Celebrated Author Speaks on Campus

Celebrated Author Speaks on Campus

Lauren Groff, a best-selling author and three-time finalist for the National Book Award, speaks Tuesday evening at the 2025-26 Edward Shapiro Distinguished Lecture Series hosted by the Judith Herb College of Art, Social Sciences and Education at The University of Toledo.

Groff, whose debut novel, "The Monsters of Templeton," appeared on the New York Times Best Seller list in 2008, has received a number of accolades in recent years, including the PEN/O. Henry Award, Pushcart Prize, Story Prize and Joyce Carol Oates Prize.

Following her Tuesday presentation on campus she held a book signing and met with fans, including Toledoan Erin Marten.

Groff's work has appeared in The New Yorker, Harper's and The Atlantic, among other publications, as well several annual anthologies of The Best American Short Stories. Her most recent novel, "The Vaster Wilds" (2023), is a survival narrative that portrays a girl's powerfully intimate relationship with God.

The Edward Shapiro Distinguished Lecture Series is named in honor of the late Dr. Edward Shapiro, an alumnus and professor emeritus of economics who endowed funds to support an annual lecture series that brings world-renowned speakers to Toledo. Past Shapiro Lecture Series speakers have included Dr. Temple Grandin, the Rev. Dr. William J. Barber II, Tony Kushner, Rhiannon Giddens, Audra McDonald, Toni Morrison and Elie Wiesel.