2025 Visiting Writers Series

M.A. in Writing Visiting Writers Series: Evening Reading and Craft Lecture by Sam Ashworth

7:00 PM - Evening Reading and Craft Lecture by Sam Ashworth (Fermanian Conference Center).

Sam Ashworth is an award-winning novelist, journalist, professor, screenwriter, and ghostwriter. His first novel, The Death and Life of August Sweeney, "a novel about fame, food, and forensics unlike anything you've read before" was published in March 2025 and The Washington Post Book World describes the novel "Like an excellent meal, the memory of Ashworth’s debut novel will linger after it’s finished. It deserves to be savored". He attended Trinity College Dublin and received his B.A. from Columbia University and M.F.A in Fiction from George Mason University. To learn more about Sam Ashworth, please visit https://www.samuelashworth.com

Thanks to our partnership with La Playa Books, you can purchase books online through their store or in person at the event. Thank you for supporting your local bookstore!

• Parking is available at the Peppertree Lane parking structure and the Fermanian underground parking structure.
• Doors will open at 6:30pm.
• Please print your tickets beforehand to streamline the check-in process.

Event made possible by PLNU M.A. in Writing program, Department of LJWL, La Playa Books, and Writer's Symposium by the Sea.

M.A.W. Visiting Writers Series: The Magic of Mitch Albom

3:00 PM - Writing Workshop with Mitch Albom (Latter 101)

Mitch Albom is an internationally renowned and best-selling author, journalist, screenwriter, playwright, radio and television broadcaster and musician. His books have collectively sold 42 million copies worldwide; have been published in 51 territories and in 48 languages around the world; and have been made into Emmy Award-winning and critically-acclaimed television movies. In 2006, he founded the nonprofit SAY Detroit, which provides pathways to success for Detroiters in need through major health, housing and education initiatives. He also founded a dessert shop and a gourmet popcorn line to help fund it. Albom operates Have Faith Haiti, a home and school for impoverished children and orphans in Port-au-Prince, which he visits monthly. He lives with his wife, Janine, in Michigan.

M.A.W. Visiting Writers Series: Research Writing Workshop w/ Liz Grant

3:00 PM - Research Writing Workshop with Liz Charlotte Grant (Fermanian Conference Center).

Liz Charlotte Grant is an award-winning nonfiction writer based in Colorado and the author of Knock at the Sky: Seeking God in Genesis After Losing Faith in the Bible, honored by the 2024 Church Press Awards and featured in Publisher’s Weekly and Foreword Review. Her essays appear in The Christian Century, Huffington Post, Brevity, Sojourners, and more. Her newsletter, The Empathy List, has been twice nominated for a Webby Award, and her work has received multiple national honors. She also co-hosts a podcast exploring creativity and faith, and speaks regularly on writing, spirituality, and empathy. For more information about Liz, please visit https://lizcharlotte.com

Thanks to our partnership with La Playa Books, you can purchase books online through their store or in person at the event. Thank you for supporting your local bookstore!

• Parking is available at the Peppertree Lane parking structure and the Fermanian underground parking structure.
• Doors will open at 2:30pm.
• Please print your tickets beforehand to streamline the check-in process.

Event made possible by PLNU M.A. in Writing program, Department of LJWL, La Playa Books, and Writer's Symposium by the Sea.

Liz Charlotte Grant & Book of Genesis

7:00 PM - Liz Charlotte Grant & the Book of Genesis (Fermanian Conference Center).

Join Liz Charlotte Grant and PLNU's Reuben Welch School of Theology and Christian Ministry as they creatively engage with the book of Genesis.
 

Thanks to our partnership with La Playa Books, you can purchase books online through their store or in person at the event. Thank you for supporting your local bookstore!

• Parking is available at the Peppertree Lane parking structure and the Fermanian underground parking structure.
  Doors will open at 6:30pm.
  Please print your tickets beforehand to streamline the check-in process.

Event made possible by PLNU M.A. in Writing program, Department of LJWL, La Playa Books, and Writer's Symposium by the Sea.

A Reading by Jessica Jacobs

26th Annual Poetry Day: A Reading by Jessica Jacobs: 7:00 PM - Poetry Reading by Jessica Jacobs (Fermanian Conference Center)
 

Jessica Jacobs, a 2025 Guggenheim Fellow, is the author of unalone, poems in conversation with Genesis (Four Way Books, March 2024); Take Me with You, Wherever You’re Going (Four Way Books, 2019), both named one of Library Journal’s Best Poetry Books of the Year; and Pelvis with Distance (White Pine Press, 2015), winner of the New Mexico Book Award and a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award; and is the co-author of Write It! 100 Poetry Prompts to Inspire (Spruce Books/Penguin Random House, 2020). Jessica is the founder and executive director of Yetzirah: A Hearth for Jewish Poetry.

Thanks to our partnership with La Playa Books, you can purchase books online through their store or in person at the event. Thank you for supporting your local bookstore!

• Parking is available at the Peppertree Lane parking structure and the Fermanian underground parking structure.
• Doors will open at 6:30pm.
• Please print your tickets beforehand to streamline the check-in process.

Event made possible by Department of LJWL, PLNU Poetry Day, PLNU MA in Writing, and Writer's Symposium by the Sea.

M.A.W. Visiting Writers Series: An Evening with Kelly Foster Lundquist

7:00 PM - An Evening with Kelly Foster Lundquist (Fermanian Conference Center). Join us for an evening with Kelly Foster Lundquist, featuring a reading, games, book signing, and giveaways!

Kelly Foster Lundquist teaches writing at North Hennepin Community College in Brooklyn Park, MN. Her book Beard: A Memoir of a Marriage (Eerdmans) will debut in October 2025. She teaches writing all over the United States (Boston, Chicago, Mississippi, Seattle, and California), as well as in Slovakia and Scotland. Her poetry and nonfiction can be seen in many places, including Villain Era Lit, Last Syllable Lit, Whale Road Review, and Image Journal. Her work has been nominated for a 2024 Best of the Net Award as well as a Pushcart Prize. She is the recipient of grants from the Minnesota State Arts Board as well as the Central Minnesota Arts Board.

Thanks to our partnership with La Playa Books, you can purchase books online through their store or in person at the event. Thank you for supporting your local bookstore!

• Parking is available at the Peppertree Lane parking structure and the Fermanian underground parking structure (PLNU map).
  Doors will open at 6:30pm.
  Please print your tickets beforehand to streamline the check-in process.

Event made possible by PLNU M.A. in Writing program, Department of LJWL, La Playa Books, and Writer's Symposium by the Sea.