Spring 2026 Schedule
All events are free and open to the public. Times and locations are subject to change. Please check this page or call (585) 395-2503 for updates.
Feb. 11, 2026, 7:30 - 9 p.m. | Fannie Barrier Williams Liberal Arts Building
The Brockport Writers Forum: Sejal Shah
The author presents her debut collection of short fiction.
Sejal Shah is the author of the short story collection How to Make Your Mother Cry (West Virginia University Press, 2024) and the award-winning essay collection, This Is One Way toDance (University of Georgia Press), an NPR Best Book of 2020. Her work has appeared in Brevity, Conjunctions, The Guardian, and Kenyon Review, among other venues. In 2021, she was named an influential AAPI Leader by Good Morning America and ABC News.
March 11, 2026, 7:30 - 9:30 p.m. | Fannie Barrier Williams Liberal Arts Building
The Brockport Writers Forum: Julia Elliott
The author presents her new collection of short stories.
Julia Elliott is author of the story collections The Wilds (2014), a New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice, and Hellions (2025), as well as the novel The New and Improved Romie Futch (2015), all from Tin House. Her work has appeared in Georgia Review, Conjunctions, and the New York Times, among other venues. She has won a Rona Jaffe Writers’ Award, and her stories have been anthologized in Best American Short Stories. Elliott teaches English and Women’s and Gender Studies at the University of South Carolina.
March 25, 2026, 7:30 - 9 p.m. | Fannie Barrier Williams Liberal Arts Building
The Brockport Writers Forum: Alice Elliott Dark
The author of novels and short stories joins the Brockport Writers Forum.
Alice Elliott Dark is the author of several books, including the novel Fellowship Point (2022) and the collection of short stories In the Gloaming (2000), both from Simon & Schuster. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker and Harper’s, among other venues. “In the Gloaming” was chosen by John Updike for inclusion in The Best American Short Stories of the Century and was made into two films. Dark’s reviews and essays have appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, and many anthologies. She has received a fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and directs the MFA in Creative Writing program at Rutgers University-Newark.
April 15, 2026, 7:30 - 9 p.m. | Brockport Downtown (REOC)
The Brockport Writers Forum: Francis Spufford
The author presents the Art of Fact Reading.
Francis Spufford’s work ranges from cultural history, to a novelistic history of the Soviet economy (Red Plenty, Graywolf 2012), to a historical novel about colonial New York (Golden Hill, Scribner 2018), to a hardboiled detective novel set in an alternative version of 1920s St. Louis, in which Native Americans hold political power (Cahokia Jazz, Scribner 2025). He has written a memoir about reading as a child, a book about Christianity, and has published many essays. Spufford’s writing has won numerous awards, including the Ondaatje Prize. His novel Light Perpetual (Scribner, 2022) was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Spufford is a Professor of Creative Writing at Goldsmiths College, University of London.
April 29, 2026, 7:30 - 9 p.m. | Fannie Barrier Williams Liberal Arts Building
The Brockport Writers Forum: Albert Abonado
The author joins the Brockport Writers Forum.
Albert Abonado is a Rochester poet and essayist whose work has appeared in Boston Review, Colorado Review, The Laurel Review, among other venues. He has published two collections of poetry: JAW (Sundress, 2020) and Field Guide for Accidents (Beacon, 2024), a National Poetry Series selection. He has received fellowships from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. He teaches at SUNY Oswego and Finger Lakes Community College.
May 6, 2026, 6:30 - 9 p.m. | Fannie Barrier Williams Liberal Arts Building
The Brockport Writers Forum / English Club Open Mic
Our twice-annual celebratory end-of-semester open mic night.
It’s the last week of classes! Join the Brockport Writers Forum and the English Club for a friendly, low-stress gathering to read and hear each other’s creative work. Bring a poem, short story, or essay and read a page or two, or just listen. And bring your friends–all are welcome.