Sklarew is professor emerita of literature at American University in Washington, D.C., and former president of Yaddo, an artists’ retreat in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

She is the author of three chapbooks and six collections of poetry, including “Lithuania: New & Selected Poems” and “The Witness Trees”; a collection of short fictions, “Like a Field Riddled by Ants”; a collection of essays, “Over the Rooftops of Time”; a nonfiction work, “Holocaust and the Construction of Memory”; and her most recent publication, “1,111 Days in my Life Plus Four.”

The Contemporary Poets’ Archives of the Library of Congress has recorded her poetry, and her poem, “Lithuania,” won the Anna Davidson Rosenberg Award from the Judah Magnus Museum, cited as “a living testimonial to those who perished in the Kovno Ghetto, wholly heartfelt and viscerally honest.”

Jerry Holsopple, professor of visual and communication arts at EMU, is teaching and pursuing special projects at LCC International University in Klaipeda, Lithuania, as a Fulbright scholar for the 2009-10 academic year.

Dr. Holsopple wrote: “If I wasn’t in the middle of the dark Lithuanian winter I would be there [EMU] to hear Myra read her work. I have used her poetry during all the Lithuania cross-cultural experiences that I have led to envelop students in the emotion and experience of Paneriai (one of the early Holocaust sites). Reading her poetry has affected me and the students deeply. As I pick up a copy of her writing and read a few lines, I am moved again.”

Alice Wisler, an author, public speaker, advocate and fundraiser, will read from her works at 5:30 p.m. that day in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at EMU. (see campus map)

Ms. Wisler has written two novels. In her debut work, Rain Song (Bethany House, 2008) a young woman is offered a chance to find romance and make peace with her past. The book was a finalist for the Christy Award, presented each year to novels that specifically address Christian themes and world views.

Of her second novel, How Sweet It Is (Bethany House, 2009), the School Library Journal noted in a review: "Written with a seasoning of Southern charm and populated with richly drawn characters [. . .] Wisler mixes romance, humor, and drama and tackles such issues such as child abuse and self-image."

Wisler graduated from EMU in 1983 with a degree in social work and has since traveled the country in jobs that minister to people. She was raised in Japan and currently resides in Durham, N.C.

Admission to the program, which includes dinner, is $15 and $7 for students. Reservations are required and should be made by Oct. 2 on line at www.emu.edu/langlit/writersread/reservations/0910 or by calling the language and literature department at (540) 432-4168.

The language and literature department at EMU will hold its first "Writers Read" program of the new school year Tuesday, Sept. 25.

Peggy Payne, a novelist, journalist and editorial consultant from Raleigh, N.C., will read from her works 5:30 p.m. in Martin Chapel of the seminary building at EMU.

Payne’s research for her travel writing and novels has taken her to more than 25 countries. Her most recent novel, Sister India, is a New York Times Notable Book. She is author of the novel, Revelation (screen rights sold to Synergy Films), and co-author with Allan Luks of The Healing Power of Doing Good. She also wrote a book on a clothing firm, Doncaster: A Legacy of Personal Style.

"My critically acclaimed novels and very different nonfiction books all focus on some aspect of people boldly speaking out, acting on their beliefs, and living in their own vivid and characteristic ways," the author states. "In each of my books, there is a strong current of spirituality, based on the conviction that we must draw on our largest and most profound resources to unfold fully, powerfully, and authentically."

Her articles, reviews and essays have appeared in such publications as The New York Times, Ms. Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Family Circle, Travel+Leisure, The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune and many others. She offers market-oriented feedback on fiction and nonfiction, in book-length or shorter forms, and consults with writers about career issues, approaching agents and breaking into magazines, based on her more than 30 years of free-lance experience.

A lifelong North Carolina resident, Payne was born in Wilmington. She works with other writers in an office in the historic Oakwood section at the edge of downtown Raleigh.

Admission to the program, which includes dinner, is $14. Reservations are required and should be made by noon Friday, Sept. 21, by calling the language and literature department at 540-432-4168.

A season pass for all four Writers Read programs of the 2007-08 school year is available for $45.