The English Department's strong double commitment to excellence both in scholarly analysis and creative writing is nowhere more evident than in the range of literary guests who visit the campus each year. Speakers who recently have entertained, challenged, and moved the Hamilton community in appearances arranged or supported by the English Department include poets John Haines, Ellen Bryant Voigt, Deborah Digges, Karen Swenson, Gray Jacobik, Anne Carson, Robert Dana, Agha Shahid Ali, and Yevgeny Yevtushenko; prose writers Leslie Marmon Silko, Frederick Busch, Ama Ata Aidoo, Oscar Hijuelos, Peter Balakian, Bharati Mukherjee, Brett Lott, Octavia Butler, John Nichols, Verlyn Klinkenborg, and Wendall Mayo; and scholars Henry Louis Gates, Jr., and Stanley Fish.

At Hamilton College, it's rare when a visiting speaker does nothing more than offer a reading or supply a lecture. Authors invited to address the college community also visit classes, discuss their work with students and faculty over coffee or during meals, and--for those participating in the Writer-in-Residence program--take the time and effort required to offer student writers invaluable critique of their material.