2027 Nick Linn Lecture Series

Liz Moore is an award-winning, bestselling author and television screenwriter and producer.  Over her prolific, two-decade career as an author, Moore has established herself as a virtuoso of the literary thriller, known for her intricate plots, complex characters, and ability to upend expectations.  Her immersive, New York Times-bestselling hits Long Bright River and The God of the Woods have propelled over a million readers through twisting, multigenerational stories that are as moving as they are surprising and compelling.

Even more central to Moore’s literary work than her instincts for suspense are her “informed and compassionate” observations on some of the most pressing subjects of our time (The Guardian).  From her very first novel, The Words of Every Song, through Heft and The Unseen World, to her more recent literary thrillers, Moore has shown an instinct for combining layered storytelling and a driving plot, while expertly depicting the intricacies of class, addiction, neglect, and grief, among other subjects.  She has done more than bring such issues to light: she has given a generation of readers the language to approach them with human truths and tenderness, while also offering the kind of read that “transports readers so deeply into its richly peopled, ominous world that, for hours, everything else falls away” (The Washington Post).

A winner of the Rome Prize in Literature, a nominee for an Edgar Award and an LA Times Book Prize, and the Director of the MFA program in Creative Writing at Temple University, Moore lives in Philadelphia with her family.

Photo Credit: Laura Stevens

Dave Barry is an author and humorist who won a Pulitzer Prize for his syndicated column, which ran in more than 500 newspapers and was the inspiration for the TV show Dave’s World.  He has also written dozens of bestselling books, most recently Class Clown: The Memoirs of a Professional Wiseass: How I Went 77 Years Without Growing Up.  His latest novel, Swamp Story, was published by Simon and Schuster in 2023.

Along with Ridley Pearson, Barry wrote the bestselling Starcatchers series of young-adult novels, one of which was adapted as the Tony-award winning Broadway play Peter and the Starcatcher.

Barry once set fire to a pair of underpants with a Barbie doll on national television.  He is also largely responsible for the popularity of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, although it was not his idea.  In recognition of Barry’s achievements, the city of Grand Forks, North Dakota, named a sewage lifting station after him.  Very few authors have attained this honor.

Barry lives in Miami and he really likes it there despite what people say.

Patrick Ryan is the New York Times-bestselling author of Buckeye. He is also the author of the award-winning short story collections Send Me and The Dream Life of Astronauts.  In his warm, engaging talks, Ryan explores history, identity, and imagination, inspiring audiences to see their own stories with fresh clarity and meaning.

An acclaimed novelist and short story writer, Ryan illuminates how ordinary lives reflect extraordinary times. Buckeye, praised as “a small-town novel of epic proportions” (Tom Perrotta), follows two Midwestern families across generations, from World War II through the late twentieth century. Set in the vividly rendered fictional town of Bonhomie, Ohio, the novel explores love, loss, and the shifting tides of American life with unforgettable characters and piercing emotional insight. Buckeye was a Barnes & Nobles National Book Club Pick (September of 2025), a Read with Jenna selection, and an Indy Next pick.

Ryan is a graduate of Florida State University and Bowling Green State University. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of the literary magazine One Story and is a former associate editor at Granta. He lives in New York City.

Photo Credit: Fred Blair

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