The Jack Ridl Visiting Writers Series is honored to welcome poet Sumita Chakraborty and memoirist Noé Àlvarez. The visiting writers will read from their work, answer questions, and sign books.

Sumita Chakraborty is an essayist, poet, and scholar who teaches at North Carolina State University; she holds an MFA from University of Michigan and a PhD from Emory. Her debut book of poetry, Arrow, is touted by The Guardian as “… a book to hold close, an amulet that transmutes the intensities of grief into something uplifting, the attempt to keep hold of wonder.”

Noé Álvarez has studied conflict analysis, peacemaking, and conflict resolution both nationally and internationally; he holds an MFA from Emerson College and resides in Boston. Booklist summarizes Spirit Run as “… a powerful American coming-of-age story about a Mexican American who seeks to embrace his heritage while forging his own path forward.”