The captivating Canisius Contemporary Writers Series

By: Courtney Lyons, Opinion Editor

On Thursday, April 3, 2025, the Canisius Contemporary Writers Series will be hosting Aitina Fareed-Cooke, the current poet laureate of Buffalo, in Grupp Fireside Lounge at 7 p.m., and I encourage anyone and everyone to attend. A Buffalo State University alumna, Fareed-Cooke is a digital storyteller in addition to her writing, devoted to amplifying voices and illuminating diverse perspectives. 

The Contemporary Writer Series has been a staple of my collegiate career after first listening to the incredible poet Hanif Abdurraqib during my second semester as a first-year student. However, I have noticed a conspicuous absence of students in attendance at such events, discerning a disproportionate ratio of non-students to students in the audience. The Contemporary Writers Series performances are always open to the public, but it is disheartening that more people are willing to travel greater distances to see the speaker than those living on campus or minutes away from the event. 

No one affiliated with planning Fareed-Cooke’s appearance asked me to promote the event: the special place in my heart that the Contemporary Writer Series holds, not coercion, is responsible for my avid endorsement. For good reason, undergraduate English courses typically focus on historical writers: studying the permanence and supremacy of Shakespearean “Sonnet 130” and Walt Whitman the wordsmith is invaluable and rudimentary to becoming a student of literature. But there is an undeniable magic to being in the presence of a living writer. Turning the pages of a book in solitude is incomparable to the new meaning unlocked from hearing the tonal inflection and passion of the writer who placed pen to paper. 

I will never forget the radiance emanating from Joy Harjo – the United States’ first Native American poet laureate – when she was a guest at Canisius. Her claim that one can “gauge the world” based on discussions at the kitchen table, explaining that is where the “world begins” when introducing one of her poems is forever etched into my brain and created a connection between us that transcended our differences. Sitting front row to witness poet Philip Metres co-reading a poem alongside my friend and English powerhouse Hawa Saleh was likewise incredibly moving and empowering. Metres’ eyes lighting up in surprise as I asked him a niche question regarding the impact of literary magazines upon his career imbued me with pride. 

Great writers encourage us to reflect on ourselves and society.

The coordinator of the Contemporary Writers Series, Dr. Mick Cochrane, skillfully selects individuals who leave their audience pondering the writer’s message for hours, weeks, even months after their performance. When professor and author Clair Wills came to Canisius to discuss her memoir, Missing Persons: or, My Grandmother’s Secrets, about people who intentionally go missing from one’s life, she left me reflecting on my own familial experiences. All Canisius students are entitled to and deserve to have the same thought-provoking experiences that I have gained from being an audience member of the Contemporary Writers Series. 

One ought not to have read a single poem by Aitina Fareed-Cooke to attend, enjoy and learn from her performance. The writers that come to Canisius provide so much clarity and insight that their readings can inform and entertain an audience with a spectrum of familiarity with their work. Time is also left at the end of the reading for a question and answer session. 

We are privileged to have a program at Canisius that allows students to meet with and learn from exceptional writers in the field at no cost. Those who cannot be physically present at Grupp Fireside Lounge are encouraged to email Dr. Mick Cochrane (cochrane@canisius.edu) for a virtual link to the event. Please take advantage of this opportunity; attend Fareed-Cooke’s performance and future iterations of the Contemporary Writers Series (in-person or virtually) – you will not regret it.