Stephine Hunt, shown on the porch of Alumni Hall Tuesday, was named the Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts earlier this summer.
NORA SMITH
Staff Writer
Hunt reveals the 2025 CLSC Unbound selection, This Is The Only Kingdom, by Jaquira Díaz with Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education Jordan Steves during the 2025 Bryant Day celebration Aug. 16, 2025 at Miller Bell Tower.
Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts Stephine Hunt wasn’t able to experience Chautauqua Institution growing up until she was hired as an employee; then, she entered the literary community she knew she would have cherished all along.
“I grew up pretty poor, and so even the free Sundays, it wasn’t really possible for my family and I to get to a place like this, even though I would have loved it,” Hunt said. She added that despite living near Chautauqua, she had only set food on the grounds once before, when working with the Smith Memorial Library for a student event while pursuing her master’s.
After graduating with a master’s in English from State University of New York at Fredonia in 2017, Hunt applied for a managerial position at what used to be known as the Chautauqua Literary and Scientific Circle Veranda. After accepting the position, Hunt said she remembers standing beneath the Miller Bell Tower and calling her father to say she recognized her surroundings but wasn’t sure why. He explained that they used to go ice fishing on the lake off the Bell Tower all the time when Hunt was younger.
“So, I knew it from the outside looking in,” Hunt said. “Then my adventure here began as an employee. I was stumbling through my understanding of what Chautauqua and the CLSC and its traditions were, all in the same year, and finding a community of literary lovers here who also love books the way I love books and writing the way I loved writing.”
In 2026, Hunt became Interim Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts, and during this year’s Aug. 6 Recognition Day Ceremony, Emily and Richard Smucker Chair for Education Jordan Steves announced Hunt as the permanent Michael I. Rudell Director of Literary Arts.
“I’m delighted and honored to have the recognition … I was really honored to share that moment with so many people of the Chautauqua Literary Arts community who have been a part of my journey for the 10 summers now that I’ve been here,” Hunt said. “It was a really moving moment, and I’m very grateful for it.”
Hunt said she is excited to keep moving forward with the literary arts community while greeting returning Chautauquans and welcoming newcomers.
“Chautauqua has certainly given me that community of people who care deeply about reading and writing and lifelong learning in ways that I maybe wouldn’t have fathomed outside of academia before finding this place,” Hunt said.
In turn, Hunt said she hopes she has given Chautauqua some visibility of what dedication to Chautauqua looks like and what that dedication can do for the community at large.
Hunt said she has seen “… some eye-opening moments as well, whether that was through the authors that we brought in and will continue to bring in or simply through my own personal experience of never having been here and probably would not have found my way here if I hadn’t started working here,” Hunt said.
Hunt said it’s important for Chautauquans to understand that “as much as we hope this place will be a beacon for hope” in rural Western New York, it remains difficult to access. She said she is thrilled with events like Chautauqua County Day and Buffalo Day.
“[They’re] so important to opening the gates in ways that aren’t possible for people to experience Chautauqua otherwise,” Hunt said. “I hope that we can continue to grow in that capacity and extend beyond the gates here because, like I said, I know I would have loved this place, and I’m sad that I didn’t find it until I was in my early 20s.”
Hunt said she grew up an avid reader with the encouragement of her parents, and while her mom prioritized reading to her, her dad made sure she always had a book in hand.
“That was a place of bonding for us,” Hunt said. “My mom is not necessarily a big reader, but she knew how important reading is and instilled that love for it in me when I was little by encouraging me to read, and I always loved writing.”
Hunt said she doesn’t often consider herself a writer outside of emails and her dissertation, but as a child, she would write plays and perform them with her sisters, knowing that the many components of literary arts couldn’t exist without one another.
“We don’t have the pieces of literature to celebrate if we don’t have writers, and we don’t have the piece of writing without an audience to share that with, and really, you don’t have great writers without them also being good readers to learn from others,” Hunt said. “So, they’re integral to each other in a way that, regardless of my life growing up and where I am now, we couldn’t exist here as a program without them.”
At 11:30 a.m. Saturday at the Bell Tower, Hunt will reveal the CLSC 2027 reading theme as well as three 2027 CLSC selections at the Bryant Day celebration. Hunt said other selections are in the works and will be announced through fall, winter and spring on Chautauqua Literary Arts’ social media and clscchq.org.
“This is where we really celebrate literature and, of course, there can’t be literature without readers, but I think it’s a really special celebration of books and one that you don’t see elsewhere,” Hunt said. She added that Bryant Day marks the beginning of the new reading year at Chautauqua.
Hunt said the celebration features the reading of a traditional poem as well as songs that have long been a part of the ceremony, including the ringing of the Bryant Bell to honor graduates of the CLSC. However, Hunt said due to damages currently in the process of restoration, it is not guaranteed that Chautauquans in attendance will have the opportunity to ring the bell.
After the ceremony, the announced book selections will be available for purchase in addition to served cookies and punch.
