The Transylvania County Library Foundation and Brevard College are proud to co-host the 2025 Looking Glass Rock Writers' Conference, taking place May 15–18. As part of this annual celebration of literature and place, the conference will feature two public author events on Friday, May 16, and Saturday, May 17. Free and open to all, these evenings provide the community with a rare opportunity to hear the nationally acclaimed authors who are this year’s conference faculty. Each event will feature live author readings, audience Q&A and book signings.

On Saturday, May 17, at 7:30 pm, the conference features readings by Elizabeth Rush and Terrance Hayes at the Transylvania County Library’s Rogow Room.

Elizabeth Rush is the author of “Rising: Dispatches from the New American Shore”, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and “The Quickening: Antarctica, Motherhood, and Cultivating Hope in a Warming World”. Her acclaimed nonfiction explores the human impact of climate change, especially within vulnerable communities facing ecological transformation. Rush’s writing has appeared in The New York Times, Orion and Harper’s. She teaches creative nonfiction at Brown University.

Terrance Hayes, one of the most celebrated poets of his generation, is the author of seven poetry collections, including “So to Speak” (2023) and “American Sonnets for My Past and Future Assassin” (2018) and “Lighthead”, which received the 2010 National Book Award in Poetry. Known for his innovative and powerful explorations of identity and culture, Hayes is a former MacArthur Foundation Fellow whose accolades include Guggenheim and NEA fellowships, multiple Pushcart Prizes, and eight selections for “Best American Poetry”. Originally from Columbia, South Carolina, he teaches creative writing at New York University.

Highland Books will be on-site at both events with books available for purchase. Authors will be available to sign copies following their presentations.