18th Annual Great Writers, Great Readings Series presents Jason Schneiderman

3 min readApr 14, 2022

I attended the 18th Annual Great Writers, Great Readings Series presents Jason Schneiderman. This event took place at the Cultural Center Theatre, Hofstra University. Great Writers, Great Readings was launched by Hofstra University in recognition of the importance of writing and literature in a liberal arts education. Each Great Writers, Great Readings event brings a notable author to campus to meet with creative writing students for a short workshop and question/answer session. The author also conducts a reading and book signing that is open to the public. Jason Schneiderman is the author of four books of poems, most recently Hold Me Tight (Red Hen, 2020). He edited the anthology Queer: A Reader for Writers (Oxford UP, 2016). His poems and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, and he is a longstanding co-host of the podcast Painted Bride Quarterly Slush Pile. His awards include the Shestack Award and a Fulbright Fellowship. He is an associate professor of English at the Borough of Manhattan Community College and teaches in the MFA Program for Writers at Warren Wilson College.

Schneiderman was introduced with two different poems, both of which he did not write. The poems were “New Ages” by Brecht and “Napoleon” by Miroslav Holub. Schneiderman’s first collection of poetry was published in 2004. His latest book was published in 2020, and the longest he has gone in between publishings is seven years. He then began readings of his poems and somewhat explained what each one means to him. The longest poem that Schneiderman read was titled “Blood Libel” and it had two epigraphs written into it. One specific piece he read, “Gay Divorce” was a look into his personal life and how it affects his daily life and relationships with other people.

What I noticed about almost all of his pieces he read, was that there are a lot of death/dying undertones, details about how people die, and a plethora of Jewish themes and undertones as well. Scheiderman’s poetry was very thought provoking but such a delight to listen to. He was so animated, energetic, and theatrical in his reading of the poems. I most enjoyed it when he would sing the poem and animate the words with his voice. It was like he became a different character for each of his poems.

After he finished reading his poems, there was a question and answer portion. There were a couple poetry related and insightful questions. Schneiderman gave thoughtful and well-responded answers to the questions. This event had a good turnout, with a couple of creative writing classes there and some community members. It was a wonderful experience to attend this event and hear the amazing poetry from Jason Schneiderman. He was very nice and spoke with everyone that attended. There was also time to purchase his books and get them signed by him at the end. I appreciated how devoted he is to his work and that he puts his heart and soul into everything he writes. This event was a great one!