Hiram College's The Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature

07/17/2026

SAVE THE DATE! We'll be hosting alumna author Alysandra Dutton '15 on Thursday, November 5. Dutton is the author of The Stolen Women, a historical novel forthcoming from Harper Collins in October.

“An exciting . . . riveting tale of one woman's stand against empire.”—Anna Rasche, bestselling author of The Stone Witch of FlorenceA case of missing n...

07/04/2026

The job market is tough these days. But according to a June 25 Forbes article, "Grads who majored in the social sciences and humanities are proving to be resilient in today’s job market because they gained skills that can be used across multiple industries.... in today’s slow job market, LinkedIn found that versatility may be one of the biggest competitive advantages for new graduates."

06/10/2026

To the followers of the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature,

You may have seen the message from Interim Hiram College President James Malz on June 2, announcing that Hiram College is eliminating several programs, including the Creative Writing major.

I want you to know that the English Department (a separate entity from the Lindsay-Crane Center) remains committed to writing students and to providing as many creative writing offerings as it can. The college has eliminated only the Creative Writing major; the Writing minor remains in place. Additionally, students who enter Hiram College this fall will still be able to declare a Creative Writing major and complete it. The English Department will be reviewing its resources in the coming months to assess all its options.

One faculty position in the English Department—Professor Mary Quade’s—is being eliminated. As you might imagine, we are crushed by this decision, which will be an irreplaceable loss for the institution and its students. Professor Quade has elected to take a step-down retirement plan, which means she will be teaching part-time over the next two years.

The Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature remains active and will continue to offer its valuable writing contests for Hiram College students as well as the literary and writing programming that enhances Hiram College and the surrounding community. As the Lindsay-Crane Center director, I look forward to sharing news about our fall programming with you in the next couple of months.

Bonney Castle and the Stephen and Jacquelyn Love Writing House will continue to offer supportive spaces for students, faculty and staff, alumni, and community members. Please visit these rich historical buildings when you are on campus.

The English Department faculty are grateful for the many students whose lives that we have enriched over the years through the Creative Writing major and the English Major with Creative Writing Emphasis before that. We hope that you will continue to support our goals of thought-provoking and beautiful writing and literature wherever you are and at Hiram College now and in the future.

--Kirsten Parkinson, Director of the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature

04/05/2026

Join us on Wednesday for this year's Evening of Hiram Writers. Winners from this year's writing contests will read from their work.

01/13/2026

Congratulations to the Winners of Hiram College’s High School Writing Contest!

Sponsored by the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature in Conjunction with the Community Reading Program: Reflecting on Humans’ Place in the World

First Place: Kylee Washington for “Notebooks”
Second Place: Samantha Barker for “The Stars in the Sky”
Third Place: Conner Hunt for “Wheelchair Basketball”

Best Essay with a Portage County Focus: Kyle Crisman for “Lack of a Turnpike Exit"
Best Essay with a Nature or Sustainability Focus: Katelynne Holliday for “Rescue or Retail”
Honorable Mentions:
Chloe Elder for “Coloured Movies”
Anayah Davis for “U-haul”

Please join us on Wednesday, April 9 at 6:30 pm for an Evening of Hiram Writers when we will celebrate these winners!

12/17/2025

Congratulations to the winners of the Lindsay-Crane Creative Nonfiction Contest!
Sponsored by the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature
Judged by Author and Emerita Professor of English Joyce Dyer

First Place: Carly DeMille for “The Religion of Bees and Amelia Earhart”
Second Place: Dylan Baumgardner for “Comfort Food”
Third Place: Levi Kowalski for “Arboretum”
Honorable Mentions:
Abby Iser for “My Genetic Monster”
Andrew Madden for “Clocktower Conspiracy”

We invite you to hear these writers read an excerpt from their work at An Evening of Hiram Writers on Wednesday, April 8 at 6:30 pm along with winners of other Hiram College writing contests.

12/15/2025

Congratulations to the following winners of the UCS Writing Contest!
Sponsored by the Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature
Connected to Reflecting on Humans’ Place in the World: A Community Reading Program

First Place: Rayna Lambert for “4-H”
Second Place: Meaghan Kelly for “Darkness and the Gaze of Death”
Third Place: Faith Brewer for “Before All the Screens: The Radio”
Best Essay with a Sustainability Theme: Ryan Doerner for “My Special Shovel”
Honorable Mentions:
Reggie Johnson for “Press A to Start Childhood”
Stefanie Shields for “The Five Nights at Freddy’s Lore"

We invite you to hear these writers read a short excerpt from their essays at An Evening of Hiram Writers on Wednesday, April 8 at 6:30 pm along with winners of other Hiram College writing contests.

11/10/2025

Happy Birthday to Nicholas Vachel Lindsay, one of the two poets for whom Hiram College's Lindsay-Crane Center for Writing and Literature is named. Vachel Lindsay attended Hiram College for three years in the late 1800s. He eventually became famous as a traveling poet who performed his works before audiences in exchange for room and board and is cited as a significant force for reviving Midwestern poetry and poetry as an oral tradition in the United States.

Nicholas Vachel Lindsay, born on November 10, 1879 in Springfield, Illinois, was an American poet known for his public recitations and itinerant lifestyle.

09/19/2025

Our first event is Monday! Join us!

09/15/2025

The start of our community reading program is right around the corner! Check below for information about our events! If you don't have a copy of John Green's The Anthropocene Reviewed, we're handing out copies at participating libraries and at some of our early events, such as Making a Forest for Humans on September 25 and our Keynote on September 30.

Community reading program: Reflecting on Humans’ Place in the World Image: Reading the Rust Belt September 22-October 29, 2025 A community reading program focused on John Green’s The Anthropocene Reviewed The word “Anthropocene” is unofficially used to describe the most recent period in Eart...