PHILADELPHIA - John McPhee, Jamaica Kincaid, and Donald Hall have been named Kelly Writers House Fellows at the University of Pennsylvania for 2007.

McPhee is a pioneer in literary non-fiction and has written nearly 30 books. Kincaid explores mother-daughter relationships, the effects of colonialism and alienation.  Donald Hall is the current U.S. poet laureate and has published 15 poetry books.

Each Fellow will visit Kelly Writers House to participate in two public events in the spring and to meet with students enrolled in a seminar taught by Al Filreis, Writers House faculty director and a Penn professor of English.

"We read and discuss the writings of each Fellow, and then after a month or so, the writer appears in person," Filreis said.

Fellows are selected on the basis of their eminence, critical success and their compatibility with the philosophy of the Writers House, a participatory literary democracy.

The Kelly Writers House Fellows Program is funded by Paul Kelly, a Penn alumnus and trustee.  

Founded in 1995 by a group of students, faculty, staff and alumni, Kelly Writers House is a 13-room house on Penn's campus that serves as a center for writers of all kinds from all disciplines.  Each semester, it hosts nearly 150 public programs and projects, including poetry readings, film screenings, seminars, lectures, dinners, workshops and art exhibits.

All Kelly Writers House events are free and open to the public.