A walk through the woods was a fitting start to a writing series about land and environment.

“Imagining the Land” is a 10-event series stretching through late March about creative writing. Visiting writers read from their books and poems.

The series has been revived by Stephen Pett and Debra Marquart, both associate professors of English.

Colin Rafferty, graduate student in English and student coordinator for the series, said the creative writing program received money from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences to renew the series.

The first public readings took place on Saturday. The readings were done by two visiting writers-in-residence at Iowa State.

Todd Davis, chairman of the English department at Goshen College in Indiana, read poems from his collection “Ripe: Poems.”

Davis said his poems were inspired by his childhood in Indiana and the cycles of nature.

Katharine Whitcomb, a fellow at both Stanford University and the University of Wisconsin at Madison, read from her collection “The Saints of South Dakota.” She said her poems dealt with the memory of old friends.

The guest speakers are from across the country, and some have connections to Iowa State.

“A lot of people come from outside of ISU writing on issues of land and identity,” Rafferty said. He added that the series is something they want to keep going as long as they can.

The crowd seemed to admire the poets.

“After reading [Whitcomb’s] poetry, I couldn’t imagine hearing it aloud would be as powerful as it was,” said Erika Mueller, graduate student in English.

Pulitzer Prize winner and former ISU faculty member Jane Smiley will be the next guest in the series.

She will read at 7 p.m. on Sept. 26 in the Brunnier Gallery of the Scheman Building.

Michael Martone, professor of English and director of creative writing at University of Alabama at Tuscaloosa, was at Iowa State on Sunday.

Other visitors include:

Oct. 6 – Gina Ochsner at 7 p.m. in the Oak Room of the Memorial Union.

Oct. 23 – Betty Russell at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Jan. 30 – Amiri Baraka at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Feb. 2 – Virgil Suarez at 7 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

Feb. 19 – Barry Lopez at 8 p.m. in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union.

The series concludes March 27 with Tim Seibles at 8 p.m. in the Memorial Union Gallery.