward to hearing her voice, literally.”
There are two goals of CAHI, one of which is supporting research done by arts and humanities faculty.
The other, Elmer said, is creating programming that advocates for arts and humanities in Bloomington and is more in line with tomorrow’s talk because of the nature of the event.
“We have several meet-the-author events that spotlight recent work by faculty, and we have some events that are trying to bring into focus some important trends in graduate education or in writing for public audiences,” Elmer said.
People across a variety of identity spectrums can find something to identify with in Gay’s work, Elmer said.
“She speaks about things that matter to many people — about being a woman, about being a person of color, about where we are today in this country,” Elmer said.
