NEWS

Lit from Within

CMU English Department’s literary events fill rooms across the community

Like the flurries currently turning Mount Pleasant and campus into a shaken snow globe, the Central Michigan University English department keeps shaking up the community with an impressive flurry of literary events. Last semester’s events attracted many visitors on campus and in town as the department looks toward another eventful spring semester.

The spring semester will feature several more literary events on campus and downtown. For a full list of upcoming events and readings, visit the Department of English website.

Members of the brass quintet Sassabrass play their instruments while seated in front of large glass windows in front of a room filled with guests seated on chairs. — Sassabrass performs during the Wellspring Literary Series September 15, 2025.

Fall 2025 events recap

The fall semester kicked off with a standing-room only crowd attending the launch of the fourteenth season of the Wellspring Literary Series, featuring a reading by Patricia Clark, a prominent Michigan poet from Grand Rapids. CMU MA in Creative Writing candidate Autry Clark read first, and music was provided by Sassabrass, a Brass quintet featuring students from the CMU School of Music.

Autry Clark speaks into a microphone while holding a sheet of paper paper during the Wellspring Literary Series. — MA in Creative Writing student Autry Clark reads her poems at the Wellspring Literary Series September 15, 2025.

Later in September, former CMU professor and non-fiction author Kim Chinquee visited from SUNY Buffalo and delighted the audience in Anspach Hall as the first reader in this year’s Meijer Visiting Writers series, an annual series that features nationally prominent authors.

On Wednesday, October 22, an enthusiastic audience attended a reading in Anspach Hall by CMU faculty authors Darrin Doyle and Jeffrey Bean. Doyle read from the newly released 10^th Anniversary edition of his novel The Dark Will Eat the Dark, and Bean read poems from his recently published collection Everywhere, Everywhere, along with some works-in-progress inspired by one of his musical inspirations, J.S. Bach.

A capacity crowd enjoyed the second reading in the 13^th year of the annual Wellspring Literary Series November 3 at Art Reach of Mid Michigan. The evening’s featured guest, poet Cal Freeman, visited from Detroit to read from his new collection The Weather of Our Names. Freeman’s reading was preceded by MA in Creative Writing student Liv O’Toole wowing the audience with her recent poems. Between readings, music students Finnegan McKenzie and Oliver Smith performed piano pieces, and the evening finished with an oboe performance CMU School of Music student Keira Dickson, accompanied by CMU School of Music faculty member Zhao Wang on piano.

Call Freeman stands reading his poetry at a podium in front of rows of chairs filled with guests. — Poet Cal Freeman reads to a packed audience during the Wellspring Literary Series at Art Reach of Mid Michigan November 3, 2025.

CMU senior Abby Trower, a Psychology major and Creative Writing minor from Petoskey, was very moved as an attendee of several English events.

“I love seeing our community come together to celebrate creative writing and literature, and how much we all love it,” Trower said. “Sharing a passion with this group of people has been such a pleasure, and one of my favorite parts of CMU.”

A crowd of book lovers gathered at Art Reach November 5 for “Faculty Favorites,” a series featuring CMU professors of English discussing some of their favorite books. Nicole Sparling-Barco read from House of Spirits by Isabel Allende, and Gretchen Papazian read selections from Mary Oliver’s Dog Poems. Following their readings, Sparling-Barco and Papazian engaged the audience in conversations about their own favorite books and their love of reading.

Nicole Sparling-Barco (left) and Gretchen Papazian (right) seated next to each other holding books. — English faculty members Nicole Sparling-Barco (left) and Gretchen Papazian (right) host a Faculty Favorites event at Sleepy Dog Books November 5.

Book lovers also converged in Anspach Hall for a Banned Books panel featuring CMU English professors as well as librarians and educators. This was just one of a few events hosted by the English Department to recognize the importance of promoting free speech during Banned Books week.

overs of poetry and Marvel comics were treated to a blend of the two November 13, as Jeff Kass performed work from his new poetry book, True Believer, a collection inspired by the Marvel universe. Jeff Kass was this semester’s second guest of the Meijer Visiting Writers Series, that brings locally, regionally, and nationally prominent writers to campus. An Ann Arbor resident, long-time 10^th grade teacher at Pioneer High School, and poet known for his inspiring performances, Kass recited nearly ten memorized poems, bringing his vibrant works to life before a large crowd of students, professors, and community members, before sharing his wisdom and writerly advice and signing books for attendees.

English Education major Cailey Calhoun, a senior from Lowell, was inspired both as a writer and a future educator while attending Kass’ reading.

“Seeing how he truly believes in writing, as an educator, inspires me to teach creative writing as a future educator myself,” said Calhoun. “I want to hold readings in my future classroom so that my students can step into their voices like Jeff does so well. I want them to feel moved by the reading of a poem and have something stand up off the page and smack them in the face like his reading did to me. I was so glad to have gone.”