In the spring of 1964 a group of first-year students at Hollins created beanstalks, a literary magazine designed to bring their writing to readers in the Hollins community and beyond. The talent, creativity, and moxie of this little magazine and its creators exemplify the deep appreciation of writing at Hollins. Like so many alumnae, the members of this group have continued to be involved with writing in various ways after graduation – as editors, technical writers, journalists, lawyers, teachers, scholars, literacy advocates, readers, and yes, even as writers of creative non-fiction, poetry, and fiction.
In 2003, Hollins received a generous endowment to celebrate and support this tradition of creating and appreciating good writing. The goal of the Beanstalk Endowment is to bring readers and writers together at the Wyndham Robertson Library and Hollins University. The endowment was named after beanstalks to honor the contribution of this group to the writing legacy at Hollins, to play on the metaphor of great things rising from small beginnings.
Previous Speakers
2004
William Jay Smith
Stephanie Strickland
Toi Derricotte
2005
Mark Edmundson
James Tate
John Hollander
2006
Colette Inez
Tony D’Souza
Anna-Lisa Cox
2007
Lee Smith
Joel Chace
Laura Benedict
Steve Watkins
Matthew Makar
Naomi Wallace
2008
Lisa Solood Warren
Sharon Leiter
Cathryn Hankla
Marcia Douglas
2009
Carrie Brown
Jane Gentry Vance
Maureen Sullivan
Edward P. Jones
2010
Laura Browder
Judith Kerman
Elizabeth Rosen
Elizabeth Strout
2011
David Shields
Lorna Goodison
2012
Jaimy Gordon
Mat Johnson
2013
John Rybicki
Edith G. Pearlman
Benjamin George
2014
Kyle Dargan
Luke Johnson & Will Schutt
James McBride
2015
Ethan Hauser
2016
Janisse Ray
Rick Blunt
Roxane Gay
2017
Emily St. John Mandel
2018
C.E. Morgan
Sunil Yapa
2019
Carol Moldaw, Aaron Coleman, and Martha Rhodes
Balli Jaswal
2020
Heath Lee
Heid Erdrich
2021
Nora Krug
J. Drew Lanham
2023
Kendra Allen
2024
Ethel Morgan Smith