For the 44th year, St. Andrews University will hold a weekly writers' forum featuring local and regional guest writers.

The forum takes place Thursday evenings during the semester, beginning at 8 p.m. in Orange Main lounge. The schedule includes five open mic nights in addition to the six featured readers.

India Night will open the fall semester activities Sept. 9. Dr. Neal Bushoven and the students and alumni who joined him on a three-week trek to India over the summer will share thoughts and insights from the journey.

"India is the most accessible different place," said Bushoven, who has traveled to India more than 20 times. "Each time, I learn something different. The people are among the most friendly you will ever meet. It is a good place to teach people how to be travelers. I have been gifted with the ability to have people feel comfortable there."

The first open mic will take place Sept. 13. Individuals interested in sharing their work are asked to sign up the night of the reading with student host Catherine Stumberg. Readings are limited to between five and seven minutes to allow for all readers to have an opportunity to share.

Additional open mics will take place Sept. 27, Oct. 11, Nov. 1 and Nov. 15.

Beth Copeland, a St. Andrews graduate and 2001 Ethel Fortner Writer and Community Award winner, will be the featured reader Sept. 20. She is currently serving as an instructor of English at Methodist University. Her poetry has received awards from Arts & Letters, Atlanta Review, New Millennium Writings, North American Review, the North Carolina Poetry Society and Peregrine.

Her book "Traveling Through Glass" received the 1999 Bright Hill Press National Poetry Book Award. Her personal essays have been published in The Chicago Tribune, "Chicken Soup for the Mother's Soul 2" and Christian Science Monitor. In addition to her bachelor's degree from St. Andrews, she holds a Master of Fine Arts degree from Bowling Green State University.

Gilbert Abraham, coach, community activist, former basketball player and St. Andrews graduate, takes center stage Oct. 4. He received the Gilbert-Chappell Award for the Central Region of North Carolina in 2004. His collection of poetry, "Blood and Dreams," was published by St. Andrews Press in 2006.

"It was the most calming and humbling thing to know that I was thought well enough of that I would be blessed with the privilege to have my work published by my alma mater," Abraham said. "I was completely humbled and filled with the joy of a child."

Abraham is the lead trainer and founder of Akin Athletics, a basketball-specific training program. He holds a degree in politics and creative writing from St. Andrews and a master's degree in public administration from the University of North Carolina at Pembroke.

Jim Kacian, American haiku poet, editor, publisher and public speaker, takes the featured reader position Oct. 18. He has published 16 books of poetry, with 14 dedicated to haiku or haiku-related genres.

In 1993, he founded Red Moon Press, the largest publisher of haiku and haiku-related books outside Japan, with more than 60 titles in print.

In 1999, Kacian co-founded the World Haiku Association with Ban'ya Natsuishi and Dimitar Anakiev. In 2008, he formed and created the Haiku Foundation, a nonprofit organization which focuses on archiving English-language haiku's first century.

Kacian has received numerous awards for his haiku, including the Kusamakura International Haiku Competition, the Winter Moon International Haiku Competition, Cascina Macondo Concorso Intarnazionale de Poesia Haiku in Lingua Italiana 5a Edizione, and the 17th Ito-En Haiku Competition Judge's Award.

Acclaimed poet and alumnus Bobby Price will be the featured reader Oct. 25. A native of Goldsboro, Price graduated from St. Andrews,where he double-majored in English and philosophy. He received the Bunn-McClelland Memorial Chapbook award for "Strangulation" and had his second collection of poems, "Visualize," published in 1986. His most recent book, "The View From the Void," about his illness and recovery from a brain tumor and stroke, was published in 2009.

Poet, publisher, attorney and child advocate Nancy Henry will read Nov. 8. Henry is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, "Our Lady of Let's All Sing," "Who You Are" and "Sarx." She co-founded Moon Pie Press and served as co-editor until 2005.

Her four chapbooks include "Anything Can Happen," "Hard," "Eros Ion" and "Europe." She previously served as assistant attorney general of the state of Maine in the Department of Child Protection. She holds a bachelor's degree in political science from St. Andrews and a law degree from the University of Maine School of Law.

Anyone needing more information about the writers' forum, creative writing or the St. Andrews Press can call (910) 277-5310, email press@sapc.edu or visit the website www. sapc.edu.