Award-Winning Writers Rose McLarney & Justin Gardiner To Close Whitman’s Visiting Writers Reading Series
By Ananya Mehrotra ’27
Closing the books. Whitman College welcomes writers Rose McClarney (left) and Justin Gardiner (right) from Auburn University to wrap up this year’s Visiting Writers Reading Series.
Writers Rose McLarney and Justin Gardiner—both faculty members in the Creative Writing Program at Auburn University—will visit Whitman College on Thursday, May 1, to read for the Visiting Writers Reading Series. The event will take place at 6 p.m. in Kimball Theatre in Hunter Conservatory.
McLarney, author of poetry collections such as “Colorfast” (Penguin Poets, 2024), “Forage” (Penguin Poets, 2019) and “Its Day Being Gone” (Penguin Poets, 2014), has received prestigious awards including the National Poetry Series and the Fellowship of Southern Writers’ New Writing Award. She has also held fellowships at MacDowell and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference and is Co-Editor of “A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia” (University of Georgia Press, 2019). McLarney’s work offers a profound exploration of identity, memory and the natural world, inviting readers to reflect on the intersections of personal and collective histories.
In “Colorfast,” McLarney explores Southern Appalachian heritage through poems that illuminate the fading and persistence of cultural narratives, particularly those involving women’s voices, domestic traditions and the natural world.
Gardiner, author of “Small Altars” (Tupelo Press, 2024) and “Naming the Lifeboat” (Main Street Rag, 2020), has been honored with the Faulkner-Wisdom Nonfiction Book Award. His writing has appeared in journals like The Missouri Review and Blackbird. He also serves as the Nonfiction Editor for The Southern Humanities Review. His work delves deeply into themes of personal loss, familial bonds and the human connection to nature.
“Small Altars” is a lyrical memoir that pieces together the story of his brother’s life, mental illness and passing, blending personal reflection with pop culture and the emotional complexity of caregiving.
At the event, McLarney and Gardiner will read from their works and answer questions. The reading is open to both the Whitman community and the public.
More on the Series
The Visiting Writers Reading Series brings established and emerging voices to campus each academic year to share their work with the Whitman community. This event marks the fifth and final visit in the series, which will close out with Creative Writing student readings on May 8. The series is made possible through the support of Whitman’s English Department, the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty, the Lawrence Parke Murphy and Robert Goldstein Trust, and generous donors, whose contributions continue to bring powerful storytelling to our campus.