UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Award-winning poet and essayist Ross Gay will present the 25th annual Emily Dickinson Lecture in American Poetry at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16, in Paterno Library’s Foster Auditorium at Penn State University Park. The reading is free and open to the public.
Ross Gay is the author of four books of poetry: “Against Which;” “Bringing the Shovel Down;” “Be Holding,” winner of the PEN American Literary Jean Stein Award; and “Catalog of Unabashed Gratitude,” winner of the 2015 National Book Critics Circle Award and the 2016 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. In addition to his poetry, Ross has released three collections of essays: “The Book of Delights,” which was released in 2019 and was a New York Times bestseller; “Inciting Joy,” which was released in 2022; and his newest collection, The Book of (More) Delights, which was released in September 2023.
The Emily Dickinson Lectureship in American Poetry is made possible through the generosity of Penn State alumni George and Barbara Kelly with additional support from the Penn State Department of English. A full list of readings in the 2025-26 series can be found at creativewriting.psu.edu.