Former Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts Fellow Laura Villareal will present the Drew Darrow Memorial Poetry Reading on Feb. 7, at 7:00 p.m. in Bucknell Hall.

The Drew Darrow Memorial Reading will honor the memory of alumnus Drew Darrow ’86, who passed away in 1997. The reading occurs annually and is regularly sponsored by the Peer Writing Center, where Darrow worked as a student employee, and the Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts. 

The Peer Writing Center offers individual support for students with their writing, including books, essays and creative works like poetry. The Stadler Center for Poetry & Literary Arts is an organization which seeks to inspire an appreciation for the beauty and diversity of contemporary poetry. The Stadler Center is also holding other events this semester, such as an Open Mic for undergraduate students on the Feb. 16, and a Zoom event called “Writers in Conversation: Queering the Christian Divine” on the Feb. 21.

Villareal is the author of the debut collection “Girl’s Guide to Leaving” (2022) and the chapbook “The Cartography of Sleep” (2018). She was a Stadler Fellow at Bucknell from 2020-2021. She has also received fellowships and scholarships from groups such as The Highlights Foundation, Key West Literary Seminar, Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference, VONA and the National Book Critics Circle. 

She currently works at F(r)iction, an anthology website, on a series called “Writers Talking about Anything But Writing.” According to F(r)iction itself, it is “a series of interviews in which we ask writers to take a break from trying to document the world and just kinda chill out in it for a while.”

This event is free for students and the public alike. Previous attendees at the Drew Darrow Memorial Readings included author of “Loud Dreaming in a Quiet Room” Betsy Wheeler, alumna Tyler Mills ’05 and Visiting Assistant Professor of English Bix Gabriel.