Imagine sitting two rows away from a legend.
For writers across the state, the next three days will be their chance.
The 62nd Florida Writers' Festival begins today at UF with a series of readings and lectures from five award-winning authors.
The festival, which is free and open to the public, will bring a wide range of authors to Gainesville, including David Berman, Amy Hempel, Laura Kasischke, Kevin Young and D.A. Powell.
Events will kick off this evening with a reading from Berman at 6 at the Alachua County Public Library, located at 401 E University Ave.
All other events will be held at the Ustler Hall Atrium.
Hempel and Powell will read from new and published works at 8 p.m. on Friday, followed by an informal reception. Saturday will begin with craft talks from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m., where the authors discuss what processes they use for their own writing.
The festival will end at 8 p.m. with readings from Kasischke and Young.
For the second year in a row, the festival will be organized and planned by graduate students of UF's master of fine arts program for creative writing, in conjunction with the Alachua County Library District Headquarters.
David Fishman, a 30-year-old third-year creative writing graduate student, is just one co-organizer responsible for planning the entire festival.
"We were able to secure a very strong lineup of writers. We have five writers this year as opposed to only three last year. It's a much more diverse group," Fishman said.
Previously, writers were selected by the department's faculty. Fishman said they always chose good writers, but once students took control two years ago, they went for a more democratic approach in deciding which writers to invite.
"We solicit among the grad students ideas for readers and then conduct a survey that all grad students are invited to vote in," he said.
Becca Evanhoe, a 28-year-old second-year creative writing graduate student, another organizer of the event, expects about 100 to 200 people to attend the festival. Both graduate and undergraduate students are invited to the event, as well as people outside Gainesville.
"I think that it's important we highlight the fact that Gainesville is not a one-horse town," Fishman said. "We're not just football and nothing else. Gainesville has a very vibrant art scene."
