Keynotes

Divya Victor is a Tamil American poet, essayist, and Associate Professor of English and Writing at Michigan State University, where she directs the Creative Writing Program. Her books include Curb (Nightboat Books, 2021), winner of the PEN Open Book Award and Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award; Kith (Fence Books/Book*hug Press, 2017); Natural Subjects (Trembling Pillow Press, 2014); Unsub (Insert Blanc Press, 2015); and Things to Do with Your Mouth (Les Figues Press, 2014). Her essay collection Kin is forthcoming from Graywolf Press in 2027 and received a 2025 Creative Capital Award.

Paisley Rekdal is Distinguished Professor of English at the University of Utah and Director of its American West Center. She is the author of seven poetry collections, including Nightingale (Copper Canyon Press, 2019) and West: A Translation (Copper Canyon Press, 2023), and five books of nonfiction. West won the 2024 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award and was longlisted for the 2023 National Book Award for Poetry. Her eighth poetry collection, Heritance, is forthcoming from Copper Canyon Press in September 2026. She served as Utah’s poet laureate from 2017 to 2022