The University of South Carolina’s Fall Literary Festival, now in its 18th season, brings three major authors to campus over the course of a few weeks every year. This fall authors Terrance Hayes (Oct. 26), Richard Michelson (Oct. 31.), and Lydia Millet (Nov. 9) visit campus.

Terrance Hayes, a native of Columbia, will read Thursday, October 26. The author of five books of poetry, Hayes is one of the most original and compelling voices in American poetry today. His work explores identity, race, experience, and spirituality. Lighthead, his fourth collection, was described as a “dazzling mixture of wisdom and lyric innovation” in its National Book Award in Poetry 2010 citation. His Wind in a Box won a Pushcart Prize; Hip Logic was a winner of the National Poetry Series; and Muscular Music, won both the Whiting Writers Award and the Kate Tufts Discovery Award.

All readings are free, begin at 6 p.m. and are held in the Ernest F. Hollings Special Collections Library, which is entered through Thomas Cooper Library.

The festival is co-hosted by University Libraries and the Department of English, and sponsored by a generous anonymous donor, allowing each program to be free and open to the public.