Grand Valley Writers Series
The Grand Valley Writers Series has a long history of bringing distinguished and emerging writers to campus to read from their work, visit classes, and interact with students across GVSU's campus. In past years, the Grand Valley Writers Series has been proud to host a dynamic and diverse range of writers on campus including Traci Brimhall, Jericho Brown, Peter Ho Davies, Tarfia Faizullah, Jamaal May, Roxane Gay, Claire Vaye Watkins, Derek Palacio, Maggie Smith, Amina Gautier, Dinty W. Moore, Claudia Rankine, David Shields, Vievee Francis, Matthew Olzmann, and many others.
Grand Valley Writers Series 2026-2027
Katie Jean Shinkle
with Randy Lee Maitland
Thursday, October 1, 2026
Craft Talk: 4:00-5:15, venue TBA
Katie Jean Shinkle (GVSU Writing major, 2007) is the author of five books and 10 chapbooks, including The Only Way Out is Through (YesYes Books, 2026), Transference (Gasher Press, 2025), and Tannery Bay (coauthored with Steven Dunn, FC2, 2024). She holds an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of Alabama, a PhD in Creative Writing and Literary Arts from the University of Denver, and is an associate professor of creative writing and Director of the MFA in Creative Writing, Editing, and Publishing program at Sam Houston State University.
Upon graduating from GVSU in 2007, Randy Lee Maitland decamped for New York City where he earned his MFA in poetry from Brooklyn College. He spent a year in Dusseldorf, Germany, teaching English at a language school; worked as an editor at FLAUNT Magazine in Los Angeles; and returned to Brooklyn to work for artist Dustin Yellin and formed the art collective the BAZAAR TEENS. Most recently, as part of the New York City Teaching Fellows program, he became a public school teacher at a transfer school in Brownsville, Brooklyn. Currently he’s working on a larger, undisclosed film project.
Curtis Chin
Wednesday, October 28, 2026
Reading and Q+A: 1:30-2:45, KC 2204
Curtis Chin is the author of the award-winning memoir, Everything I Learned, I Learned in a Chinese Restaurant, the 2025-26 Great Michigan Read, a 2024 Michigan Notable Book, and an American Library Association Stonewall Honor Book—Israel Fishman Nonfiction Award. A co-founder of the Asian American Writers’ Workshop in New York City, Curtis Chin served as the nonprofit's first Executive Director. He went on to write comedy for network and cable television before transitioning to social justice documentaries. Chin has screened his films at over 600 venues in twenty countries. He has written for CNN, Bon Appétit, the Detroit Free Press, and the Emancipator/Boston Globe.
A graduate of the University of Michigan, Chin has received awards from ABC/Disney Television, New York Foundation for the Arts, National Endowment for the Arts, and more. His essay in Bon Appétit was just selected for Best Food Writing in America 2023, and his short doc, "Dear Corky," premiered on American Masters (PBS). He is currently working on a new Chinese Restaurant project.
Curtis Chin
This event is made possible in part by a grant from Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Additional support is provided by national, statewide, and local partners, including the Library of Michigan and MSU Federal Credit Union.
Winter 2027 events coming soon!
Be sure to check out past seasons of the Grand Valley Writers Series. Any questions about the series should be referred to Grand Valley Writers Series Coordinator and Professor Caitlin Horrocks ([email protected]).