LINCROFT — Award-winning poets and authors, acclaimed screenwriters and an internationally recognized journalist and historian will headline the 2017 Visiting Writers Series, which kicks off on Feb. 20 at 7 p.m. at Brookdale Community College’s Warner Student Life Center, 765 Newmans Springs Road, Lincroft.
The free lecture series will begin with a presentation by award-winning poets Janine Joseph and Matthew Olzmann. Joseph is the author of “Driving Without a License,” the award-winning 2016 poetry collection focusing on the poet’s experiences as an undocumented American immigrant. Olzmann authored the 2013 Kundiman prize-winning collection “Mezzanines” and the 2016 book “Contradictions in Design.”
The series will continue on March 28 with a presentation by renowned Jamaican-born journalist, historian and essayist Garnette Cardogan. Co-editor of “The Oxford Handbook of the Harlem Renaissance” and author of the acclaimed essay “Walking While Black,” Cardogan will discuss his work and experiences as an American immigrant.
The series will conclude on April 17 with presentations by Iranian-born poet and playwright Sholeg Wolpe and Bangladeshi-American screenwriter Sharbari Ahmed. Wolpe, recipient of a 2014 PEN/Heim Translation Fund Grant and winner of the 2013 Midwest Book Award, has authored four poetry collections, a play, three books of translations and three anthologies. Ahmed is a writer, director and short story author best known as the screenwriter for the hit television series “Quantico.”
All talks begin at 7 p.m. Parking is in lots 6 and 7. All programs are open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. A suggested donation of $3 can be made to support the Brookdale Creative Writing Club. For more information, call Suzanne Parker at 732-224-2650 or visit brookdalecc.edu/events.