The Department of English Visiting Speaker Series, organized by the Division of Literature and Film, offers a regular series of invited lectures by leading scholars of literature, criticism and theory, and film studies. The events usually include a large public lecture and smaller group sessions with students.

Previous speakers hosted by the Department of English at the University of Kentucky include M.H. Abrams, Houston Baker, Greg Barnhisel, George Bornstein, Eric Bulson, Cairns Craig, Thadious Davis, Ian Duncan, James English, Jennifer Fay, Harris Feinsod, Lucy Fischer, Roy Foster, Yogita Goyal, Mark Greif, Michael Hardt, Seamus Heaney, Eric Jager, Walter Kalaidjian, J. Gerald Kennedy, Barbara Ladd, Jeffrey Lawrence, David Lloyd, Anne McClintock, Jerome McGann, Timothy Melley, Walter Benn Michaels, Deborah A. Nelson, Susan Scott Parrish, Annabel Patterson, Jahan Ramazani, Nicholas Roe, Asha Rogers, Ronald Schuchard, Werner Sollors, Hortense Spillers, Helen Vendler, and others.

For more information about the Visiting Speaker Series contact Jonathan Allison or Michael Genovese.

In Fall 2025 we are delighted to host Tess Chakkalakal, professor of Africana Studies and English at Bowdoin College, on Monday Sept. 29, 2025, and Colleen Lye, associate professor of English at University of California, Berkeley, on Nov. 12, 2025.

 All events are free and open to the public. The Speaker Series is sponsored by the Department of English and the UK College of Arts and Sciences.