Beyond the Page: Axton Reading Series Connects UofL with Acclaimed Writers

By Stephanie Godward, Communications and Marketing Director, College of Arts & Sciences 

The Axton Reading Series brings literature to life as acclaimed authors present their work aloud and connect with the UofL community and beyond.  

“This series is a great reminder for us in this time where questions about human creativity are kind of centered in the conversations we're having around AI,” said Kristi Maxwell, Director of Creative Writing within the Department of English. “I think it's just a really great thing to have the living, breathing writer bring the work to life for us.” 

William and Anne Axton established the series through an endowment in 1998. Hosted by the Creative Writing Program, the series brings writers to campus for readings that are also open to the public, master classes, and other programming. During the master classes, students can share their own writing and receive direct feedback.  

The fall series includes the following visiting writers: 

• Lesley Jenike — Sept. 10–11: Jenike, author of the essay collection City of Toys, the full-length poetry collections Ghost of Fashion and Holy Island, and the chapbooks How We Came Ashore and Punctum:, will give a reading at 6 p.m. Sept. 10 in the Bingham Poetry Room of the Ekstrom Library. 
  • She will lead a generative writing session from 10 a.m.–noon Sept. 11 in MITC 201, followed by a closing reception from noon–1 p.m. in MITC 201. Her poems and essays have appeared or will appear soon in Poetry, The Kenyon Review, At Length, NELLE, phoebe, The Bennington Review, The Southern Review, The Gettysburg Review, Rattle, Smartish Pace, Waxwing, Blackbird and Passages North. 
• Jenny Offill — Oct. 22–23: Offill, an acclaimed American fiction writer whose debut novel, Last Things, was named a New York Times Notable Book and a finalist for the LA Times First Book Award, will give a reading at 6 p.m. Oct. 22 in Chao Auditorium. 
  • She will lead a master class from 10 a.m.–noon Oct. 23 in MITC 201, followed by a closing reception from noon–1 p.m. in MITC 201. The New York Times named her second novel, Dept. of Speculation, one of the 10 Best Books of 2014. She published Weather: A Novel in 2020, and her critical work has appeared in the New York Times Book Review and Slate. She has also authored a number of children’s books. 
• Adam O. Davis — Nov. 12–13: Davis, author of Pyrrhic Symphony and Index of Haunted Houses, which was a finalist for the Big Other Award for Poetry, will give a reading at 6 p.m. Nov. 12 in the Bingham Poetry Room of the Ekstrom Library.  
  • He will lead a master class from 10 a.m.–noon Nov. 13 in MITC 201, followed by a closing reception from noon–1 p.m. in MITC 201. He’s the winner of the Raz/Shumaker Book Prize from Prairie Schooner and the Kathryn A. Morton Poetry Prize from Sarabande Books and also the recipient of the 2022 Poetry International Prize and the 2016 George Bogin Memorial Award from the Poetry Society of America. 

"This series is also a great reminder that reading work aloud and activating the ear gate is such an essential part of the creative writing practice,” Maxwell said. “I'm constantly reading my drafts aloud as I'm writing, so it can also be a good way to activate the sound that's so central to creative writing by going and hearing it and seeing the human maker behind the machine of the page." 

Each writer will also participate in a Q&A with students and the public, particularly offering students insight into how the visiting authors developed their careers. The series’ interactive elements give students greater access to acclaimed writers while contributing to Louisville’s rich literary scene. 

“It's such a great opportunity and really such an honor to have an acclaimed writer engaging with your work and taking it seriously,” Maxwell said. "Such a strong sense of validation can come from someone taking your writing seriously and spending time with it and developing thoughtful things to say about it. And not only that, but everyone whose work is selected is asked to also prepare notes. There's just such thoughtful and thorough engagement.” 

Maxwell stressed that for writers and readers alike, the upcoming events offer the Louisville community a unique experience by bringing what's on the page to life through the human breath and the human presence. 

“It’s a great opportunity to get to encounter the work in that way, to get to hear it, to get to interact with the person who made it, to get to ask questions […] and to hopefully leave feeling a new sense of possibility about what you might do in your own writing. And if you're not a writer, just to have a stronger sense of appreciation for the love and work that goes into the making of these things.”