For 30 years, the Contemporary Writers Series at Aquinas has brought acclaimed voices to campus, providing valuable opportunities for students, staff, faculty, and members of the broader Grand Rapids community to benefit from their wisdom. This year, to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series, three widely beloved writers are returning: poet and performer Sarah Kay, former U.S. Poet Laureate Joy Harjo, and bestselling author Luis Alberto Urrea.
In addition to these writers, this year’s series will also feature the work of student poets from Calvin University, Grand Valley State University, Grand Rapids Community College, and Aquinas College in the Celebration of Student Poetry.
All presentations are free and open to the public.
Joy Harjo
November 12, 2026 | 6 p.m.
Wege Ballroom, Wege Student Center
Joy Harjo, the 23rd U.S. Poet Laureate and member of the Muscogee Nation, is the author of numerous books of poetry, several plays, children’s books, two memoirs, and seven music albums. Her honors include Yale’s 2023 Bollingen Prize for American Poetry, National Book Critics Circle Ivan Sandrof Lifetime Achievement Award, the Ruth Lily Prize from the Poetry Foundation, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and a Tulsa Artist Fellowship.
She is a former chancellor of the Academy of American Poets and Chair of the Native Arts & Cultures Foundation, and is currently the inaugural Artist-in-Residence for the Bob Dylan Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she lives.
