Yawp! Visiting Writer’s Series
Fall 2012-present
This series is free and open to the public. We generally host six professional writers per academic year. The series is promoted on campus and to the larger community through John Morgan in Public Relations. Many of the events are scheduled in the afternoon in an effort to bring together a mix of QU faculty, students, and staff. These events often dovetail with content in QU Creative Writing courses, so many of the student spectators are already familiar with the work of the featured poet, author, or producer. This intersection between public performance and the classroom experience is one of the things that makes a series like this so crucial to the development of the EN Department and the Creative Writing Program.
Montage Student Writer’s Series
Spring 2011-present
Each installment of this series includes an open mic and feature slots for Quinnipiac student writers, musicians, artists, etc. The series was curated and hosted by Ken Cormier from Spring 2011-Spring 2016, including 8-10 installments per academic year, with 16-20 student features and many other student performers in the Open Mic, Poetry Slam, and Story Slam events. The name of the series was changed from Quinnipiac Writer’s Series to Montage Writer’s Series in Fall 2012 to link it with our Montage student literary journal, thereby increasing awareness about the journal and establishing a coherent center to the literary “scene” here on campus. We average 30- 50 or more attendees per installment. This series provides many aspiring student writers their first experience sharing creative work outside of the classroom, and their efforts are obviously inspiring to student audience members, who are often astonished at the quality of the work being presented. In Fall 2016, the series was taken over by editors of Montage, and they host two to three Open Mic events per semester.
