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 and 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.
