Get the latest campus Fresno Poets' Association
The Fresno Poets' Association is a decades-old community reading series that features poetry and prose readings hosted by the Creative Writing Program. The FPA series is committed to bringing talented creative writers to campus to share their work with the community.
Current Season
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020-21 FPA reading series season will be mostly virtual.
Fall 2020
September — Larry Levis and Philip Levine at the Wild Blue, 1984
Archive recording (view anytime)
New podcast interview with Jefferson Beavers (listen anytime)
October — Dixie Salazar and Luis Omar Salinas at the Fresno Art Museum, 1991
Archive recording (view anytime)
New podcast interview with Dixie Salazar (listen anytime)
December — Liza Wieland and Corrinne Clegg Hales at the Fresno Art Museum, 1992
Archive recording (view anytime)
New podcast interview with Corrinne Clegg Hales (listen anytime)
Spring 2021
Feb. 17 — Steven Kleinman, live virtual reading
Free, with pre-registration required (link)
February — Fresno State MFA faculty readings
Archive recordings 2017 | 2018 | 2019 (coming soon)
New podcast interview with Steven Church (coming soon)
March — Juan Felipe Herrera and Margarita Luna Robles at the Fresno Met, 1990
Archive recording (view anytime)
New podcast interview with Anthony Cody (coming soon)
April — Sherley Anne Williams at Fresno State, 1986
Archive recording (view anytime)
New podcast interview with Samina Najmi (coming soon)
History of the Series
FPA timeline
Poet Chuck Moulton founded the Fresno Poets' Association as a community organization in the 1980s. Originally as much a social group as a literary one, the FPA provided opportunities for local poets to gather regularly at the old Wild Blue Yonder night club in the Tower District.
Readings were later held inside the Bonner Auditorium at the Fresno Art Museum. In 1994, C. G. Hanzlicek became the director of the FPA, bringing noted poets from across the country for readings. Hanzlicek retired as director in 2009.
After a brief time directed by the Henry Madden Library, the FPA series is now hosted by the Creative Writing Program, in conjunction with the College of Arts and Humanities. MFA faculty Brynn Saito serves as series coordinator.
2019-20 visitors
Mark Irwin, Liza Wieland
Canceled due to Covid-19 pandemic: Marisol Baca, Marcelo Hernandez Castillo
2018-19 visitors
Tina Mozelle Braziel, C. G. Hanzlicek, Patricia Smith
2017-18 visitors
Glover Davis, Rachel Rinehart, Shawn Wen
Past visitors
2016-17: Andrea Jurjević, Biljana Obradović, Kristen Radtke, Solmaz Sharif, Mai Der Vang, Gary Young
2015-16: Myriam Gurba, Kerry Howley, Dennis Maloney, Wendy C. Ortiz, Jen Percy, Christine Poreba, Khaty Xiong
2014-15: Christopher Buckley, Marilyn Chin, John Gery, Jeffrey Schultz, Jon Veinberg, Chelsea
Wagenaar