Born and raised in Dallas, Allen’s debut poetry collection, The Collection Plate, was published in 2021 (Time magazine called her “a poet to watch”), and her essay collection, When You Learn the Alphabet, won the 2018 Iowa Prize for Literary Nonfiction. Author Jami Attenberg calls Allen’s memoir, Fruit Punch, “a deeply visceral, vividly written tale of how to both survive

Part of our renovation means upgrading our spaces with new chairs, tables, and study pods. Drop by the library to make your voice heard (again this is a test).

Janine Joseph is a formerly undocumented poet and librettist from the Philippines. She is the author of Decade of the Brain, published in January 2023 by Alice James Books, and Driving Without a License (2016), winner of the Kundiman Poetry Prize. She is an associate professor of creative writing at Oklahoma State University and the