BOONE, N.C. — Appalachian State University’s Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series will once again bring creative writers of national renown to the Appalachian community. Writers for the spring series include poet Anne Waldman, novelist and essayist Calvin Baker, creative nonfiction author Dennis Covington and poet Linda Hogan.
Each author will read from and discuss their work, as well as lead talks on the craft of writing. Craft talks provide aspiring writers suggestions for refining their techniques, developing sounder work habits and gaining a greater appreciation of the writing process.
Admission to all events is free and open to the public. Book sales and signings will follow the talks and the readings.
Spring 2018 schedule
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
March 22, 2018
3:30 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Anne Waldman is a poet, performer, professor, editor, cultural activist, and co-founder with Allen Ginsberg of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. She is the author of over forty books of poetry, including “Manatee/Humanity” and the feminist epic “The Iovis Trilogy: Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment.” Book sales and signing will follow.
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series Reading
March 22, 2018
7:30 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Anne Waldman is a poet, performer, professor, editor, cultural activist, and co-founder with Allen Ginsberg of the Jack Kerouac School of Disembodied Poetics at Naropa University. She is the author of over forty books of poetry, including “Manatee/Humanity” and the feminist epic “The Iovis Trilogy: Colors in the Mechanism of Concealment.” Book sales and signing will follow.
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
March 29, 2018
2 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Calvin Baker is an American novelist, essayist, and editor who has chronicled the African American experience from the Colonial era to the present, centering the Black voice and perspective within the context of trans-Atlantic history. Among his concerns are constructions of American identity, cosmopolitanism, post-colonialism, modernity, geography, and science. Book sales and signing will follow.
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series Reading
March 29, 2018
7:30 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Calvin Baker is an American novelist, essayist, and editor who has chronicled the African American experience from the Colonial era to the present, centering the Black voice and perspective within the context of trans-Atlantic history. Among his concerns are constructions of American identity, cosmopolitanism, post-colonialism, modernity, geography, and science. Book sales and signing will follow.
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
April 19, 2018
2 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Dennis Covington's subject matter includes spirituality, the environment, and the South. Covington's book “Salvation on Sand Mountain” was a 1995 National Book Award finalist and his articles have been published in The New York Times, Vogue, and Redbook. His most recent book, “Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World,” chronicles his travels in Syria during the ongoing civil war. Book sales and signing will follow.
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series Reading
April 19, 2018
7:30 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Dennis Covington's subject matter includes spirituality, the environment, and the South. Covington's book “Salvation on Sand Mountain” was a 1995 National Book Award finalist and his articles have been published in The New York Times, Vogue, and Redbook. His most recent book, “Revelation: A Search for Faith in a Violent Religious World,” chronicles his travels in Syria during the ongoing civil war. Book sales and signing will follow.
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series
April 26, 2018
3:30 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Linda Hogan is a former faculty member at the Indian Arts Institute, Writer in Residence for the Chickasaw Nation, and Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado. Recent volumes include “DARK. SWEET. New and Selected Poems”; “Indios”; “Rounding the Human Corners”; and “People of the Whale.” She is also the author of “Mean Spirit,” a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Book sales and signing will follow.
Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series Annual Juanita Tobin Memorial Reading
April 26, 2018
7:30 p.m.
201B Plemmons Student Union (Table Rock)
Linda Hogan is a former faculty member at the Indian Arts Institute, Writer in Residence for the Chickasaw Nation, and Professor Emerita at the University of Colorado. Recent volumes include “DARK. SWEET. New and Selected Poems”; “Indios”; “Rounding the Human Corners”; and “People of the Whale.” She is also the author of “Mean Spirit,” a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize. Book sales and signing will follow.
For additional information about the spring 2018 series, please visit https://visitingwriters.appstate.edu or contact Susan Weinberg, the series' coordinator, at [email protected]
The Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series, named in honor of alumna Hughlene Bostian Frank ’68, brings distinguished and up-and-coming creative writers to the Appalachian State University campus throughout the year to present lectures and discuss their works. Frank is a 2013 Appalachian Alumni Association Outstanding Service award recipient, past member of Appalachian’s Board of Trustees, current board member of the Appalachian State University Foundation Inc. and generous supporter of Appalachian.
The spring 2018 Hughlene Bostian Frank Visiting Writers Series is supported by the Appalachian State University Foundation Inc., Appalachian’s Office of Academic Affairs, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Department of English, the Office of Multicultural Student Development, Appalachian’s University Bookstore, Belk Library and Information Commons and the Appalachian Journal: A Regional Studies Review. Business sponsors are The Gideon Ridge Inn, The Red Onion Restaurant and The New Public House & Hotel. Community sponsors include John and the late Margie Idol, Paul and Judy Tobin, Alice Naylor and Thomas McLaughlin.
About the College of Arts and Sciences
The College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) at Appalachian State University is home to 17 academic departments, two centers and one residential college. These units span the humanities and the social, mathematical and natural sciences. CAS aims to develop a distinctive identity built upon our university's strengths, traditions and locations. The college’s values lie not only in service to the university and local community, but through inspiring, training, educating and sustaining the development of its students as global citizens. More than 6,800 student majors are enrolled in the college. As the college is also largely responsible for implementing App State’s general education curriculum, it is heavily involved in the education of all students at the university, including those pursuing majors in other colleges. Learn more at https://cas.appstate.edu.
About Appalachian State University
As a premier public institution, Appalachian State University prepares students to lead purposeful lives. App State is one of 17 campuses in the University of North Carolina System, with a national reputation for innovative teaching and opening access to a high-quality, affordable education for all. The university enrolls more than 21,000 students, has a low student-to-faculty ratio and offers more than 150 undergraduate and 80 graduate majors at its Boone and Hickory campuses and through App State Online. Learn more at https://www.appstate.edu.
What do you think?
Share your feedback on this story.
![App State to offer AI concentration in master’s programs [faculty featured]](/_images/_posts/2025/04/ai-concentration-600x400.jpg)
