ATHENS, Ohio (April 23, 2001) -- What has two poets, two fiction writers and a philosopher?

It's Ohio University's 2001 Spring Literary Festival, set for May 9 through 11 on the Athens campus. This year's lineup comprises novelist Barry Hannah, short story and novella writer Amy Hempel, poets Frank Bidart and Lynn Emanuel, and feminist philosopher and author Mary Daly. The writers will lecture and give a reading of their work. "The university is fortunate to host such an acclaimed group of authors at the Spring Literary Festival," said Ohio University Director of Creative Writing Darrell Spencer. "Each of our guests illustrates how literature can illuminate and invigorate. We welcome students, faculty and community members to attend the festival and take part in this celebration."

Bidart has published four books of poetry, most recently "Desire." He is the recipient of the Wallace Stevens Award from the Academy of American Poets. "Desire," won the 1998 Bobbitt Prize and received nominations for the Pulitzer Prize, the National Book Award and the National Book Critics Circle Award. The work is described by Forrest Gander of the "Bloomsbury Review" as "Overtly spiritual, utterly unique in its compositional texture."

Daly began her journey as a theologian and a writer with the publication of her first book in 1968, "The Church and the Second Sex." Thirty-five years later, with seven books to her credit, Daly has become one of the icons of the radical feminist movement. Daly, who taught at Boston College for more than 30 years, lectures frequently throughout the United States and Europe. Emanuel is the author of three books of poetry, including "Hotel Fiesta," "The Dig" and "Then, Suddenly--." "Then, Suddenly--" received the Eric Matthieu King Award from the Academy of American Poets. Her work has been widely anthologized, appearing in the Pushcart Prize anthology and in four collections of the "Best American Poetry" series Hannah has published eight novels and six collections of short stories. His new novel, "Yonder Stands Your Orphan," is due out in July. His numerous awards include a Robert Penn Warren Lifetime Achievement Award from the Fellowship of Southern Writers and a Richard Wright Award in Fiction. His latest collection, "High Lonesome", received a Faulkner Foundation Award. Hannah is a tenured Writer-in-Residence at the University of Mississippi in Oxford.

Fiction writer Hempel is known for her precise poetic style. Her most recent work is "Tumble Home." Hempel's first collection of short stories, "Reasons to Live," includes the acclaimed story "In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson is Buried," which Hempel wrote while a student at Columbia. The story has been included in the "The Norton Anthology of Contemporary Fiction" and has been translated into 15 languages.

Since 1986, the Spring Literary Festival has presented some of the nation's most notable and talented writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry. The festival is sponsored by the Program in Creative Writing of the Department of English and supported by the College of Arts and Sciences.

Here's a schedule for readings and lectures by this year's festival guests:

Wednesday, May 9: Amy Hempel reading, 7:30 p.m.; Frank Bidart, reading, 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, May 10: Hempel lecture, 11 a.m.; Barry Hannah lecture, noon; Lynn Emanuel lecture, 7:30 p.m.; Mary Daly reading, 8:30 p.m.

Friday, May 11: Bidart lecture, 11 a.m.; Daly lecture, noon; Emanuel reading, 7:30 p.m.; Hannah reading, 8:30 p.m.

All readings and lectures are free and will be held in Irvine Auditorium on the West Green near the College of Osteopathic Medicine. Free parking will be available at the Convocation Center.