As the holiday season approaches, Clemson writers are sharing their craft in a benefit reading for the Clemson University Paw Pantry.
Writer-in-Residence Justin Phillip Reed will headline the event, reading alongside four student winners at the undergraduate and graduate levels: Zachary Ritz, undergraduate poetry winner; Chase Preston, undergraduate prose winner; Becca Spilka, graduate poetry winner; and Rebecca Whaley, graduate poetry winner.
The event, which started in 1998, will take place on Friday, November 21 at 6 p.m. in Daniel Hall 105.
“The Writers’ Harvest event celebrates our wonderful creative writing students and faculty at Clemson, and is a chance for our community to give back to an important on-campus resource,” Department of English Lecturer and event organizer Hannah Treasure said.
For event entry, attendees are asked to bring a canned good for the Paw Pantry. No cash donations will be accepted. Specific information on the Paw Pantry’s current needs can be found on the Paw Pantry website.
Writers’ Harvest readings are held during the holiday season by writers and poets throughout the country. The charity benefits were first launched by Share Our Strength, a national organization that aims to end hunger and poverty.
The Paw Pantry is a community-wide movement to reduce food insecurity and promote wellbeing at Clemson University. Any current student with a CUID can access the items donated to the pantry, including food, household items, school supplies and hygienic products. The Paw Pantry is located in Sirrine Hall, room 233.
For more information, contact Hannah Treasure at htreasu@clemson.edu.
Meet the Writers
Justin Phillip Reed is the author of Indecency, which won the 2018 National Book Award in Poetry. Indecency was also named a 2019 BCALA Honor Book for Best Poetry and one of Library Journal’s Best Books in 2018. Reed’s other titles include With Bloom Upon Them and Also With Blood: A Horror Miscellany and The Malevolent Volume. He is currently a Professor of Practice and Writer-in-Residence in the Department of English.
Zachary Ritz is a sophomore English major & political and legal thought minor from Fort Mill, South Carolina. Outside Clemson, he spends his time hiking and going to concerts. His poems attempt to balance memory and the present moment.
Chase Preston is an English major and creative writing minor from Clover, SC. He has spent his life working at his family’s restaurant. He draws inspiration from modernism and working-class stories.
Becca Spilka is a graduate student in the Master of Arts in English program and works at Clemson. She lives in Greenville with her husband and two cats. She enjoys writing in a variety of different styles and genres, including poetry, prose, playwriting, screenwriting and more. She recently had her first published poem appear in the 2025 issue of The Petigru Review.
Rebecca Whaley is a second-year M.A. in English student from Charleston. She is working on a poetry collection for her master’s thesis and hopes to pursue an MFA in poetry after receiving her master’s degree. She writes heavily about personal experiences, specifically themes of loss, memory and grief, as well as mother-daughter relationships.
