Georgia College & State University - Emerging Student Writers

Join us in the Fourth Floor Gallery & Event Space at the Decatur Library for the Emerging Student Writers Stage! This special event features talented student writers from Georgia colleges reading their original work in 45-minute sessions throughout the day. The stage will be situated alongside The Book As Art v.13: Mixed Messages exhibit, creating a vibrant atmosphere where visual art and creative writing come together.

This event will be held on the Fourth Floor of Decatur Library. To reach the Fourth Floor, you'll need to take the elevator on the right (when you're facing the elevators--it's labeled). If the other elevator opens when you call, please take it to the third floor, exit, and press the up button again to call the correct elevator.

About the Georgia State University Emerging Student Writers

Tess Conner (they/she) is a genderqueer writer and poet from Georgia. They are a literary staff member for Fruitslice magazine and published a poetry collection, Every Bald Guy Looks Like My Brother, with Bottlecap Press. Their work centers on religion, sexuality, family dynamics, and community.

Kay Hammond is the descendant of pioneers and cannibals. Born in California and raised in Pennsylvania, they have spent the last few years hiding in the woods of Vermont. Kay is now living in Georgia where they are a writing MFA candidate at Georgia College and State University. Their work focuses on themes the human body, mental health, and spirituality.

Emma Harding ​hails from Armada, MI, as a neurodivergent woman with an M.A. in Creative Writing from Central Michigan University. Her poetry, flash fiction, and visual art can be found in several journals, including Sketches, Artifex, Central Review, streetcake Magazine, and Spectrum Magazine. With her experience as the Arts & Letters Journal Editing Fellow at GCSU, Emma plans to work as a production editor or desktop publisher for one of the big five publishers. In the meantime, Emma peruses graphic novels with her cat, Berry "Barry" Barneby Harding.

Richard  Lassiter (he/him) hails from rural southeastern Washington state where he is a licensed funeral director. He earned a B.A. and M.A. in English literature from Washington State University while following his love of the Lake Poets. Though Richard enjoyed studying literature, his early admiration for his father’s storytelling led him to concentrate on reading and writing creative nonfiction. He is a first year Creative Writing MFA candidate at Georgia College & State University and recently saw his first publication in The MSU Roadrunner Review. 

Noah Lorey is a second-year graduate student at Georgia College & State University where he is earning a Master of Fine Arts in Fiction. Originally from Wisconsin, Noah earned his undergraduate degree from Emory University where he worked on several student publications and wrote, produced, and acted in a one-act play at Emory’s Oxford campus. Noah loves to travel, having spent time in such disparate places as Vietnam and Ireland, and much of his writing focuses on the importance of place in making sense of the world. Noah is currently working on an adaptation of the ancient Greek myth of the Minotaur, transposed onto a contemporary Midwestern setting.

Michael Sevcik received a BFA in painting from Rhode Island School of Design and will complete an MFA in creative writing from Georgia College and State University in December 2025. He has lived with his family in Milledgeville, GA, since 2019, where he was a stay-at-home parent and caregiver for his mother until she passed away from Alzheimer’s disease in 2022. He enjoys wandering, spending time with family, and making new friends while striving to discover deeper, more authentic versions of himself. His poetry explores intersections of loss, grief, memory, identity and desire.

Full Schedule:

• 10:00 – 10:45 AM: Emory University

• 11:00 – 11:45 AM: Mercer University

• 12:00 – 12:45 PM: Kennesaw State University

• 1:00 – 1:45 PM: Agnes Scott College

• 2:00 – 2:45 PM: Georgia State University

• 3:00 – 3:45 PM: University of Georgia

• 4:00 – 4:45 PM: Georgia College & State University

  
  

Come celebrate the next generation of writers as they share their work!