Authors Constance Adler and Shelby Smoak to Speak

Constance Adler holds an M.A. ('99)&nbsp;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)&nbsp;in creative writing from Hollins.

Funding for these events is provided by the Dee Hull Everist Visiting Speaker Series.