Join us for a reading by three distinguished University of Illinois Alumni:
James Lowell Brunton is a writer, artist, and scholar of film and media studies, critical theory, and LGBT studies. He is the author of a full-length experimental writing collection Opera on TV (The Operating System Press, 2019) and a poetry chapbook, The Future Is a Faint Song (co-authored with Russell Evatt), which won the 2012 Dream Horse Press Chapbook Competition. He is currently completing a graphic novel/memoir called From the Neck Up. James’ creative non-fiction and poetry appears in New South, Ninth Letter, Denver Quarterly, Cincinnati Review, and many other journals. Samples of his comics can be found on Instagram @fromtheneckupcomics and on James’ website: www.jameslowellbrunton.com
Jessie Ann Foley is the author of THE CARNIVAL AT BRAY, NEIGHBORHOOD GIRLS, SORRY FOR YOUR LOSS, YOU KNOW I'M NO GOOD, BREDA'S ISLAND, and AGATHA MAY AND THE ANGLERFISH. She is the recipient of a Printz honor, a William C. Morris Award finalist, and many other awards. Her books have been named to best-of-the-year lists by Kirkus Reviews, YALSA, Booklist, Bank Street, Entertainment Weekly, New York Public Library, and many other organizations, and appear on school and library reading lists across the United States. Jessie spent ten years as a high school English teacher before becoming a full-time author. She is also a Diet Coke and mozzarella stick enthusiast, mom of four, and lifelong Chicagoan. You can visit her on Instagram at @jessieannfoley
Jess Williard is the author of Unmanly Grief (University of Arkansas Press, 2019). His poems have recently appeared in The Gettysburg Review, Poetry Northwest, Prairie Schooner, and other journals. He is from Wisconsin.
