On March 18, the spring Literature in Person event was held in the Ferris Fine Art Gallery, featuring award-winning author Colleen Alles.
Alles has published numerous books, including three novels and two poetry collections. In 2025, she published her debut short fiction collection, “Close to a Flame,” which was a finalist for the National Indie Excellence Award.
Throughout the event, Alles read a variety of published pieces, including “Cusping” from “Close to a Flame.” Additionally, she read several poems featuring her children, who she mentioned often show up in her writing, sometimes unintentionally.
Alles reflected on her process of writing the short fiction collection she read from, as well as its themes.
“The short story collection ‘Close to a Flame’ took me 20-plus years to put together,” Alles said. “The first short story I wrote in college as an undergrad, and then from there I just kept coming back to themes around friendship, themes around relationships.”
Often, Alles writes about experiences with her children and being a mother. She read two poems about her children— one about her daughter and one about her son. Additionally, she talked about being a young mother and writer many years ago when her children were little.
“I wrote a lot of those short stories when my two kids were young, so I was adjusting to new motherhood, being home a lot more, and trying to write and revise during nap time, which is good for a short story if it’s only 3,000 words,” Alles said.
Motherhood is a major theme throughout a lot of her writing, especially relating to the anxiety she has experienced being a mother.
“I think motherhood comes up a lot, and specifically anxiety and motherhood,” Alles said. “I think the poems and the short fiction carry this hypervigilance of worry over what might happen, given that we live in times that feel kind of dark and scary, but the work is always trying to, at the same time, be positive and lean toward the light.”
While themes of motherhood crop up frequently, dark humor also often manifests in her work, which many attendees enjoyed about the reading.
Literature in Person coordinator, author and professor Deirdre Fagan talked about what she enjoyed about hearing Alles read her work.
“I love the dark humor and the work that Colleen read,” Fagan said. “It was fabulous, and I love her ability to get into the voice of the teenagers and the fiction.”
For every Literature in Person event, Fagan decides which author to bring in, often considering the material she is currently teaching students, as she invites the speaker to talk to her students during class time as well.
Fagan mentioned how she met Alles and why she decided to invite her to share her work at this spring’s Literature in Person event.
“We met at a conference, and I became aware of her work,” Fagan said. “I’m teaching advanced creative writing right now, where students choose the genre that they want to work on, and she’s a multi-genre author, so she 100% fit the needs of that classroom.”
About a dozen people attended the event in person, and many more attended the Zoom livestream. Many audience members inquired about her work and discussed what they appreciated in Alles’s writing.
Integrative studies senior Brianna Bentley was one in person attendee who talked about what she enjoyed about the event.
“[I liked] just learning more about a different author’s perspective, especially a Michigan author. So I love hearing about writers from my area,” Bentley said.
Additionally, Bentley talked about her unique appreciation for Alles’s work as a creative writer herself.
“I just love seeing the different types of authors that get to come through and everything, but I’m also a creative writer, so I love learning more about the process and their experiences and stuff like that.”
Finally, Bentley talked about what is relatable about Alles’ writing, specifically surrounding being a parent.
“Weirdly enough, I’m not a parent, but I am an aunt, and I have just noticed a lot in my writing that they have popped up, just the love you have for the kids in your life and everything,” Bentley said. “I love hearing parents when they put their kids into their artwork.”
For more information about previous Literature in Person events, visit Ferris’ Literature in Person website or contact the event’s coordinator, Deirdre Fagan.