The New York State Writers Institute has announced its schedule of readings and film screenings for the spring session. All events are free and open to the public (except for American Place Theatre’s production of “The Kite Runner”). All events take place on the University of Albany campus unless otherwise noted. Here’s the complete line-up of events:

Alan Lightman, novelist and science writer
Thursday, February 2
Seminar — 4:15pm, Campus Center Assembly Hall
Reading — 8pm, Campus Center Assembly Hall
The theoretical physicist, best-selling author and explorer of the intersection between the sciences and the humanities reads from his most recent book, “Mr. g: A Novel About the Creation.”

“Slavery by Another Name”
Friday, February 3
Film screening and commentary — 7pm, Peforming Arts Center’s Recital Hall
Director Samuel Pollard’s film is based on Douglas A. Blackmon’s Pulitzer Prize-winning book about the abuse of black laborers in the United States from the end of the Civil War through the middle of the 20th century. Douglas A. Blackmon and Sheila Curran Bernard, who wrote the film, will participate in a Q&A session following the screening.

Teju Cole, novelist and street photographer
Friday, February 10
Seminar — 4:15pm, Campus Center Assembly Hall
Reading — 8pm, Performing Arts Center’s Recital Hall
Born in the US, Raised in Nigeria and returned to the U.S in 1992 at the age of 17, Cole reads from his acclaimed debut novel “Open City,” the story of a young Nigerian-German psychiatrist who wanders the streets of Manhattan exploring the city’s landscapes, people and his own feelings of isolation.

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