USC Dornsife faculty and students highlight the L.A. Times Festival of Books
USC Dornsife Provost’s Fellow in the creative writing and literature Ph.D. program Robin Coste Lewis recently won the National Book Award for Poetry. This Sunday she will read from and discuss her debut book, Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems.
The event is part of the 21st annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books — the largest book festival in the nation — taking place April 9 and 10 on the USC University Park campus.
Several USC Dornsife faculty members will participate in readings, panel discussions and more.
Panel discussions featuring USC Dornsife faculty or students
All panel discussions take place in Wallis Annenberg Hall.
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
Noon-1 p.m.
Are Presidential Primaries Good for Democracy?
Panel features Robert Shrum, Carmen H. and Louis Warschaw Chair in Practical Politics and professor of the practice of political science.
3-4 p.m.
Religion, Politics, and Violence: The Middle East and Beyond
Varun Soni, dean of Religious Life, will moderate a discussion featuring Laurie Brand, Robert Grandford Wright Professor and professor of international relations, and Veli N. Yashin, assistant professor of comparative literature, about violence in the name of religion — exploring the common contemporary discourse that insists some religions are more violent than others.
SUNDAY, APRIL 10
10:30-11:30 a.m.
Crossing Borders: Migration, Integration, and Communities in Transition
Manuel Pastor, director of the USC Center for the Study of Immigrant Integration and Turpanjian Chair in Civil Society and Social Change, will co-moderate a discussion on the policies surrounding immigration and the immigrant experience.
1:30-2:30 p.m.
Race, Justice, and Poetry: National Book Award Winner Robin Coste Lewis
National Book Award winner and USC Dornsife student Lewis will read from her book Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems and discuss her work.
3-4 p.m.
Woody, Wilshire, and South L.A.: Selected Histories
William Deverell, professor of history, and Joshua Kun, associate professor of American studies and ethnicity, will explore the unique aspects of Los Angeles’ cultural, geographic and political heritage.
Additional events featuring USC Dornsife faculty
SATURDAY, APRIL 9
11:30 a.m.
Dana Gioia, Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture and California Poet Laureate
Poetry Stage
2:30 p.m.
The Sacred and the Profane in Twenty-First Century Poetry
Carol Muske-Dukes, professor of English, and Dana Gioia, Judge Widney Professor of Poetry and Public Culture and California Poet Laureate
Andrus Gerontology Center
The Art of the Essay
Geoff Dyer, writer in residence
Salvatori Computer Science Center (SAL 101)
4 p.m.
T.C. Boyle, USC Writer in Residence and Distinguished Professor Emeritus of English at USC Dornsife
Ronald Tutor Campus Center
SUNDAY, APRIL 10
12:30 p.m.
Selected Works
Carol Muske-Dukes, professor of English
Poetry Stage
4 p.m.
Fiction: Pushing Boundaries
Aimee Bender, professor of English
Seeley G. Mudd (SGM 123)
Visit festivalofbooks.usc.edu for information on all of the festival activities.