Authors Constance Adler and Shelby Smoak to Speak
Hollins University 7916 Williamson Road , Roanoke, Virginia 24019
Constance Adler holds an M.A. ('99) in creative writing from Hollins. Her articles have appeared in <em>The Oxford American</em>, <em>Spy</em>, <em>Utne Reader</em>, <em>Self</em>, <em>In Style</em>, <em>Baltimore Magazine</em>, and <em>Philadelphia Magazine</em>, among others. The Louisiana Press Association honored her work with a first place award for Individual Feature Writing. Her memoir, <em>My Bayou: New Orleans Through the Eyes Of a Lover</em>, was published in 2012. She has taught expository writing and freshman composition at Tulane University and writes a blog called Emily Every Day, a daily meditation on a poem by Emily Dickinson.
Shelby Smoak writes poetry, fiction, and nonfiction, and his work has appeared in journals and magazines such as <em>Northern Virginia Review</em>, <em>Clues</em>, <em>Cucalorus</em>, <em>Juice</em>, <em>The Crutch</em>, <em>New Thought Journal</em>, <em>Cities and Roads</em>, and <em>Coastal Plains Poetry</em>. His memoir, <em>Bleeder</em>, explores how his life changed after he, a hemophiliac, was infected with HIV following a blood transfusion. <em>Bleeder</em> is the 2013 IPPY Gold Award winner in the memoir category. After a long tenure in higher education teaching literature and writing, Smoak now works as a patient advocate for persons with bleeding disorders. He holds an M.A. ('99) in creative writing from Hollins.
Funding for these events is provided by the Dee Hull Everist Visiting Speaker Series.