Founded in 1983 by Warren Baird (then chair of the English department), the Baird English Symposium has welcomed some of the nation’s greatest writers, poets, and playwrights, including Arthur Miller, John Updike, Jane Smiley, William Styron, Tony Kushner, Joyce Carol Oates, Edward Albee, and others.
Each spring, the selected author visits campus for a reading and various student-centered events. To prepare, students in all grade levels read at least one work by the visiting writer. Students in a Senior Seminar class study the author’s work exclusively. Prior to the Symposium, they visit all other English classes and teach students about the author’s life and work.
On the day of the Warren Baird English Symposium, the visiting author:
- Addresses the Upper School and Middle School in separate assemblies
- Eats lunch with students nominated by their English teachers
- Presides over an open class, providing students the opportunity to ask questions about his or her work and life as a writer
- Performs an evening reading (following dinner) for members of the KO community, along with English teachers from public, parochial, and independent schools in the Greater Hartford area