On Thursday, Nov. 7, Bloomsburg University English Department faculty will read their works at the Big Dog Reading Series event. 

This English Department sponsored event will be held in Monty’s Assembly Room located on BU’s Upper Campus at 7 p.m. The English faculty that are reading their pieces include Dr. Claire Lawrence and Professor Jerry Wemple, both creative writing professors. 

This reading series, now in its twentieth season, has hosted many acclaimed authors, such as Pulitzer Prize-winner and Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey, nonfiction author Nick Flynn, and fiction writer Phil Klay. 

Dr. Claire Lawrence is well-published in many genres. Her work has appeared in notable journals, including Literary Mama, Tri-Quarterly, Crab Orchard Review and The New Earth Reader. She is a recipient of the Dean’s Salute to Excellence award, an honor that she has been recognized twice. She was also awarded the 2018 Outstanding Teaching Award. Dr. Lawrence is also a recipient of a full fellowship to attend the Vermont Studio Center, as well as a Fellowship in Literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

Professor Jerry Wemple, also an accomplished author, has published three poetry collections and numerous accounts of creative nonfiction and poems. His published poetry collections include You Can See It from Here, The Civil War in Baltimore, and The Artemas Poems. Professor Wemple has received the Jack and Helen Evans Faculty Fellowship and a Fellowship in Literature from the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. Also, he has been awarded the Dean’s Salute to Excellence twice. 

With Dr. Lawrence and Professor Wemple reading their own pieces at the Big Dog Reading Series, students will be able to hear the works of their educators, further instilling that we are all still practicing and honing our talent, even our professors.