What: Portland State's Literary Arts Council presents a reading with Michael Ryan. Ryan is the author of several collections of poetry, including God Hunger (1989), which received the Lenore Marshall Poetry Prize; and New and Selected Poems, which received the 2005 Kingsley Tufts Poetry Award. Ryan is also the author of memoir, a collection of essays about poetry and writing, and the autobiography Secret Life, which was highly acclaimed and became a New York Times Notable Book.

Ryan's honors include a Whiting Writers Award, a Guggenheim Fellowship, and two National Endowment for the Arts Fellowships. He has taught writing at the University of Iowa, Princeton University, the University of Virginia, the Warren Wilson College MFA Program, and the University of California, Irvine, where he has been a professor of English and Creative Writing since 1990.

When: Thursday, May 22, at 7 p.m.

Where: Smith Memorial Student Union, room 333 (1825 W. Broadway).

Cost: The reading is free and open to the public.

Contact: For more information or any questions please contact Literary Arts coordinator Lori Huskey at litac@pdx.edu or the PSU English Department at 503-725-3521.

Background: Portland State's Literary Arts Council works to provide its students and the local community the opportunity to hear and meet authors of various literary genres such as poetry, literary nonfiction and literary fiction. The literary readings and lectures are free, accessible and promote an intimate setting for students to talk with regionally and nationally known writers.