The New York State Writers Institute is a literary organization based at the University at Albany in Albany, New York. It sponsors the Albany Book Festival, the Albany Film Festival, Visiting Writers Series,[1] Classic Film Series,[2] the Trolley online literary magazine, and the New York State Summer Writers Institute, and New York State Summer Young Writers Institute in collaboration with Skidmore College.[3][4]
The NYS Writers Institute was selected by the New York State Legislature in 1985 to award the New York State Author [Edith Wharton Citation of Merit for Fiction Writers] and New York State Poet [Walt Whitman Citation of Merit for Poets] every two years.[5]
In 1984, the institute had its first visiting writer event with Nobel Prize-winning novelist Saul Bellow.[6] Later that year, NY Governor Mario Cuomo signed into law the legislation creating the New York State Writers Institute, giving it goals to conduct a broad range of cultural and educational literary activities. The Writers Institute has a mandate to provide "a milieu for established and aspiring writers to work together to increase the freedom of the artistic imagination,"and "to encourage the development of writing skills at all levels of education throughout the state."[7] A year later, the institute commissioned a play by author Toni Morrison, then in residence at University at Albany. Dreaming Emmett was co-produced by the Writer's Institute and Capital Repertory Theatre in 1986.[8]
On November 13, 2000, the institute hosted A New York State of Mind,[10] a panel featuring Russell Banks, Mary Gordon, William Kennedy, and Meg Wolitzer. The writers discussed how they used the history, landscape, and popular culture of New York as their muse for fiction writing. It was cosponsored by the New York Council for the Humanities.
The institute celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2009 with a special event featuring former governor Mario Cuomo.[11]
2010s
The institute began to expand its events to include theatre. In conjunction with the American Place Theatre, the institute presented in 2011 a one-person theatrical adaptation of Junot Díaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.[12]
The inaugural event of The Creative Life: A Conversation Series at UAlbany began in 2016 by featuring Pulitzer Prize-winning author Joyce Carol Oates. The "Speaker Series" also saw several iconic visiting speakers, including Bill Nye in 2015, Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor in 2017, and Olympic gold-medalist Aly Raisman.
In 2017, the Institute hosted a two-day symposium examining the meaning of truth and modern journalism called "Telling the Truth in a Post-Truth World".[13] The symposium was moderated by Bob Schieffer.
2020s
The Institute celebrated its 40th anniversary with an event at the University at Albany on Thursday, January 19, 2023. [14]
The Institute received a $1 million donation from the Chet and Karen Opalka Foundation in January, 2023. [15]
Speaker Series
The NYS Writers Institute co-sponsors the University at Albany's Speaker Series,[16] which began in 2009. The events features nationally recognized icons, who deliver speeches and engage in Q&A's at UAlbany's campus. Other sponsors of the series include UAlbany Student Association, Division of Student Affairs, University Auxiliary Services and the Alumni Association. Most events are free for students and open to the public.
Past speakers include:
2019Dan Rather – broadcast journalist and author
Terry Crews – actor, athlete, activist
2016Brandon Stanton – photographer and creator of Humans of New York
Daymond John – celebrity entrepreneur, FUBU founder, 'Shark Tank' investor
Venus Williams – tennis legend
2015
Bill Nye the Science Guy – need we say more?
Common – king of conscious hip hop
