SUNY Oswego’s Living Writers Series is excited to return in person this year, kicking off a diverse series of visiting writers with poet Sara Borjas (pictured) on Sept. 15.

 “Living Writers” is both a class offered by Oswego’s Creative Writing Program to introduce students to the writing life and a series of free author events open to the campus and community.

This fall’s series includes Emmy-award winner Stu Krieger, bestselling environmental author and MacArthur Genius Grant winner Robin Wall Kimmerer, National Poetry Series winner Albert Abonado and more. 

In coordinating the Fall 2025 Living Writers Series, creative writing faculty member Sari Fordham found herself thinking about home. 

“I chose the theme of ‘Home’ because we're all in conversation with the concept of ‘Home,’” Fordham said. Speaking of the series, she says, “Our featured authors approach home from many directions. Through stories, essays and verse, they ask: Can we carry home with us? Can we return to it? Can we build it anew?

American Book Award winner Sara Borjas will be the first to visit campus on Sept. 15 at 3 p.m. in the Marano Campus Center auditorium. Borjas’ debut poetry collection, “Heart Like a Window, Mouth Like a Cliff,” explores individual, familial and cultural identity.

Her visit is cosponsored by SUNY Oswego’s Latino and Latin American Studies program and a grant from Hart Hall, and her visit coincides intentionally with the start of Latin American Heritage Month.

“Sara Borjas is a brilliant poet who also cares deeply about championing the voices that we don't always hear,” says Fordham. “She goes out of her way to create community for emerging writers.”

This emphasis on supporting emerging writers is at the core of the Living Writers Series, which introduces students to a range of artistic approaches and career paths that writers take. 

The course also provides professional development to teaching assistants (TAs). This year’s TAs are Sasha Bailey (creative writing and psychology double major), Alexa Blanchard (creative writing major and photography minor) and Isabella Fusani (communication major and creative writing minor), who will assist with the author visits and learn about both course design and hosting a visiting author series.

Each event will include an author address or reading followed by a question-and-answer session in which students and community members engage directly with the authors. Most events also include book signings with the visiting authors.

“This series rivals any visiting author series in the country,” said Laura Donnelly, professor and chair and English and creative writing. “It’s remarkable to have this kind of access to such an accomplished, generous and diverse group of authors. For students and community members, writers and readers – there’s inspiration here for everyone.”

The series started Sept. 3 with a virtual event featuring Teresa Wong, author of two widely praised graphic memoirs and widely seen comics.

Fall 2025 Living Writers Series schedule:

In addition to Borjas’ Sept. 15 appearance, here is the rest of this semester’s series. Unless otherwise noted, all upcoming events are in-person from 3 to 4:20 p.m. in the Marano Campus Center auditorium (room 132).

  • Sept. 24: Robin Wall Kimmerer, author of the widely-acclaimed narrative nonfiction book “Braiding Sweetgrass”, a New York Times bestseller. Kimmerer is a SUNY Distinguished Teaching Professor of Environmental Biology and the founder and director of the Center for Native Peoples and the Environment. Kimmerer’s visit is in coordination with the Oswego Reading Initiative (learn more about the ORI speaker in this story).
  • Oct. 6: Stu Krieger, best known for the animated classic “The Land Before Time.” Kreger is also the co-writer for the Emmy award-winning miniseries A “Year in the Life” and was nominated for the Humanitas Prize for the Disney Channel original movie, “Going to the Mat.”
  • Oct. 13: Soma Mei Sheng Frazier, whose debut novel “Off the Books” earned rave reviews from The New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle and Publishers Weekly and was included in Bustle's “Most Anticipated” Roundup. She is the founding editor of Subnivean and teaches creative writing at SUNY Oswego.
  • Oct. 27 (virtual event): Shannon Luders-Manuel (via Zoom), author of the critically acclaimed memoir “The One Who Loves You: A Memoir of Growing Up Biracial in a Black and White World.” Her work has appeared in The New York Times, Los Angeles Times and elsewhere. In addition to her writing, Luders-Manuel works as an editor and sensitivity reader.
  • Oct. 27: Shana Youngdahl’s novel “A Catalog of Burnt Objects” received a starred review from Kirkus, and her debut novel “As Many Nows as I Can Get” was selected as a New York Public Library Top Ten Best Book of the Year, a Seventeen Best Book of the Year and a Kirkus Best Book of the Year. She also authored two books of poetry.
  • Nov. 3: Albert Abonado, author of “Field Guide for Accidents,” which was a National Poetry Series selection. He has received fellowships for poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. He is the managing editor of Bare Hill Review and teaches creative writing at SUNY Oswego.
  • Nov. 19: Cheri Johnson, whose novel “Annika Rose” won the 2022 Women’s Prose Prize. Johnson is also the author of a chapbook, a mystery and two nonfiction series for young readers, and has worked as a freelance editor for several publishing houses.

Parking: During Living Writers Series events, the community may park for free in lots E-10 and E-17 beyond Marano Campus Center (no pass required). Visit oswego.edu/parking for parking and campus maps.

Accessibility: For assistance in attending an event, contact Accessibility Resources at 315.312.3358 or access@oswego.edu.

The Living Writers Series is supported by ARTSwego and made possible by the Student Arts Fee. It is also supported by the Department of English and Creative Writing, the Oswego Reading Initiative, the Latino and Latin American Studies program, Hart Hall, The River's End Bookstore and Subnivean.

-- Submitted by the Department of English and Creative Writing