Shara McCallum
Shara McCallum is from Jamaica, of Jamaican and Venezuelan parentage. She is the author of seven books of poetry, published in the US & UK, including Behold, No Ruined Stone, and Madwoman. Recognition for McCallum’s work includes a Guggenheim Fellowship, Musgrave Medal, NEA Poetry Fellowship, Hurston/Wright Legacy Award, and OCM Bocas Caribbean Poetry Prize. McCallum served as Director of the Stadler Center for Poetry from 2003-2017 and from 2021-2022 as the Penn State Laureate. A 2026-2027 Cheney Creative Fellow at the University of Leeds, McCallum directs the Creative Writing Program and is a Sparks Professor of English at Penn State.
