I would first like to apologize taking so long to post anything on here. I was going to post things as soon as I was home, but life got in the way as it tends to do!

Lit Fest was amazing! I had so much fun and I was extremely happy I was able to attend. Not only did I get to hear four amazing  authors talk about writing and reading excerpts out of their books, but I got to explore a museum that was once a mental hospital and visit the graveyard, and even made some new friends!       

It started on a Wednesday when I arrived at Ohio University Southern to ride in a van to Athens. It was a fun trip listening to music, reading and napping. Once we made it I got to relax a bit in the hotel room until dinnertime where we all went to eat at the Baker Center. To get to the Baker Center we had to drive and walk around campus. This was not the first “big” campus I have been to, I have transferred three times, so I have seen a few. It was still amazing to me though because the feel between our campus and the Athens Campus is so different. People rush to do what they need to do. You DO NOT hold doors open for people, or else you end up the door holder for the rest of the day!

Before the lecture we visited the Maya Lin Exhibit which was on the front lawn of Walter Hall. It was an interesting piece of work. On the slabs of concrete were different quotes that brought meaning to the art.

Over the next few days we met Dean Young, Bonnie Jo Campbell, Robert Olen Butler, Sarah Lindsay and Diana Ackerman. I absolutely loved Diana Ackerman more than I expected to. As she gave us a lecture on writing I found her to be the most inspiring of the bunch. She explained that when she wrote, she did not just think as herself, but as other things. What if she were an alien looking down on human beings? How would she describe what she saw to her peers then about the human race? She placed herself as other being and then wrote what she felt. She told us that we needed to “invent Confidence” if we were not able to find it. I loved the way she said this because when you are an author you are able to create everything else, so why not confidence, right?

Though every author was amazing, and contributed much, I think it was Diana Ackerman who really inspired me the most during the trip.