The events are hosted by the creative writing department.
From an eclectic array of authors offering work influenced by topics such as jazz, feminism and African-American life, the Ohio University Creative Writing Department’s Literary Festival is back for its 30th year.
“Lit Fest” features readings, lectures and performances from visiting authors.
“I always enjoy going to Lit Fest,” said Grace Pauley, a junior studying English. “As an undergraduate student, hearing from successful writers is invaluable. This year, I'm excited for Marie Howe's reading and Robert Pinsky's performance.”
All events are free to the public. The visiting writers include poets Marie Howe and Robert Pinsky, essayist Brian Doyle, prose writer and poet Dorothy Allison, and novelist Charles Johnson.
This year’s Lit Fest will feature a diverse selection of writers, said James Miranda, assistant to the director of special programs in the English department and a PhD candidate.
“We try to make sure that we have writers coming from a variety of backgrounds,” Miranda said. “It would be impossible to put any of these five writers into a single generic box, and so I'm excited to see how they all feed off of each other in their various events and presentations.”
Howe is an award-winning poet. Her work includes What The Living Do, an elegy for her brother who died of AIDS in 1989. Her most recent book of poems •The Kingdom of Ordinary Time is a work that is less autobiographical, centering on the metaphysical, spiritual sides of reality.
Allison’s writing focuses on themes of feminism, sexuality and abuse. Her work has been cinematically adapted, and much of her writing has been featured in numerous anthologies.
Johnson is a writer whose novel The Middle Passage won the National Book Award. His work often focuses on African-American life, philosophy and adventurous historical narratives.
Pinsky was named United States Poet Laureate in 1997. He served until 2000. Instead of a lecture, Pinsky is opting for a musical performance that will mix poetry and live jazz, collaborating with members of OU’s music department.
Doyle is the author of 13 books, including Mink River, Grace Note, and Bin Laden’s Bald Spot & Other Stories.
“I hope to have a chance to jazz a few students into realizing writing at its best isn't about the writer at all but about all of us,” Doyle said. “(To have) the chance to deface a lot of my books with my awful, illegible scrawl that looks like a cricket bled to death on the page. …To give my cheerfully rude opinions about great writers and terrible ones, offered with panache and no scholarly expertise. I might sing.”
sn002310@ohio.edu
