The Hemingway Center Reading Series and Creative Writing MFA Program present poets Cole Swensen, a Finalist for the National book Award, and Rod Smith. Swensen and Smith will give a reading of their work on Friday, August 28, 2026 at 7:30 PM. This event is free and open to the public. Event Details 7:30 PM Friday, Augutst 28, 2026 Reading to be followed by a Q and A and book signing. Free and open to the public About Cole Swensen Cole Swensen is the author of twenty books of poetry, most recently Veer (Alice James Books, 2026). A former Guggenheim Fellow and a recipient of the Iowa Poetry Prize and the San Francisco State Poetry Center Book Award, she has been a finalist for the Griffin Prize, the National Book Award, and the LA Times Book Award and was awarded the 2025 Paul Engle Award by the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature. She also translates poetry and art criticism from French and has won the PEN USA Award in Translation, the 2024 ALTA National Translation Prize, and the 2025 Stephen Mitchell Prize She divides her time between France and California. About Rod Smith Rod Smith is the author of Touché, Deed, Music or Honesty, Protective Immediacy, and In Memory of My Theories. His work has appeared in The Baffler, Eternal Sections, The Nation, The New York Times, Shenandoah, and many others. Smith has taught at The Iowa Writers' Workshop, The Maryland Institute College of Art, The Corcoran College of Art + Design, and George Mason University. He co-edited The Selected Letters of Robert Creeley (University of California Press, 2014). He edits the journal Aerial, publishes Edge Books, and manages Bridge Street Books in Washington, DC.