Center for Ethics and Writing, Written Arts Program, and Office of Alumni/ae Affairs Presents
A Reading with Stephanie Wambugu '20
Monday, February 23, 2026
Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium
6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
On Monday, February 23rd, at 6pm in the László Z. Bitó ’60 Auditorium, Reem-Kayden Center, writer and Bard alum Stephanie Wambugu '20 will read from her work. This reading is free and open to the public.6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Stephanie Wambugu lives in New York City. She was born in Mombasa, Kenya and grew up in New England. Her work appears in The Nation, Granta, frieze, Bookforum and The Drift. Her debut novel Lonely Crowds was published by Little, Brown in 2025. Learn more about Stephanie Wambugu's work here.
This reading will be preceded by a reception for the Center for Ethics and Writing Journal at 5:10pm. All are welcome to join.
Praise for Lonely Crowds
"Extraordinary...Wambugu writes with an easy wit, her sentences as approachable as her deeply relatable narrator…it’s the specificity of this young woman’s mind, the contours with which she draws the characters and environments around her, that make Lonely Crowds exceptional…"—The New York Times Book Review
"[An] uncommonly elegant debut novel...” — The Cut
“The debut novel from Stephanie Wambugu makes a compelling case that friendship between girls — that thorny source of envy, love, and obsession — is an eternal narrative wellspring…This is a propulsive story about what it means to grow up with someone.”—Vulture
For more information, call 845-758-6822, or e-mail [email protected].
Time: 6:00 pm EST/GMT-5
Location: Reem-Kayden Center Laszlo Z. Bito '60 Auditorium
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