Lit. Fest Top 10
May
07
by Brittany McFarland
Being at lit Fest 2011 was an amazing experience. We were honored to be able to enjoy lectures and readings from Rita Dove, Rosellen Brown, Tobias Wolff, Padgett Powell and Debra Marquart. We were exposed to many different styles that the authors use. The introductions for the authors were very good. Some were formal while others chose to be comical. My favorite introduction was the introduction for Tobias Wolff for his lecture. This introduction was given by a graduate student in creative writing at the Ohio University Athens Campus. She had encouraged all of her students to come see the lecture by Tobias Wolff. One of her students innocently asked “why?” They weren’t being rude; they just truly wanted to know the importance of the lecture. She proceeded to think about a good answer and for the introduction she gave the top 10 reasons they should be here. This was very humorous since the student was in the audience! Therefore, I feel it is appropriate to take her style cue, and I will share with you the top 10 reasons you should have come to Lit Fest 2011. We will start with reason number 10 and work our way up to reason number 1.
10. The food. There are amazing places to eat including: McHappy’s Bake Shop, Casa Lopez, and Chinese J
9. The campus. You get to take a campus tour via your tour guide, Hayley Haugen. The tour includes a visit to the Ridges which used to serve as the insane asylum for Athens. We even got to come within feet of the Tuberculosis Unit where the patients with tuberculosis were sent. It was an amazing experience.
8. The people. You get to spend time with your fellow classmates from OUS. This year, the students that went were: Olivia P. (honorary alumni) Kacy Lovelace, Katie Fugett Niemer, Bruce Fugett, Hannah Travis, Katie Owens, Paul Allan Fredrick and myself (Brittany McFarland). It was a blast!
7. The atmosphere. During Lit Fest, you can feel the inspiration in the environment. It’s amazing to see so many people come together to embrace literature and it is very inspiring.
6. The books. At Lit Fest, all the books from the authors are available for purchase. There are also free literary journals available. Need I say more? FREE BOOKS!
5. The Readings. Hearing the authors read from their work is an experience that cannot be put into words. They read the reading exactly how they pictured it being read when they wrote the piece. It is amazing to be able to see such prestigious authors share their work. The styles, genres, and diction of the works make every reading different and exciting in its own way.
4. The Lectures. Hearing the authors read is one experience, but hearing them give a lecture is a completely different one. Brown gave a lecture on silences; Marquart gave a lecture on non-fiction; and Powell gave a craft talk without talking about craft! It is such an honor to get tips from the authors and it is an experience every aspiring author dreams about.
3. Photo opportunities. There were various opportunities throughout the Fest to have your picture taken with the authors! I took advantage of this the first day and got my picture with Rita Dove and Rosellen Brown.
2. Author Time/Signatures! You have time to casually talk with the authors and they will gladly sign their books for you!
1. You get to see Hayley attempt to control the “Big Green Beast” aka Bobcat van :).
If you missed Lit Fest this year you missed out! There’s always next year!
1 comments:
I must say in my own defense that I managed to avoid all inanimate objects AND pedestrians while driving the green beast. And, what's more, I did not, as warned I could easily do, "TIP THE VAN!"
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