The Creative Writing Program at Cornell has invited a diverse roster of 10 notable poets and fiction writers to campus for its Spring 2007 Reading Series.

The series begins Feb. 8 with a reading by poet Elizabeth Alexander at 7:30 p.m. in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium, Goldwin Smith Hall. The reading is free and open to the public.

Alexander is a professor of African-American studies at Yale University and uses African-American vernacular, history and popular culture in her essays, drama and poetry, including her poem "American Sublime," which was a finalist for the 2005 Pulitzer Prize. Her subjects have ranged from slave narratives to Duke Ellington and Ornette Coleman.

"Her work is very well crafted and finely made," said Alice Fulton, the Ann S. Bowers Professor of English. "She's got a wonderful sense of the music of poetry and the craft of poetry. In addition, she has a real political consciousness and an edginess. I really admire her work. She's got courage, she's funny, and I love her attitude as well as her sense of line and technique."

The weekly reading series features both established and emerging writers, diverse in class, gender, ethnicity and race as well as in writing styles, drawn from a wish list of talent recommended by creative writing faculty members.

"Aesthetics are very important -- we wanted different types of writing to be here," Fulton said.

Many of the writers will be in residency with MFA students in creative writing and will present public talks on their craft.

The series also includes:

Readings will be given in Hollis E. Cornell Auditorium and 258 Goldwin Smith Hall. See http://www.arts.cornell.edu/english/sp07-readings.html for more details and updates.