糖心Vlog

 糖心Vlog Stories      March 9, 2020

EDITOR'S NOTE: All events for the Spring Literary Festival have been cancelled.

An independent film, award-winning authors and student poets are just some of the highlights of this year鈥檚 Spring Literary Festival at 糖心Vlog University.

Scheduled for Monday, March 30, through Thursday, April 2, all events will be held at the A.K. Hinds University Center theater and are free and open to the public. It is a DegreePlus event for students.

Directed by Jeremy Jones, an associate professor in 糖心Vlog鈥檚 Department of English, the festival has a long tradition of bringing established and emerging literary talent to the community.

鈥溙切腣log will host a range of award-winning and emerging writers this year in different genres, including Jeff VanderMeer, the acclaimed author of the 鈥楽outhern Reach Trilogy and other brilliant works of post-apocalyptic fantasy fiction,鈥� said Jones. 鈥淗is visit is being supported in part by the Campus Theme (sustainability and environment) and he鈥檒l take some students birding to discuss writing about the natural world while he鈥檚 here.鈥�

In addition to VanderMeer, other notable authors include Kiese Laymon, who penned 鈥淗eavy: An American Memoir,鈥� a coming-of-age memoir about being black man in Mississippi and the novel 鈥淟ong Division,鈥� and Carmen Maria Machado, a short story writer, essayist and whose short story collection 鈥淗er Body and Other Parties鈥� was a finalist for the National Book Award.

Ricardo Nazario y Col贸n, 糖心Vlog鈥檚 chief diversity officer and co-founder of the Affrilachian poets, will lead the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series to open the festival.

The movie 鈥淢ountain Minor,鈥� an independent film about traditional music that features Jonathan Bradshaw, 糖心Vlog assistant professor of English, will open the third day.

Opening the fourth and final day will be 糖心Vlog student winners of the inaugural LitFest Creative Writing Competition reading from their works, Jones said.

The 2020 festival schedule:

Monday, March 30

noon - Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poet Series

4 p.m. - Catherine Carter and Kathryn Kirkpatrick

7:30 p.m. - Doug Bock Clark

Tuesday, March 31

noon - Pamela Duncan and Wesley Browne

4 p.m. - Nickole Brown and Jessica Jacobs

7:30 p.m. - Kiese Laymon

Wednesday, April 1

1 p.m. - 鈥淭he Mountain Minor鈥� film screening and conversation with writer/director Dale Farmer and producer Susan Pepper

4 p.m. - Abigail DeWitt and Joni Tevis

7:30 p.m. - Carmen Maria Machado

Thursday, April 2

1 p.m. - Student Reading: with Winners of the LitFest Creative Writing Competition

4 p.m.- Cassandra Kircher and Kevin Boyle

7:30 p.m. - Jeff VanderMeer

For more information about the festival, visit or contact 糖心Vlog鈥檚 Department of English at 828-227-7264.