11 April. American poet and playwright David Starkey is giving a poetry reading as part of the Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation programme at John Cabot University. Director of the creative writing program at Santa Barbara City College, Starkey's poetry collections include Adventures of the Minor Poet, Ways of Being Dead: New and Selected Poems, and Fear of Everything. Over the past 20 years Starkey has published over 400 poems in prestigious literary journals and has written a number of textbooks on poetry and creative writing.

Founded by director Carlos Dews in 2009, the Institute for Creative Writing and Literary Translation has established itself as a bustling point of reference for writers in Rome. It hosts poets, novelists and writers in its year-round reading series, focusing on the work of its writers in residence who interact directly with students through classes, public readings of their work, lectures and round-table discussions. The institute holds workshops in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, and literary translation, and offers literature courses designed specifically for writers, taught by leading faculty from around the world.

Those attending the poetry reading are required to carry photo ID. Guests will not be admitted once the event has started, and seating is first-come, first-served.

John Cabot University, Aula Magna Regina, Guarini Campus, Via della Lungara 233, (20.00).