General Public

The Nixon Years: Bright College Years

Bright College Years (Peter Rosen, 1970, 16mm, 52 mins)

Peter Rosen in person! Preservation premiere! Revisit New Haven’s tumultuous 1970 May Day weekend, as seen by a School of Drama student filmmaker. This documentary captures Yale in a moment of transition, when still-significant questions swirled about the role of the university in local and national affairs. Winner of the Best First Film prize at Cannes, Bright College Years was preserved in collaboration with the Pacific Film Archive. 16mm print from the Yale Film Archive.

Curator’s Talk and Exhibit Opening Reception: "Remembering Amnesia: Rebooting the First Computerized Novel"

Please join us to celebrate the opening of “Remembering Amnesia: Rebooting the First Computerized Novel” on view in the Hanke Gallery of Sterling Memorial Library (Aug. 19, 2024–March 2, 2025).

“Amnesia”—a work of interactive science fiction by Thomas M. Disch, published in 1986—was an early attempt to bring video games into the realm of literary art by translating a novelist’s script into a medium that readers could only experience by interacting with a computer.

Prize Recipient Readings

READING
Prize Recipient Readings
Hanif Abdurraqib, Christopher Chen, Jen Hadfield, Sonya Kelly, Deirdre Madden, m. nourbeSe philip, Kathryn Scanlan, and Christina Sharpe

Our annual closing event returns, featuring short readings by the 2024 prize recipients.

(SUB)AQUATIC CONVERSATION

m. nourbeSe philip hails from the island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, and in all of her work the ocean and its depths play dramatic, if often tragic, roles. Jonathan Howard, a scholar of water himself, joins philip in a wide-ranging conversation about her life and career.

On Basketball and Ascension

Hanif Abdurraqib and Yale’s varsity men’s basketball coach James Jones discuss Abdurraqib’s latest book, There’s Always This Year: On Basketball and Ascension.

Write with Me: Community Writing Session

Jen Hadfield’s legendary “Write with Me” workshop sessions have flourished online, providing writers from everywhere a chance to write alongside one of today’s most dynamic poets in a safe, productive space. On two consecutive days, Jen will bring these workshops to the festival tent. Don’t miss this opportunity to write alongside Jen and other poets. Bring a notebook and a pen!

WEATHER ALERT: In the case of a weather disruption, this event will be moved to the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library Mezzanine. Check our social media for updates.

Writing for Stage and Screen

Playwrights aren’t just playwrights anymore. Whether from opportunity or necessity, they often employ their gifts to bring stories to screens large and small. Both Christopher Chen and Sonya Kelly have experience with writer’s rooms, screenplays and the like. Yale Dean of Humanities Marc Robinson engages them on questions of both creative and practical import.

Art of Fiction: Deirdre Madden and Anthony Domestico

Deirdre Madden’s narratives often begin from a deceptively simple premise—the birthday of a friend; a chance meeting with a stranger—from which emerge complex and elegant meditations on art and experience, love and knowledge, memory and meaning. Professor and critic Anthony Domestico talks with Madden about her subtle and brilliant works of fiction.

Close Looking: Charles Sheeler's American Interior

Charles Sheeler based his 1934 painting American Interior on a photograph. He interwove this modernist vision with his response to the purity of forms and patterns in handmade objects from the American past, such as the simple Shaker designs in the box, textiles, and chair. Kathryn Scanlan and Karin Roffman will talk about objects, painting, photography, and the fine line between the imaginary and the real.

Ordinary Notes

Christina Sharpe’s revolutionary Ordinary Notes is already changing the way we think about criticism, art, and everyday life. This intimate conversation moderated by Nana Adusei-Poku delves into the complexities, joys, and wonders of this extraordinary book.

The 2024 Windham-Campbell Prize recipients will be in residence on Yale’s campus from September 17-20 for a multi-day international literary festival during which they will share their work, engage in conversation on a range of subjects, and celebrate reading and the written word with the New Haven community.