For 10 years, the English department at Mercyhurst has brought poets and fiction authors on campus to facilitate and promote the literary and creative arts to students. Some of the big names brought to campus include Robert Bly, Grace Paley, Peter Coyote, Joy Harjo, Robert Coover, Martin Espada, Li-Young Lee, Francine Prose and Sonia Sanchez.

The 11th annual Mercyhurst Literary Festival will begin Thursday, April 11, with a reading by Marjorie Agosin, a Chilean poet, at 8:15 p.m. in Taylor Little Theater.

Agosin is well-known as a human rights activist and poet, having published multiple books.

In 2002 Agosin received the Gabriela Mistral Medal of Honor for Life Achievement from the Chilean government and was nominated for the Neustad Prize for World Literature in 2003 and 2005.

The second event of the literary festival will bring William Kowalski to campus. Kowalski, a native of the Erie area who now lives in Nova Scotia, is the author of several bestselling books, and will speak at 8:15 p.m. in Taylor Little Theater. His website can be found at