By Lily Stuart
In February, the Case Western Reserve University English Department welcomed Garth Greenwell, author of What Belongs to You (2016) and Cleanness (2020), as its 2023 Stonum Writer-in-Residence. An author of many accolades, Greenwell’s Cleanness was a finalist for the Lambda Literary Award, a New York Times Notable Book of 2020, a New York Times Critics Top 10 book of the year, and a Best Book of the year by the New Yorker, TIME, NPR, BBC and more.
During his time on campus, Greenwell hosted a total of four events, including a fiction writing workshop, a hands-on letterpress session, a reading of his up-and-coming novel, and a departmental colloquium talk. The latter two were open to the public.
Greenwell is a professor at Princeton University. He carries a passion for literature, poetry, and above all, for students, which was resonant throughout his events. At the department colloquium on Friday, the author noted that he “love[s] attempts to make art more hospitable” and thinks that poetry “helps us live.” Students, faculty, and community members alike were engrossed with Greenwell’s prose and responded with contemplative questions.