By: Aiyana Moore ~Staff Writer~

The Xavier University English Department is busy this fall with two returning series. The Ryan Writers Series and The Expressions of Gender film series works to expose students to artistic talents such as Claudia Keelan, poet and professor. The Ryan Writers Series is named in memory of Xavier alum Robert Ryan. Through the series, several poets are invited to Xavier each year to share their own poetry.

Claudia Keelan, a teacher at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, has won the Beatrice Hawley Award and the Jerome Shestack prize for her poetry. She will visit Xavier this fall to read from her book of translations, “Truth of My Songs: Poems of the Trobairitz,” which is a collection of poetry from women of the 12th century, and her most recently published book, “O, Heart.” “These two books, along with her earlier volumes, show her to be a writer of great range, capable of working in a variety of styles,” Dr. Norman Finkelstein, host of the Ryan Writers Series, said. “It should be a dramatic and exciting reading.” Keelan’s poetry reading will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 15 in Kennedy Auditorium.

The next poet in the Ryan Writers Series is Owen Lewis, poet and psychoanalyst, who will read his work at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 15. The location is to be determined. This fall, Dr. Kristen Renz of the English Department and Dr. Wendy Maxian of the Communication Arts Department will host a series of films they call Chicks in Charge as part of the Expressions of Gender film series.

Though these films still explore gender diversity, the Chicks in Charge series focuses on films directed by women. “There’s been a lot of press lately about the lack of number of female directors of films, particularly mainstream Hollywood films,” Renzi said. “We wanted to draw attention to this inequity with the series, but also to the vast array of films that are directed by women that are out there.” The first Chicks in Charge film, “An Education,” will be shown Wednesday from 7 to 9:30 p.m. in CLC Room 309. In addition to the Chicks in Charge films, Renzi and Maxian plan to co-host the movies “The Mask You Live In” and “Do I Sound Gay?” with The Center for Diversity and Inclusion and Student Activity Council.