S-I-U creative writing professor Allison Joseph is organizing a reading benefit to raise money for victims of Hurricane Harvey.
She says it's not the first time the creative writing program has hosted something like this: it's organized benefits for the Joplin tornado, Hurricane Sandy, and even back to the devastation of Katrina.
She says those past events were successful in raising money.
"Particularly, if I remember correctly, the Joplin one because we connected it to the work of Langston Hughes, who born in Joplin, Missouri. So we did a reading of his work and he's a very popular author.
Joseph says performers include both students and community members, who will be able to read original work or works from writers in the affected area.
"After you get tired of watching things on TV and feeling helpless to help, you need a mechanism to do something, to make your voice heard."
The Harvey benefit will be held on September 14th from seven to nine p.m. at the Harvey T. Moore auditorium in Faner Hall.
All proceeds will go to the American Red Cross.
Interested readers should contact Allison Joseph at aljsoseph@siu.edu by Friday, Sept. 1.