The UofL College of Arts and Sciences, Commonwealth Center for the Humanities and Society and Kentucky Shakespeare are encouraging audience members to wear red to The Bard’s Cards evenings at in Central Park in Old Louisville.

UofL English professors and literature scholars will give pre-show talks, beginning at 7:15 p.m. on the C. Douglas Ramey Amphitheater stage, where the Kentucky Shakespeare performances will follow at 8 p.m. The events and speakers will be:

• June 4: talk by Joseph Turner before the comedy “Much Ado About Nothing”
• July 16: talk by Andrew Rabin before the history play “Richard II”
• July 26: talk by Matthew Biberman before “The Merchant of Venice,” a production of Kentucky Shakespeare’s Globe Players high school training program.

Seating on benches is first come, first served, but patrons also are allowed to bring chairs and blankets. Food and beverages are available for purchase. Central Park is at 1340 S. Fourth St.; parking is available along the bordering Fourth, Magnolia, Sixth and Park streets.

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The English department’s creative writing program offers the public readings and master classes through the Anne and William Axton Reading Series, which invites distinguished writers for the free. public events. Here’s the :

Feb. 2-3 – Marcus Wicker, a poet whose second book “Silencer” is due out this year, will read from his work at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 2 in the Writing Center, Ekstrom Library, and lead a two-hour master class at 10 a.m. Feb. 3 in Room 300, Bingham Humanities Building. His collection “Maybe the Saddest Thing” was a National Poetry Series winner and a finalist for an NAACP Image Award. He won the Poetry Foundation’s Ruth Lilly Fellowship and a Pushcart Prize.

March 2-3 – Michael Garriga, assistant professor of English and creative writing teacher at Baldwin Wallace University, will read from his work at 4 p.m. March 2 in Bingham Poetry Room, Ekstrom Library, and lead a two-hour master class at 10 a.m. March 3 in Room 300, Bingham Humanities Building. The UofL alumnus is founder and editor of the online journal Fiction Southeast and author of the short-story collection “The Book of Duels.”

March 7 – David Grossman, Israeli author and peace activist, will lead a 90-minute master class at 3 p.m. in Room 300, Bingham Humanities Building, and give the third annual Jewish Heritage Fund for Excellence lecture at 7:30 p.m. in Chao Auditorium, Ekstrom Library. His internationally-acclaimed novels and journalism have been translated into more than 35 languages.

April 6-7 – Kim Brooks, Chicago-based author of the 2016 novel “The Houseguest,” will read from her work at 7:30 p.m. April 6 in Bingham Poetry Room, Ekstrom Library, and lead a 10 a.m. master class April 7 in Room 300, Bingham Humanities Building. Her “Small Animals: A Memoir of Parenthood and Fear” is set for 2017 publication. Her stories and essays have appeared in journals and publications including Glimmer Train, Salon and New York Magazine.

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