Shawnee State University is hosting a free poetry reading from Francesca Bell for the community. This will take place Tuesday, November 5th at 7:00 PM. The reading will be held in the University Center in Room 215. Bell is a poet from Spokane, Washington. Her family is characterized by their hard times; her maternal great-grandfather being the son of a prostitute and raised in a brothel, her maternal grandmother is from an Indian reservation, and her father’s side of the family was known for being heavy drinkers. Bell did not complete middle school, high school, or college.

Her works have been included in publications such as ELLE, New Ohio Review, North American Review, Prairie Schooner, Rattle, and Tar River Poetry. Bell also works as a translator. Her translations from Arabic and German have been included in: Arc, B O D Y, Circumference | Poetry in Translation, Mid-American Review, and The Massachusetts Review. She also co-translated the Palestinian poet Shatha Abu Hnaish’s collection, A Love That Hovers Like a Bedeviling Mosquito. She has her own poetry book out entitled Bright Stain. This book will be available for purchase and signing at the poetry reading. For more information on Francesca Bell or to read her work, visit her website at: https://francescabellpoet.com/.