Award-winning author and playwright David Hopes will read from his recent poetry at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 23, in UNCA’s Laurel Forum in Karpen Hall. The event is free and open to the public.

Hopes, a prolific playwright, is perhaps best known for his poetry. His first book of poems, "The Glacier’s Daughters," won the Juniper Prize and Saxifrage Prize. His second collection of poetry, "Blood Rose," also received rave reviews. Hopes’ recent releases, "A Childhood in the Milky Way" and "A Sense of the Morning," have garnered nominations for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. His essays have appeared in The New Yorker, Audubon, Bird Watcher’s Digest and Conservation, among others.

Hopes is a UNCA Literature Department professor and director of Urthon Press, the Black Swan Theater Company and the Downtown School of the Arts. He is founder and co-editor of the Asheville Poetry Review and is a member of the Asheville National Poetry Slam Team. He is currently working to establish the Blue Ridge Playwrights Consortium.

For more information, call the UNCA Literature Department at 828/251-6411.