Award-winning author Lee Martin gave a reading of his newest short story Thursday night at Prout Chapel.

“It has been years since I’ve stood in front of a congregation like this,” Martin said as he began reading his story to the nearly-filled chapel.

Martin read his most recent work, “Belly Talk,” a short story about child abuse as seen through the eyes of a young disabled boy in the 1970s.

According to those present, Martin was an enthusiastic and entertaining reader, varying his tone of voice while speaking as different characters.

“He was very animated,” Brian Stambaugh, a senior, said. “It was a very good reading.”

The event was part of the College of Arts and Sciences Visiting Writer Series, which features readings by published poets, fiction and nonfiction writers and graduate students.

The series is sponsored by Mid-American Review, a national literary magazine based on campus.

“We don’t get a lot of fiction writers [reading for the Visiting Writer Series],” Paul Cales, a Creative Writing major, said. “It was a nice change.”

“I was just glad to get invited to come and read,” Martin said. “It was a really nice opportunity to meet some of the writers I admire.” Earlier Thursday, Martin conducted a brief writing workshop with University students.

“I met with students from the program, and [we] talked about their stories,” Martin said.

Martin teaches Creative Writing at Ohio State University and is the author of multiple works, including the memoir “From Our House,” the novel “Quakertown” and the short-story collection “The Least You Need to Know.”

He has won the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction as well as fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts and the Ohio Arts Council.

Visiting Writer Series readings are usually held on Thursday evenings in the Prout Chapel.

Editor’s Note: For more information about the series, visit www.bgsu.edu/departments/creative-writing.