Barbara Cole, JBLC Executive & Artistic Director
Jhumpa Lahiri
Moderated by Barbara Cole
Kleinhans Lobby
JHUMPA LAHIRI, a bilingual writer and translator, is the Millicent C. McIntosh Professor of English and Director of Creative Writing at Barnard College (Columbia University). She received the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 for Interpreter of Maladies, her debut story collection. She is also the author of The Namesake, Unaccustomed Earth, and The Lowland, which was a finalist for both the Man Booker Prize and the National Book Award in fiction.
Since 2015, Lahiri has been writing fiction, essays, and poetry in Italian: In Altre Parole (In Other Words), Il Vestito dei libri (The Clothing of Books), Dove mi trovo (self-translated as Whereabouts), Il quaderno di Nerina, and Racconti romani. She has translated three novels by Domenico Starnone and is the editor of The Penguin Classics Book of Italian Short Stories, which was published in Italy as Racconti Italiani. Lahiri received the National Humanities Medal from President Barack Obama in 2014, and in 2019 she was named Commendatore of the Italian Republic by President Sergio Mattarella.
Her most recent book in English is a collection of essays entitled Translating Myself and Others, published in Spring 2022 by Princeton University Press and the forthcoming collection, Roman Stories—available tonight courtesy of Talking Leaves Books.
BARBARA COLE is the Executive & Artistic Director of Just Buffalo Literary Center.
A 2011 fellow in Poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts (NYFA), Cole received her M.A. in Creative Writing from Temple University in Philadelphia and Ph.D. in English with a specialization in Poetics from the University at Buffalo.
Just Buffalo Literary Center’s mission is to create and strengthen communities through the literary arts. And for more than 45 years, we have brought the world’s greatest writers to Buffalo, hosted poetry events and readings, and supported the development of young writers.
We believe in the love of reading, the art of writing, and the power of the literary arts to transform individual lives and communities.
Just Buffalo is a registered 501-c-3 non-profit organization, and your donation is tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law.
Your generous gift to Just Buffalo Literary Center can help write the next chapter! Make a donation online today.
GET YOUR SEASON SUBSCRIPTION TICKETS NOW!
Join Just Buffalo Literary Center for four evenings of world-famous authors at Kleinhans Music Hall—Colm Tóibín (October 16, 2025), Hernan Diaz (November 20, 2025), Tara Westover (March 26, 2026), and Imani Perry (April 23, 2026). Doors & VIP Patron Reception at 6:30 p.m. | Event at 7:30 p.m.
EARLY BIRD PRICING THROUGH MAY 10!
EARLY BIRD PRICING THROUGH MAY 10!
Allan & Melissa Baumgart
Mark Chason & Mariana Botero Chason
Robert J. & Martha B. Fierle Foundation
Library Foundation of Buffalo & Erie County
Elsie P. & Lucius B. McCowan Private Charitable Foundation
Julian R. & Varue W. Oishei Foundation
Corinne Rice & in memory of Victor Rice
Joan Blum & Barbara Meyer
The Literary Leadership Circle is a distinguished group of supporters who have made a commitment of $5,000 or more over 3 years to support Just Buffalo Literary Center’s work.
Paul A. Battaglia
Allan & Melissa Baumgart
Dianne Bennett & William Graebner
Sandra Block, M.D. & Patrick Long
Mark Chason & Mariana Botero Chason
Adele & George DeTitta
Kanika & Spencer Durland
Geri Grossman in loving memory of Jimmie Gilliam
Thomas & Sharon Hewner
Lynda G. Kaszubski
John N. Lipsitz & Maria Scrivani
Kevin & Janet O’Leary
Elizabeth Pascal & Family
Corinne Rice & in loving memory of Victor Rice
John Spears
Anne & Dave Taylor
ON SALE NOW!
This limited-edition anthology features a poem from each poet who has read in those historic grain silos over the past ten years, including such literary luminaries as Ocean Vuong, Maggie Smith, Jericho Brown, Morgan Parker, Hanif Abdurraqib, Vievee Francis, and a slew of others.
For over 45 years, Just Buffalo Literary Center has brought the world’s greatest writers to Buffalo, hosted poetry events and readings, and supported the development of young writers.
We believe in the love of reading, the art of writing, and the power of the literary arts to transform individual lives and communities.
Whether you’re a new friend or a familiar face, become a member today & discover just how much is happening at Just Buffalo Literary Center.
