Heather McHugh, the certified genius—by The Stranger and then, a few months later, by John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur—is reading from a wide range of her work on Thursday, May 17, at Kane Hall at 8 pm. It's free. If you care at all about poetry—or humor, or life—you should go.

The Roethke memorial reading is a big deal. This is its 49th year. Past readers: Robert Lowell, Elizabeth Bishop, James Merrill, Seamus Heaney, and other world-famous poets.