The Writing University website hosted two live online discussions this week. Our first discussion, with Ida Beam distinguished Visiting Professor Eavan Boland, took place at 10 AM on Wed., Oct 14th. Boland discussed the process of writing, literature in an international community, as well as other literary topics.

Read the archive of the Eavan Boland chat

The second live discussion, with the University of Iowa International Writing Program Director Christopher Merrill and UI Professor Emeritus Marvin Bell, took place at 1 PM on Thurs., Oct 15th. Bell and Merrill discussed their new collection "7 Poets, 4 Days, 1 Book" and other literary topics.

Read the archive of the Marvin Bell and Christopher Merrill chat

Eavan Boland, this year’s Ida Beam distinguished Visiting Professor, is universally acknowledged as the preeminent female poet and contemporary writer of her native Ireland. She has published nine volumes of poetry, including Domestic Violence (2007) and New Collected Poems (2008), both with W.W. Norton. Her awards include the Lannan Foundation Award in Poetry and an American Ireland Fund Literary Award. She is on the board of the Irish Arts Council, a member of the Irish Academy of Letters and on the advisory board of the International Writers Center at Washington University. She lives in Stanford, California, where she is professor of English at Stanford University and director of the creative writing program.