The Ohio Northern University Department of English opens its 2014 Spring Reading Series with filmmaker Ya’Ke Smith in the Dicke Forum on Thursday, Feb. 20, at 3 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Smith’s work has received wide acclaim, winning awards at more than 80 film festivals, including The Cannes International Film Festival, The DC Shorts Film Festival, The Austin Film Festival, and The American Black Film Festival. He is the recipient of a Director’s Guild of America Student Film Award and an HBO Short Film Award. His short, “Katrina’s Son,” was eligible for the 2012 Academy Award in short filmmaking, and his debut feature, “Wolf,” won several awards, including the Grand Jury Prize for Best Texas Feature at the Dallas International Film Festival.
          
Smith received his Master of Fine Arts from the University of Texas at Austin’s film program. He currently is the Morgan Woodward distinguished professor of film at the University of Texas at Arlington.