Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha and journalist Anna Clark, whose critically acclaimed books about the Flint water crisis, will headline this year’s Flint Literary Festival, Oct. 26-27, at the Flint Public Library.
Now in its second year, the literary festival will also feature panel discussions, a creative writing workshop, open readings and a book fair.
“In keeping with our founding mission, the Flint Literary Festival 2018 will promote literature in all its forms, from poetry to fiction to creative nonfiction,” said Connor Coyne, festival co-founder and director of Gothic Funk Press.
Hanna-Attisha, a Hurley Medical Center pediatrician and professor, wrote the water crisis memoir What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City. Clark is author of The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy. Both books were published in 2018 and have been widely reviewed, including by the New York Times Book Review.
The authors will read from their work and talk about writing and the publication process at the festival’s concluding event on Saturday, Oct. 27, at 6 p.m. Earlier that day, fiction writer Stephanie Carpenter, a former UM-Flint professor whose short-story collection Missing Persons won the 2017 Press 53 Prize in Short Fiction, will read from her work and answers from the audience.
The festival kicks off on Friday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. with readings by poets and Flint natives Sarah Carson, award-winning author of Before OnStar and Buick City, and Jonah Mixon-Webster, author of Stereo(TYPE)from Ahsahta Press.
The evening readings on Friday and Saturday will be followed by receptions and book signings. In addition, there will be an after-hours open mic night on Friday, beginning at 8 p.m. at Totem Books, 620 W. Court St.
Saturday’s activities begin at 10 a.m. with the opening of the book fair and the creative writing workshop.
Five panel discussions are scheduled:
- 11 a.m. – Finding Your Pack: A discussion of critique groups with the Flint Area Writers group
- 1 p.m. – Coming Home: Writers Reflect on Returning to the Source
- 2 p.m. – University of Michigan – Flint Faculty
- 3 p.m. – Taking Your Writing Online
- 4 p.m. – Flint Youth Write! — A public reading and book-release by the Flint Tween/Teen Writers Workshop
In addition, space is still available for authors who would like to share samples of writing in the festival’s Reading Room. Slots run in 30-minute increments from 11 a.m. through 5 p.m. and are open until filled. To register, go to www.flintliteraryfestival.org/2018-application-for-reading-room-readers/.
This free event is a partnership between Gothic Funk Press, the Flint Public Library, East Village Magazine and the University of Michigan-Flint English Department.
For more information about the Flint Literary Festival, please visit www.flintliteraryfestival.org or send an email to flintliteraryfestival@gmail.com.
