University Libraries Cultural Programs & Events

As part of its role in fostering and encouraging intellectual engagement on the RWU campus, the University Libraries annually offers an array of public programs.

The Mary Tefft White “Talking in the Library” Series

In Fall 2004, Mary Tefft (Happy) White provided Roger Williams University with a generous gift to launch the annual program, Mary Tefft White Lecture Series. Since that time, the series, now known as Talking in the Library, hosts noted authors, scholars, and thinkers from our regional community and beyond. 

2024-2025 Talking in the Library Lecture Series

The John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial Program

Through the Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial Lecture and Professor John Howard Birss, Jr. Memorial Library Fund (established by University alumnus, Robert Blais '70), a significant or culturally impactful book is chosen annually to be honored. The program engages the campus and local community through discussions, celebrations, related collections, a library exhibit, and culminates with the annual Birss Lecture. 

25 Years of the Birss Memorial Program: Exhibition and Keynote Presentation

Rick Moody, Novelist

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of the John Howard Birss Memorial program, we invite you to take in our exhibition on the first floor of the library, scroll through our virtual exhibition, and come listen to our keynote talk. Endowed by Robert Blais (’70), the Birss program has celebrated literature as being a central point of the RWU ethos, understanding that appreciating important books are an essential part of being a well-rounded person.

Exhibition Opening: 

Date: Wednesday, February 13, 2025

Place: University Library, First Floor

Keynote Talk by Rick Moody:

Date: Thursday, February 27, 2025

Time: 3:30 PM

Place: Mary Tefft White Cultural Center, University Library

Rick Moody is the author of six works of fiction, and two memoirs. His short fiction and journalism have been anthologized in Best American Stories 2001, Best American Essays 2004, Best American Essays 2017, Year’s Best Science Fiction #9, and the Pushcart Prize anthology. Newsday describes him as “our anthropologist of desolate landscapes,” John Hawkes as “a writer of meticulous originality.” “One of our best writers,” said a reviewer for the Washington Post. In 2019 he became an Officier de L’Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, as awarded by the Republic of France. Moody currently teaches at Tufts University.

The Bermont Fellowship in Fiction and Nonfiction

Established with a generous gift from the Bermont family and in partnership with the Anthony Quinn Foundation, the Fellowship in Fiction and Nonfiction provides promising students with a unique and valuable experience in support of their own professional and artistic development as writers. Full-time undergraduate students (from any academic discipline or major) are selected annually through a blind submission process to attend an intensive, one-day master class with a distinguished visiting writer.

Bermont Family Keynote

Co-sponsored with Rogers Free Library Jane Bodell Endowment

In conjunction with the Bermont Family Fellowship for Fiction and Nonfiction, Elisa Gonzalez will read from her work, discussing the intersections of fiction, nonfiction, and poetry.

Date: Monday, April 7, 2025

Time: 6:00 PM

Place: Rogers Free Library (525 Hope Street, Bristol RI)

Elisa Gonzalez is a recipient of a 2020 Rona Jaffe Foundation Writer’s Award, has had work appear in the New Yorker, New York Times Magazine, Paris Review and elsewhere.  Of Gonzalez’s 2023 debut poetry collection, Grand Tour, Louise Glück described poems that “make me feel as if poems have never before been written.” Slated for publication is her novel, The Awakenings, and a nonfiction book, Strangers on Earth.

Bermont Distinguished Authors & Fellows