Upcoming Events

David Diamond Reading & Recital Series

Wednesday, April 1, 2026 at 6:00 pm

Saxophone quartet/ensemble - Students of Joe Girard

Named in honor of Carson McCullers's close friend, world-renowned composer David Diamond, the David Diamond Reading & Recital Series pairs a Columbus State University creative writing student with a soloist or small ensemble from the Schwob School of Music for a reading of original work by the writer and a performance of reportorial pieces by the musicians.

Location: Studio Theatre in the RiverCenter for the Performing Arts

Rose McLarney

Rose McLarney’s collections of poems are Colorfast, Forage, Its Day Being Gone, and The Always Broken Plates of Mountains. She is coeditor of A Literary Field Guide to Southern Appalachia and the Southern Humanities Review. McLarney is Lanier Endowed Professor of Creative Writing at Auburn University.

Justin Gardiner

Justin Gardiner’s most recent book is the long-form lyric essay Small Altars, which won both a 2025 Georgia Author of the Year Award and the Faulkner-Wisdom Nonfiction Book Prize. His other books include Beneath the Shadow: Legacy and Longing in the Antarctic and the poetry collection Naming the Lifeboat. Justin’s essays and poems have appeared in journals that include The Missouri Review, Blackbird, Quarterly West, and Catamaran. He is an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at Auburn University and serves as the Nonfiction Editor of The Southern Humanities Review.