Three weeks after author Margaret Atwood appeared at the 2017 Primetime Emmy Awards, where the television adaptation of her weighty literary masterpiece “The Handmaid’s Tale” won the night’s top honor, she graced the stage at Case Western Reserve University’s (CWRU) Maltz Performing Arts Center as guest speaker at season of The William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage Series.

“At the Emmys, I was even shorter than usual,” Atwood shared, recalling her experience at the event. “Women wore these high shoes they put on when having their picture taken, then took them off to walk around. The shoes make you look even more willowy and slender. I did not have such shoes.”

The crowd erupted in laughter.

Tracy Strobel, CEO of the Cuyahoga County Public Library (CCPL), concedes that although a writer’s event might sound boring and academic, Writers Center Stage Series, presented by CCPL and CWRU, shatters this stereotype.

Henry Winkler earlier in 2023-2024 season at the Writers Center stageNearly seven years after Atwood’s appearance, the Writer Center Stage launched the second half of its 2023-2024 season last Thursday, March 7 with Pulitzer Prize and PEN/Faulkner Award finalist Hernan Diaz.

Attendees can look forward to spending to two more evenings in April and May—with Rebecca Makkai, Kiese Laymon, and Imani Perry—enthralled and engaged, and perhaps even leave with a signed book and a new favorite author.

“Most of [the writers] are just hilarious because they tell the stories that are behind their own lives,” explains Strobel. “As an author, you travel, and you get to meet so many neat and interesting people. And so they just bring their life stories and life lessons. It's like going to a comedy show—[with] a little bit more intellectual thrown in. People can expect to really enjoy themselves and not just hear some dry academic presentation or reading.”

Now in its 20th year, Writers Center Stage was the brainchild of Strobel’s predecessor, who brought the series over from a successful program in Syracuse, New York.

Today a CCPL staple, 135 writers have spoken over the years, including Judy Blume, Khaled Hosseini, John Grisham, and Neil DeGrasse Tyson.

“I'll never forget, Amy Tan was visiting us,” Strobel shares. “At the very end, hidden behind the podium, she had her two little dogs in a dog carrier, and she let them out to run around a little bit. It helped her with anxiety.”

Strobel says she has learned over the years that almost anything can happen at Writers Center Stage. “You expect certain things, but it's the unexpected really,” she says. “Patti Smith, when she just broke out in song. Like, oh, man. You hear that and go, ‘I didn't pay enough for this.’”

CCPL's Middleburg Heights BranchContributing to the series' one-of-a-kind experience is the discerning eye for talent of Bill Kelly, CCPL’s adult programming director, who carefully selects the writers and moderators.

“Somehow Bill has a knack for booking the next Pulitzer Prize winner or the next Oprah’s Book Club pick,” explains Strobel. “It’s just hilarious because the news will come out, we'll be like, how did he know? But he knows. He’s magic.”

Kelly explains his career path: After graduating from college in the 1990s, he took a job in the music industry. As the business began to shift with the rise of the internet, Kelly says he was thrilled when he came across a bulletin board posting for a branch services assistant at CCPL.

“I read the job description, not ever dreaming that I would work in a library, and I said, ‘This is exactly me,’ he recalls. “I was always just there all the time getting books… I want to absorb knowledge, the curiosity.”

From there, Kelly worked his way up to adult programming director, where he’s been for eight years.

Kelly's personal story, talent, and dedication to serving the community through the Cuyahoga County Public Library have even caught the attention of renowned writer James Patterson. In his upcoming book, “The Secret Lives of Booksellers and Librarians,” due out in April, Patterson has included a chapter about Kelly.

Despite the recognition, Kelly has remained humble and focused on his job of service. He says he has yet to read the chapter that features him.

While the Writers Center Stage is certainly a highlight of CCPL’s programming, Kelly and his team work hard to offer diverse events at all 27 branches that are aimed at various interests and needs within Cleveland’s communities.

Alongside a collaborative writer's center at the South Euclid-Lyndhurst branch, the standard children's readings, and computer labs are offered. But the branch also offers unique and specialized programs—like Guided Chakra Meditation and legal assistance provided by U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Cleveland (USCRI) for newly arrived Ukrainians.

“The library has really become our new modern community center,” explains long-time patron Frank Wright. “It's such a broad breadth of resources that the library provides that if you're not utilizing one of those services, it's because you're not trying. There's nothing wrong with not trying, but I guarantee that there is nobody in the community who wouldn't utilize one of those resources if they even realized that the library did it.”

All of these initiatives that create the community center feel at CCPL are supported by The Writers Center Stage series. Proceeds from ticket sales help fund the library’s ongoing programs and services—ensuring its continued vibrancy and value to the community.

Single in-person event tickets are $35, while virtual tickets are $15. If parking is available for $10 and can be added at the time of your ticket purchase. There are also subscription options available.

For Strobel and Kelly, the fundraising component is the just the cherry on top of the popular event. Kelly says he measures the series' success by the smiles on the audience member’s faces and their positive feedback.

“Even those authors you had never read before… you’ll be blown away by,” he says. “That sense of discovery, of learning about a new author you love just because of the series. You feel a kinship because there's all these people there, just celebrating the literary arts. That is what I want people to take away.”

Kelly says he ultimately hopes to one day see Cleveland become a literary destination.

“[These events are] a snapshot in time if you're looking to get inspired, if you're looking to be influenced, if you're looking for engagement,” echoes Wright,  “if you're just looking to have a nice time and not just enjoy yourself, but have but have something that means something as well to you—{this] might stick with you, possibly for the rest of your life.”

Rebecca Makkai (April 10) and Kiese Laymon and Imani Perry (May 7) take the William N. Skirball Writers Center Stage at the Maltz Performing Arts Center (1855 Ansel Rd. in University Circle) this spring. Tickets are $35 each, or $20 for a virtual ticket and are on sale online or by calling (216) 368-6062.