Gainesville residents will have the rare opportunity to see and hear five lauded authors read their own works during a three-day event that starts on Thursday evening.
The Florida Writers Festival will start at the Alachua County Library District Headquarters at 7:30 p.m.
The 63rd annual festival includes four free separate events and will feature the following authors: Lauren Groff, Mary Gaitskill, Ben Lerner, Karen Solie and Kevin Wilson, said Rebecca Evanhoe, 29, head festival organizer and assistant to the director for the MFA in creative writing program.
“The writers we’ve picked have very distinct writing styles,” said Evanhoe, also a third-year graduate student in the fiction writing track of the MFA in creative writing program.
Individuals will listen to the authors speak and have a Q&A session with them during Craft Talks on Saturday afternoon.
She said that to choose the authors, graduate students within the program each selected their favorite authors and then voted on the top 10.
The Friday and Saturday events will be held on campus at the Ustler Hall Atrium.
Heather Peterson, a second-year graduate student in the fiction track of the MFA in creative writing program, considers the authors almost heroes.
“It’s like going to a concert and seeing your favorite band play their music live,” Peterson, 27, said.
