UF students have a chance to meet successful authors and poets at an MFA@FLA event starting Thursday.
MFA@FLA, the creative writing graduate program at UF, will host the 65th annual Florida Writers Festival from Thursday to Saturday.
“Because we’re learning to be creative writers and poets, it’s great to have the opportunity to hear successful writers speak about their work,” said Ryan Smith, assistant to the directors of the program and primary coordinator of the event.
Writers at the event include Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Charles Simic and UF alumnus and author Kevin Canty.
Canty graduated from UF with a master’s degree in English and has written four novels and three collections of short stories, Smith said.
The festival will also host Myla Goldberg, Michael Dickman and Rivka Galchen. All the presenters range from up-and-coming writers to well-established writers.
Goldberg will kick off the festival with a reading at 7 p.m. Thursday at the Alachua County Library District Headquarters downtown.
Dickman and Galchen will host their readings Friday night while Canty and Simic will speak Saturday night, all at UF’s Ustler Hall Atrium.
On Saturday afternoon, the five authors will participate in craft talks designed to give audience members a behind-the-scenes look at their writing process, Smith said.
“It’s a candid look into a writer’s process, rather than having them just share the work itself,” Smith said.
MFA@FLA also received help from the Alachua County Library for the event.
Lisa Finch, librarian supervisor of adult services at Alachua County Library Headquarters, said the library has put up posters and handed out fliers to advertise the event.
Writers for the festival were chosen based on recommendations from students and faculty in the creative writing program.
Smith said they compile a list and send out invitations from that list.
“It’s great that we have a relationship with the library and can coordinate with them in order to reach the larger Gainesville community,” Smith said.
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 11/4/2014]
