On Thursday Georgia Southern University will welcome writer and artist Elena Karina Byrne to Statesboro.

Byrne will be giving a craft talk and then hosting a Q&A from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. in the Newton Building. Later in the evening, she will be reading some of her poetry from 6:30 pm to 7:30 pm in the Parker College of Business.

Byrne, a California native and the 2015 recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from Beyond Baroque’s Literary Art Center is a visual artist, freelance editor, book reviewer and professor according to her website.

She serves as the Literary Programs Director for The Ruskin Art Club and is a Poetry Consultant and Moderator for The Los Angeles Times Festival of Books every year.

Byrne has published many works including books of her poetry as well as a forthcoming collection of essays entitled “Beautiful Insignificance.” She is also currently working with West Hollywood’s Book Fair’s Planning Committee and Red Car Studios on multiple short film pieces according to literary magazine Ghost Town’s website.

Savannah Johnson, The George-Anne Canidate, ganewsed@georgiasouthern.edu