UF students and Gainesville residents who are interested in creative writing are encouraged to attend the 2014 Florida Writers Festival.
The three-day event, which is coordinated by third-year students in UF’s creative writing graduate program MFA@FLA, celebrates the art of creative writing with readings and talks from established fiction writers and poets.
The year’s festival, which will be its 65th, starts today and ends Saturday.
“We have some really good writers coming,” said Ryan Smith, assistant to the MFA program directors and one of the coordinators of the festival.
This year’s authors include Rivka Galchen, Myla Goldberg, Michael Dickman, UF alumnus Kevin Canty, who received his master’s degree in English, and former U.S. Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner Charles Simic.
“All of them are writers that the students and faculty think are exceptional,” Smith said.
Students in the MFA program select authors, Smith explained. After several are nominated, students vote on which writers they would like to see at the festival and work with faculty to bring them to Gainesville.
“When we nominate them, usually it’s someone we admire, someone we read and we love and would love to meet,” said Paulette Bane, a third-year MFA student who will be working at the festival.
Goldberg will read and answer questions about her work today at 7 p.m. at the Alachua County Library District Headquarters, 401 E. University Ave. The following events will be in the Ustler Hall Atrium: Dickman’s and Galchen’s readings Friday at 8 p.m. as well as Canty’s and Simic’s readings Saturday at 8 p.m.
All authors will come together Saturday to give craft talks at 1 p.m. at Ustler Hall on topics ranging from tips about writing to personal anecdotes about the creative process,
Bane said.
After the readings, attendees will have the opportunity to purchase books by the authors, as well as get autographs and ask questions.
“One thing that has surprised me about the festival is how interactive it’s been and how approachable these (authors) are,” Smith said. “It’s fun to both see them perform but then also potentially have the chance to interact with them.”
The event is made possible by UF’s Department of English, the Center for Women’s Studies and Gender Research, and donations from Terry and Dorothy Smiljanich.
The festival is open to the public and free for all who attend.
“Come one, come all,” Bane said.
For more information about the festival’s location and schedule, visit english.ufl.edu/events.html.
