Writers Series
SPOTLIGHT ON LULU MILLER
March 27, 2025
Lulu Miller is the co-host of Radiolab and author of the national bestseller Why Fish Don’t Exist. She has been a science journalist for National Public Radio for over twenty years and reported on topics ranging from entomology to astronomy to mental illness and beyond. Her written work has been published in The New Yorker, The Paris Review, VQR, Electric Literature, Catapult and Orion Magazine. Most recently she is the author of a children’s book, Trucky Roads, and a children’s podcast, Terrestrials. She lives in Chicago with her wife and three children.
Writers Series Authors
1995-1996 Visiting Writers
- Amiri Baraka
- Gloria Naylor
- Amy Hempel
- Shimmer Chinodya
- Diana Hume George
- Michael Ondaatje
- Elizabeth Denton
1996-1997 Visiting Writers
- Jay Wright
- Lucy Grealy
- W.P. Kinsella
- Paule Marshall
- Diana DiPrima
1997-1998 Visiting Writers
- Ishmael Reed
- Jay McInerney
- Colette Inez
- Russell Banks
- Sandra Cisneros
1998-1999 Visiting Writers
- Desmond Nakano
- Rosellen Brown
- Robert Coover
- Jo Ann Beard
- Susan Griffin
- Elizabeth Stuckey-French
- Lisa Jarnot
- Tim O'Brien
1999-2000 Visiting Writers
- Edwidge Danticat
- Amiri Baraka and Blue Ark
- Andrea Barrett
- Tobias Wolff
- Janette Turner Hospital
- Chinua Achebe
- Billy Collins
- Wole Soyinka
2000-2001 Visiting Writers
- John D'Agata
- Carolyn Wright
- Colin Harrison & Katherine Harrison
- Alberto Rios
- David Shields
- Robin Hemley, Inaugural Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Paul Muldoon
- Chase Twichel
2001-2002 Visiting Writers
- Joel Peckham & Susan Atefate-Peckham
- Gayle Pemberton
- Kate Cohen
- Joy Harjo
- Heather Sellers, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Richard McBrien
- Richrd Ford
- Steven Dunn
2002-2003 Visiting Writers
- Elizabeth Inness-Brown
- Judith Ortiz Cofer
- Janisse Ray
- Afua Cooper
- Heather Sellers, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Ishan Abdul Rahiim
- Alan Cheuse
- Jane Hamilton
- Cyril Dabydeen
2003-2004 Visiting Writers
- Cathy Bao Bean
- Charles Baxter
- Michael Steinberg
- Robin Hemley
- John Daniel, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Dionne Brand
- John Metcalf
- Nuala Ni Dhonhnaill
- Patricia Hempl
- Anthony Kellman
2004-2005 Visiting Writers
- Peter Ho Davies
- John Irving
- Harryette Mullen
- Jane Satterfield
- Marjorie Sandor
- Carol Bly
- Rick Bass
- Timothy Liu
- John Daniel, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
2005-2006 Visiting Writers
- Lorrie Moore
- Marion Roach
- Brenda Flanagan
- Stuart Dybeck
- Tom Chiarella and Dennis McNally
- Naiomi Shihab Nye
- David Lloyd
- John Daniel, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
2006-2007 Visiting Writers
- Lee Martin
- Quraysh Ali Lansana
- Thomas Lynch
- Percival Everett
- Thaddeus Rutkowski
- Naomi Gutman
- Nick Carbo
- Lynn Freed
- Trudy Lewis, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
2007-2008 Visiting Writers
- Toi Derricotte
- Tess Gallagher
- Robert Root
- Jane Hamilton
- Phillip Lopate
- Alice Elliott Dark
- K.L. Cook, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Cornelius Eady
- Fath Adiele
- Sena Jeter Naslund
2008-2009 Visiting Writers
- Bill McKibben
- Jennifer Brice
- Stanley Moss
- Jennifer Egan
- Richard Rubin, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Lawrence Hill
- Cathy Park Hong
- David Shields
- Thomas McGuane
2009-2010 Visiting Writers
- Francine Prose
- Steve Almond
- Scott Russell Sanders
- Nathaniel Mackey
- Antonya Nelson
- Christian Bok
- Gerald Early
- Richard Rubin, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
2010-2011 Visiting Writers
- Gabriel Okara
- George Saunders
- Peter Campion
- Robert Finch
- Dinty Moore
- Gish Jen
- Patricia Smith
- Brock Clark
- Peter Selgin, Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
2011-2012 Visiting Writers
- Andre Dubus, III
- Ellen Akins
- Kevin Young
- Jaimy Gordon
- Joanie Mackowski
- Kristin Kimball
- Mark Slouka - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
2012-2013 Visiting Writers
- Kathryn Davis
- Kate Bernheimer
- Steve Gehrke
- Rebecca Solnit
- Bernard Cooper
- Pam Houston
- Timothy Donnelly - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
- David Shields
- Stephanie Elizondo Griest - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
2013-2014 Visiting Writers
- Pico Iyer - 9/12/13
- Sven Birkerts - 10/3/13
- Elizabeth & Ned Stuckey-French - 11/5/13
- Kirsten Kaschock - 2/27/14 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Daphne Kalotay - 3/27/14
- Mary Biddinger - 4/10/14 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
- Lorrie Moore - 4/28/14
2014-2015 Visiting Writers
- David Means - 10/23/14
- Steven Church - 11/13/14
- John Dermot Woods - 2/5/15 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Charlotte Boulay - 3/5/15
- Mark Irwin - 4/2/15 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
- Lorrie Moore - 4/23/15
2015-2016 Visiting Writers
- Angie Estes - 9/17/15
- Adam Gopnik - 10/22/15
- John McNally - 11/5/15
- Lillian-Yvonne Bertram - 2/4/16 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Hilton Als - 3/15/16 - CANCELED
- Sandra Lim - 4/21/16 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2016-2017 Visiting Writers
- Elizabeth Bradfield - 9/19/16
- Valeria Luiselli - 10/20/16
- Chang-rae Lee - 11/10/16
- Fred Arroyo - 2/2/17 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Kelly Grey Carlisle - 3/2/17
- Mark Doty 4/13/17 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2017-2018 Visiting Writers
- Sue Halpern - 9/7/17
- Sara Schaff and Ben Landry - 11/9/17
- Okey Ndibe - 2/1/18 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- John Edgar Wideman - 3/8/18
- Stephanie Elizondo Griest - 3/29/18
- Camille Dungy - 4/12/18 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2018-2019 Visiting Writers
- Jill Bialosky - 9/13/18
- Hanif Abdurraqib - 10/11/18
- Madeleine Thien - 11/5/18
- Jac Jemc - 2/7/19 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Brenda Miller - 3/7/19
- Ross Gay - 4/18/19 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2019-2020 Visiting Writers
- Ted Genoways - 9/12/19
- Kali Fajardo-Anstine - 9/26/19
- Aminatta Forna - 10/29/19
- J. Michael Martinez - 12/5/19
- Joe Wilkins - 2/6/20 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Michelle Kuo - 3/5/20
- GennaRose Nethercott - 4/16/20 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2020-2021 Visiting Writers
- Leila Philip - 9/10/20
- Robin Behn - 10/29/20
- Angie Cruz - 11/17/20
- James N. Kienitz Wilkins - 12/3/20
- Ana Maria Spagna - 2/4/21 -Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Lesley Nneka Arimah - 3/25/21
- Ada Limòn - 4/8/21 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2021-2022 Visiting Writers
- Aimee Baker - 9/16/21
- Eli Clare - 10/21/21
- Brenda Peynado - 11/4/21
- Ana Maria Spagna - 2/3/22 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Robin Hemley - 4/7/22
- J. Drew Lanham - 5/5/22 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2022-2023 Visiting Writers
- Pamela Erens - 9/8/22
- Christopher Gonzalez - 10/27/22
- Franny Choi - 11/15/22
- Okey Ndibe - 2/2/23 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Jenny Offill - 3/2/23
- Tyler Mills - 4/13/23 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2023-2024 Visiting Writers
- Tom Piazza - 9/14/23
- Tessa Yang - 10/26/23
- Daphne Kalotay - 11/2/23
- Santee Frazier - 2/8/24 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Beth Nguyen - 3/28/24
- Jason Koo - 4/18/24 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading
2024-2025 Visiting Writers
- Kim Fu - 9/12/24
- Joe Wilkins - 9/24/24
- Todd Davis - 10/10/24
- Susan McCarty & Matt Kirkpatrick - 11/7/24
- Santee Frazier - 2/6/25 - Viebranz Visiting Professor of Creative Writing
- Lulu Miller - 3/27/25
- Andrew Zawacki - 4/10/25 - Sandra Nelson Poetry Reading