First, this Wednesday, October 18, the Joynes Reading Room will host visiting poet Sam Sax at 7 p.m. Pulitzer-Prize winner Terrance Hayes selected Sax’s first book, Madness, as winner of the National Poetry Series. Madness was published this month by Penguin, and I have some free copies of the book to give away to UT honors students who inquire in person at the front desk of the Joynes Reading Room in Carothers. The reading Wednesday night is free and open to the public.

Also, the Joynes Reading Room will host a luncheon with visiting novelist Valeria Luiselli on Thursday, October 26th at 11 a.m. in CRD 007A. Luiselli is the author of several award-winning novels, including The Story of My Teeth. She also recently published a nonfiction book, Tell Me How it Ends, about the immigration crisis of 2014, when unaccompanied minors fleeing violence in Central America arrived in the US seeking asylum. Luiselli worked as a translator, interviewing the children and trying to decipher their confusing accounts of violence and displacement. UT Honors students may sign up for the luncheon and receive a free book by visiting the front desk of the Joynes Reading Room in person. (Students will not be expected to have completed reading the book before the luncheon, but are encouraged to read a portion of it.)