By Lily Papendick, Assistant Editor of Arts & Entertainment
All photos by Brodie Bard
On Tuesday, Feb. 24, Susquehanna University welcomed back award-winning author Gary Fincke as part of the 2025-2026 Seavey Reading Series.
Though the author visitations and readings each semester are always highly anticipated throughout the creative writing and English departments, this one carried a bit more significance than usual. As Fincke cleared his throat behind the podium, a hushed recognition swept across the packed audience: not a single person would be in that room without the support of the man on stage.
Fincke founded the Writers Institute over 30 years ago to serve as a centralized hub for budding writers at Susquehanna, which quickly led to his creation of the creative writing program in 1996, a program now nationally recognized for its excellence and high caliber of writing faculty. Professor Emeritus of English and Creative Writing, Fincke served as the director of the Writers Institute until his retirement in Dec. of 2016 in addition to teaching, directing four annually published on-campus magazines, and coaching the varsity men’s tennis team.
Dr. Catherine Zobal-Dent, current director of the Writers Institute, kicked off the night and extended acknowledgements and gratitude towards the various faculty and staff that made the event possible. Then, she handed off the mic to senior Olive Lambert who introduced Fincke.
A Creative Writing & English Literature double major with minors in Psychology and Honors, Lambert is currently involved in an independent study with Fincke himself, describing their time together being mutually beneficial and productive despite being “very different writers.”
Along with the work he did here at Susquehanna, Fincke has published forty-four books of poetry, short fiction and non-fiction. Fincke has also been the recipient of numerous writing awards over the span of his career, including the Flannery O’Connor Award for Short Fiction, the Wheeler Poetry Prize, and the Robert C. Jones Prize for Nonfiction. If not for his dedication and passionate love of literature, Susquehanna would not have become home to so many aspiring writers and editors over the years.
In total, Fincke read eleven poems and two essays. His poems ranged in subject matter, length and tone, with a few consecutive poems centering on the loss of his mother to a more humorous poem titled “According to Ibid,” which he wrote in response to a student’s comical belief that ‘Ibid’ was one singular person. The fluidity of which Fincke transitioned between near gut-wrenching topics to those that elicited much laughter from the audience was remarkable, and something only the best writers are capable of.
At one point in the evening, Fincke mentioned that when the creative writing program initially started, there was a mere budget of only $200 to support visiting authors, so only one author spoke at Susquehanna per year. He marveled at the fact that six acclaimed authors now perform readings each academic year, thanks to both the exponential growth of the program and the generous donations of Richard and Susan Seavey who make the Seavey Reading Series possible.
Fincke concluded his reading with two essays, the first being a braided essay named after the title of his recently published collection of creative non-fiction, “After Arson: New & Selected Essays.” Weaving together images of a summer carnival, a paper towel fire in a public restroom, and a TV episode where a magician makes he Statue of Liberty disappear, Fincke painted a coming-of-age portrayal of his son and gave the audience a glimpse into the complex world of adolescence in less than 20 minutes.
His last essay, “Crosswords,” was a beautiful tribute to his late mother and her tremendous love for crossword puzzles, but her abhorrence to taking a peek at the answers. Believing that crossword puzzle books were a form of ‘cheating’ due to the answers being located only a few pages away, Fincke’s mother stayed resolute to her moral beliefs and only completed the puzzles found in the paper. Even on the day she passed away, she remained confident in her answers despite not knowing if they truly were the correct ones, raising the question of whether always knowing the answer cheapens life.
Before the audience was dismissed to a reception in the lobby of Seibert, Dr. Catherine Dent returned to the stage and announced a new fund named in Fincke’s honor to support a visiting author through the Seavey Reading Series. This endowment will ensure that Fincke’s name remains a prevalent part of the creative atmosphere on campus for future generations of Susquehanna students.
Although he may no longer be instructing workshop classes or managing the Writers Institute, his legacy continues to live on, and the name Gary Fincke will never be forgotten.
The next and final installment in the 2025-2026 Seavey Reading Series will take place on Mar. 17 in Isaacs Auditorium and will feature poet Alan Gilbert. Hope to see you there!
