Dan O'BrienThe University of Alabama at Birmingham will host playwright, poet and nonfiction writer Dan O’Brien on Wednesday, Oct. 8.

The lecture is part of the UAB Visiting Writers’ Series that brings world-class writers to share their creative insights with the future generation of local writers. The event, presented by the College of Arts and Sciences’ Department of English, is free and open to the public. It will take place from 6-7 p.m. in UAB’s Abroms-Engel Institute for the Visual Arts, 1221 10th Ave. South.

O’Brien, a New York native who lives in Los Angeles, has received several accolades for his work, including the Guggenheim Fellowship, two PEN America Awards, the Horton Foote Prize and the Fenton Aldeburgh First Collection Prize for his poetry.

His latest play, “Newtown,” premiered at Geva Theatre in 2024 and received the Laurie Foundation Theatre Visions Fund Award. O’Brien’s plays have premiered in London, on Broadway and at regional theaters, including Second Stage Theatre, Primary Stages, Hartford Stage, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Actors’ Theatre of Louisville, SoHo Playhouse and the Gate Theatre.

He has published five collections of poetry in the United States and in the United Kingdom, including the prize-winning “War Reporter,” praised in The Guardian as “a masterpiece of truthfulness and feeling.” In 2023, O’Brien published three books: “True Story: A Trilogy,” “From Scarsdale: A Childhood” and “Survivor’s Notebook.”

O’Brien has taught playwriting at Princeton University, Brown University, University of Wisconsin-Madison, University of the South (Sewanee) and Goddard College MFA. He has served as a guest artist at many colleges, including Grinnell College, Middlebury College and Occidental College.