Quinnipiac University to Host Poet Shaina Phenix for Reading and Q&A on Sept. 23

HAMDEN – Quinnipiac University will host esteemed poet Shaina Phenix for a reading and question-and-answer session on Tuesday, Sept. 23 as part of the university’s Creative Writing Series.

The event, which is free and open to the public, will begin at 12:30 p.m. in Room 120 of the Carl Hansen Student Center on the Mount Carmel Campus. It will take place during Quinnipiac’s new Common Hour, a dedicated time for campus-wide engagement and interaction.

The program will open with a 30-minute open microphone session featuring Quinnipiac student poets. Phenix will then give a reading of her work, followed by a Q&A session with attendees.
“We’re excited to kick off our fall events with a new format, combining a student open mic with a featured reading by a visiting poet,” said Jason Koo, associate teaching professor of English and director of creative writing. “Shaina Phenix is a tremendously talented young poet whose first book Patricia Smith commends as one that ‘absolutely refuses to behave on the page.’”

Phenix is a Black queer poet, essayist and educator from Harlem, New York. She is the author of “To Be Named Something Else,” winner of the 2023 Miller Williams Poetry Prize, and currently serves as an assistant professor of English at Elon University.