Award-Winning Novelist Garth Greenwell to Deliver BU's 2026 Ha Jin Lecture

Author will read from his work at Wednesday's annual lecture, discussing how singing and poetry have shaped his fiction.

Feb. 3, 2026 at 10:23am

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Acclaimed novelist Garth Greenwell, known for his lyrical explorations of love, desire, and identity, will deliver Boston University's 2026 Ha Jin Visiting Lecture. Greenwell, whose novels include "What Belongs to You," "Cleanness," and the award-winning "Small Rain," will read from his work and discuss how his background in singing and poetry has influenced his acclaimed fiction.

Why it matters

Greenwell's novels have earned critical acclaim for their poetic prose and nuanced examinations of the human experience. As the Ha Jin Visiting Lecturer, he will share insights into his creative process and the ways in which his artistic influences have shaped his distinctive literary voice.

The details

Greenwell's novels often feature the same narrator, a young gay man navigating life and relationships, and are noted for their interior, lyrical quality. The author has compared his approach to fiction writing to the structure of opera, with each chapter or section building emotional intensity like a series of arias. Greenwell has also discussed how experiences of the body and sexuality offer a powerful means of exploring larger questions of identity, history, and society.

  • Greenwell will deliver the 2026 Ha Jin Visiting Lecture on Wednesday, February 4, 2026.
  • His latest novel, "Small Rain," won the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction in 2025.

The players

Garth Greenwell

An award-winning novelist known for his lyrical explorations of love, desire, and identity in works such as "What Belongs to You," "Cleanness," and "Small Rain." Greenwell is also a critic, a Distinguished Writer in Residence at New York University, and the author of the Substack newsletter "A Green Thought."

Ha Jin

A William Fairfield Warren Distinguished Professor and a College of Arts & Sciences professor of creative writing at Boston University. The Ha Jin Visiting Lecturer series is named in his honor.

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What they’re saying

“I am drawn to experiences that defeat language, to experiences of the body in crisis that challenge our sense of what is representable in language.”

— Garth Greenwell, Novelist (bu.edu)

What’s next

Greenwell's reading and lecture at Boston University on February 4, 2026 is open to the public and will be followed by a reception and book signing.

The takeaway

Garth Greenwell's acclaimed novels, which explore themes of love, identity, and the human experience through a lyrical, operatic lens, have been shaped by his background as a singer and poet. As the 2026 Ha Jin Visiting Lecturer, he will share insights into his creative process and the artistic influences that have informed his distinctive literary voice.