As a small public college, Purchase is proud to introduce students to the level of expertise provided by the Durst Distinguished Lectures—outstanding opportunities for students and local community members alike to interact with accomplished authors.
The roster of current and past Durst Lecturers have won an impressive array of literary honors and fellowships, including:
National Book Awards
National Book Critic’s Circle John Leonard Prize
National Book Critic’s Circle Award in Poetry
Lannan Foundation Fellowships
MacArthur Foundation Grants
Pulitzer Prizes
Guggenheim Foundation Fellowships
Man Booker Prizes for Fiction
Rona Jaffe Writers Award
NAACP Image Award
LA Times Book Award for Poetry
NEA Fellowship in Prose
Asian American Writers Workshop Literature Award
Academy Fellowship from the Academy of American Poets
Martin Luther King Memorial Prize
Young Lions Fiction Awards
Poetry Society of America’s Norma Farber Award
Special Thanks
The Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature Endowment supports the Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chair in Literature, awarded to a distinguished professor whose work bridges literature and the visual or performing arts, and the Durst Distinguished Lecture Series, for visiting professors and other lecturers.
This generous support has benefited the college and especially enriched the School of Liberal Arts and Sciences, the School of Humanities, and the Literature and Creative Writing programs at Purchase College.
Roy and Shirley Durst Distinguished Chairs in Literature
