Writer's Voice

Funded by contributions from alumni and friends, the Department of English, and the College of Humanities and Fine Arts, Writer’s Voice introduces contemporary writers to citizens of the North Valley. All readings are free and open to the public.

Follow Writer's Voice on Facebook for more information about upcoming events.

Ruben Reyes Jr., Fiction

Wednesday, October 14 | 7:30 pm | Arts 150

Ruben Reyes Jr. will be reading selections from his short story collection, There is a Rio Grande in Heaven, which seeks to understand the politics and realities of Central American migration through speculative fiction. Ruben Reyes Jr. is the son of two Salvadoran immigrants and the author of There is a Rio Grande in Heaven and Archive of Unknown Universes. He is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop and Harvard College. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, Slate, American Short Fiction, and other publications. In 2026, he was named a Forbes 30 under 30. Originally from Southern California, he now lives in Queens.

Co-sponsored by the Humanities Center, Chico State Women’s Philanthropy Council, and the University Foundation

Joshua McKinney, Poetry

Wednesday, November 18 | 7:30 pm | Arts 150

Joshua McKinney’s fifth book of poetry, Sad Animal (2024), was the recipient of the inaugural John Ridland Poetry Prize from Gunpowder Press. His work has appeared in such journals as Boulevard, Denver Quarterly, Kenyon Review, New American Writing, and many others. His other awards include The Dorothy Brunsman Poetry Prize, The Dickinson Prize, The Pavement Saw Chapbook Prize, and a Gertrude Stein Award for Innovative Writing. He is co-editor of the online ecopoetics zine, Clade Song.

Joanne Harris Allred, Poetry

Wednesday, November 18 | 7:30 pm | Arts 150

Joanne Harris Allred is the author of four previous poetry collections: Particulate (Bear Star Press), The Evolutionary Purpose of Heartbreak (Turning Point Press), Outside Paradise (Word Poetry Press), and Whetstone, which won the Flume Press Chapbook Competition. Her newest collection, Friends, You Drank Some Darkness, was published in June 2026 by Moon Path Press. Her work has appeared in many publications including Women’s Review of Books, Prairie Schooner, and Quarterly West.

She was born and spent her early years in Salt Lake City, Utah, but has lived most of her adult years in Northern California where she taught in the English department at California State University, Chico.

Past Events

List of Previous Speakers

Spring 2026

• J.T. Woodhouse & The Leaves of Grass - modern poetry
• Michelle Ott- cross-genre
• Armen Davoudian- poetry

Fall 2025

• Ibe Liebenberg- poetry
• Fred Aroyyo- non-fiction
• Grant Faulkner- fiction

Spring 2025

• Diana Koi Nguyen- poetry
• Sarah Pape- poetry
• Rob Davidson- fiction
• Annie Wenstrup- poetry

Fall 2024

• Stephen D. Gutierrez- fiction
• Anna Moore- fiction
• Irma Alicia Velásquez Nimatuj- poetry

Spring 2024

• Farnaz Fatemi- poetry
• Bonnie Tsui- nonfiction

Fall 2023

• Andrea Ross- memoir
• Keenan Norris- fiction

Spring 2023

• Yesika Salgado - Poetry
• Henry Hughes - Poetry
• Caroline Kim - Fiction

Fall 2022

• Author Jean Hegland & Graphic Novel Artist Loming
• Anna B. Moore - Fiction
• Alondra Adame - Poetry & Creative Nonfiction
• Rae Gouirand - Poetry
• Sarah Pape - Creative Nonfiction
• Graduate Student Reading - Poetry & Fiction

Spring 2022

• Nicole Stellon O'Donnell - Poetry

Fall 2021

• Tom Lin - Fiction

Spring 2021

• Lia Purpura

Fall 2020

• Fred Arroyo

Fall 2019

• Juan Alvarado Valdivia
• Peg Alford Pursell
• Nancy Au
• Ingrid Keriotis

Spring 2019

• Jamel Brinkley - Fiction
• Mai Der Vang - Fiction, Creative Nonfiction & Poetry
• Rob Davidson - Fiction
• Jose Antonio Rodriguez - Poetry & Creative Nonfiction

Fall 2018

• Michelle Tea - Poetry
• Lynn Freed - Nonfiction

Spring 2018

• Sasha Pimentel - Poetry
• Beth Spencer - Poetry
• Ryan Van Meter - Nonfiction
• Luke Davies - Poetry/Fiction

Fall 2017

• Graduate Student Reading - Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction
• Naomi Williams - Fiction
• Mary Troy - Fiction
• Rob Davidson - Fiction

Spring 2017

• Neal Snidow - Fiction

Fall 2016

• Graduate Student Reading - Poetry, Fiction, and Creative Nonfiction
• Martha Collins - Poetry

Spring 2016

• Louis B. Jones - Fiction
• Sean Hill - Poetry

Fall 2015

• Christian Kiefer - Fiction
• George Keithley - Fiction

Spring 2015

• Carole Simmons Oles - Poetry 
• Chris Cokinos - Creative Nonfiction
• Dimitri Keriotis - Fiction
• Gary Thompson - Poetry and Fiction
• Matthew Frank - Creative Nonfiction
• Steve Gutierrez - Poetry and Fiction

Fall 2014

• Joan Frank - Fiction & Nonfiction
• Wendy C. Ortiz - Memoir
• Doug Rice - Fiction & Nonfiction

Spring 2014

• Joanne Harris Allred - Poetry
• Dr. Daryl Farmer - Nonfiction
• Brian Turner - Poetry & Memoir

Fall 2013

• Brenda Hillman - Poetry
• Jon Raymond - Fiction
• Peggy Shumaker - Poetry

Spring 2013

• Martha Collins - Poetry
• Henry Hughes - Poetry
• Patricia Ann McNair - Fiction

Fall 2012

• Fred Arroyo - Fiction
• Nick Flynn - Poetry & Memoir
• Rae Gouirand - Poetry
• Andrew Lam - Fiction
• Martin Puchner

Spring 2012

• Camille T. Dungy - Poetry
• Steven Edwards - Nonfiction
• Troy Jollimore - Poetry

Fall 2011

• Jeanne Clark - Poetry

Spring 2011

• Laleh Khadivi - Fiction
• Sally McNall - Poetry
• Carol Sklenicka - Fiction & Biography
• Rob Magnuson Smith - Fiction