An award-winning Binghamton University alum came to campus Tuesday as part of the Binghamton Center for Writers’ 2012 Readers’ Series.

Katherine Arnoldi — author of the Juniper Award-winning short story collection, “All Things are Labor,” and the multi award-winning graphic novel, “The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom” — was one of six authors chosen to read as part of the series.

The Binghamton Center for Writers (BCW), established six years ago, hosts the Readers’ Series in collaboration with the creative writing program at Binghamton University. This year’s series began on Tuesday, Feb. 21 with a reading by Minrose Gwin, author of the novel “The Queen of Palmyra.”

There are two remaining sessions of the series. Poet Marilyn Nelson and two editors of literary publications are scheduled to speak on April 24 and 25, respectively. All events are free and open to the public.

The BCW Readers’ Series is sponsored by the BU English department, according to Christine Gelineau, associate director of the creative writing department.

Gelineau, who organizes the Readers’ Series, said that beyond Arnoldi’s written-work success, students would benefit from hearing about her life.

“She has a mix of experiences that she could share with the students, experiences that could be influential and encouraging to hear,” Gelineau said.

During the talk, Gelineau said Arnoldi’s works “activate the emotion rather than the action of the story,” referring to the author’s vivid and emotive writing.

Arnoldi’s read from three of her works, “The Amazing True Story of a Teenage Single Mom,” “All Things are Labor” and her unpublished book about Mennonites in Paraguay, a subject she closely relates to because of the Fulbright scholarship she was awarded in 2008 to gather research.

Her writing debut, “The Amazing True Story of a Single Mom,” is an autobiographical graphic novel about finally attending college after facing numerous struggles, including rape, teen parenthood and an abusive boyfriend.

Her undergraduate degree in art was put to use when creating her graphic novel.

“When I first started, I thought, I’ll just write my story and I’ll practice cartooning and practice my style as I go,” Arnoldi said. “But style is inescapable … it’s your nature.”

Gabrielle Marshall, a junior majoring in English, enjoyed Arnoldi’s unique take on graphic novels.

“I think my favorite part about this reading was the graphic novels, because I always imagined them being about superheroes,” Marshall said. “I like the fact that she wrote something so different and innovative in that form. It changed my perception on them.”

Arnoldi’s book was written about in The New York Times and named one of the top 10 books of the year by Entertainment Weekly. She also made guest appearances on “The Today Show” and CNN.

Arnoldi continues to write about her life experiences. She is currently working on a novel that came about due to her own struggles of being a Mennonite — an Eastern European sect of the Protestant church — living in New York City.

“I’m interested in their commitment to peace and how they can keep their commitment to peace,” Arnoldi said. “My theory is that they don’t have a sense of private property and that’s how come they’re able to be peaceful, because they’ll just get up and leave. And that’s why I was interested in their migration.”

While spending a year in Paraguay under the Fulbright Scholarship, she learned more about the Mennonite population there, which had fled there from Ukraine during the Bolshevik Revolution. She showed pictures of her time there during the presentation, and explained their current situation. The reading of her unpublished book showed how her experiences in 120-degree Paraguay helped her write a detailed novel.

Arnoldi aims to prevent discrimination against teenage mothers while working to get young mothers the education they deserve.

Arnoldi said she remembers her time at Binghamton University fondly, as she said it was a place where she received maximum support and had professors who believed in her even when she did not.

“The support of people makes you feel good even if you don’t believe in yourself,” Arnoldi said of all of her supportive professors at Binghamton University.

Arnoldi gave advice on how to enter the writing world.

“If you want to do something, don’t let anything stand in your way,” Arnoldi said. “Be like a good plot, be a character that wants something and overcomes the obstacles to achieve it.”

Therese Rice, a senior triple-majoring in human development, Latin American and Caribbean Area Studies and Spanish, said she was encouraged by Arnoldi’s presentation.

“It’s inspiring to hear about a Binghamton alum, not only pushing through all the odds against her, but doing so and being so successful,” Rice said. “It’s great that she’s able to talk about her experiences and share it with people so that they can be inspired by her and see that they don’t have to be stuck.”