LITFEST SESSIONS

LitFest is only made possible by our wonderful partnerships with organizations across UW and Seattle. Here is who you can expect to see at LitFest!

Inaugural Performance

Petersen Room - 10:00-11:00 am

To kick off the UW's first-ever Literary Festival, members of UW Castalia will be reading their original work. There will be three readers: K.C. Smith, Anne Duncan, and Derek Sheffield (Washington State Poet Laureate).

Author Panel and Q&A

— May 20th 12:00-1:20 pm

Writer's Workshops

Open Scholarship Commons - 11:00-11:50 am

What Comes After the End

Did you recently finish a draft of your manuscript but aren’t sure what comes next? Come learn tips for crossing the finish line of your manuscript and what to do after you type THE END. We'll discuss how to approach revisions, structuring your rewrite process, how and when to solicit feedback, querying agents, and more. Participants will leave with practical exercises to apply to their work in progress.

About Andrea Karin Nelson: In addition to her developmental editing work with published novelists, playwrights, and essayists, Andrea brings a unique set of experiences and skills to her editing craft. Twenty years as a writer and theater maker has developed her keen sense of story structure, plot, and character development. Her plays have been commissioned and produced across the United States and performed in both English and American Sign Language and her fiction has been published in 34thParallel Magazine. Fifteen years as a Master-Level, Certified Sign Language Interpreter finely tuned her ear to the subtleties of language and the nuances of human interactions. And with over two decades as an educator, her teacher's heart allows Andrea to personally tailor her work with each writer.

Journaling to Become a Better Person

Do you have a collection of half-filled notebooks hidden in your desk? Then this workshop is for you! Join comedy writer and author Christina Wolfgram for a fun, practical workshop on making journaling work for you. Whether you’re looking for creative inspiration, self-reflection, or just a way to actually finish a dang notebook, you’ll leave with personalized goals, invigorating writing prompts, and the motivation to fill those pages.

About Christina Wolfgram: Christina Wolfgram is a sit-down comedian and author of F*cking Deal With It, a humor-driven mental health workbook based in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Her writing has appeared all over the internet, most notably the Facebook Watch series Christina Tried Her Best, which has been viewed over 500 million times. Christina has a Masters of Professional Writing from USC and you can keep up with her (and her beautiful cat) on her substack, The Sob Blog.

So You Say You Aren't a Translation Studies Person?

All literary scholars engage translation in one way or another in both scholarship and teaching. Yet, many continue to perceive translation studies --the field that theorizes the histories, operations, and reception of translated texts-- as peripheral or even inapplicable to their research and pedagogy. In this workshop, we will discuss ways --small (e.g. assignment) big (e.g. syllabus)-- how to help students develop translation literacy. The fundamental question at the core of translation literacy concerns the utilization of translation studies as a heuristic in academia and in life. Come to find out how you are a translation studies person and you just don't know it yet.

About Aria Fani: Aria Fani is an assistant professor of Persian and Iranian studies at the University of Washington, where he co-convenes the Translation Studies Hub. His first book, Reading across Borders: Afghans, Iranians, and Literary Nationalism (University of Texas Press, 2024), was translated into Persian by Shirazeh Press in Iran. Outside of academia, he advocates for non-citizen Americans, focusing on asylum seekers from Central America.

Petersen Room - 12:00-1:20 pm

Author Panel

Sujin Witherspoon is a Korean-American author, artist, and lover of words she can’t pronounce. She is the author of Bingsu for Two. Having earned her degree in English from the University of Washington, she spends her time writing, thinking about writing, or thinking about how she should be writing. You can find her online at sujinwitherspoon.com

Keshara McRae is a writer and storyteller whose work centers Black girls and women—especially those often labeled “far out” for being their full, multifaceted selves. A military kid turned criminal justice grad, Keshara has lived everywhere from Germany to New Orleans and now calls Seattle home, where she works in Business Operations by day and writes by night. Her debut novel, The Obsidian Society, took shape during the pandemic and reflects her passion for exploring identity, queerness, and the evolution of Black culture in America. Through her platform, Far Out Black Girl, she creates space for stories that are unapologetically Black, queer, and deeply human. She is working on her second book and also trying her hand at shorter format stories.

Alma García is the author of the novel, All That Rises (University of Arizona Press, 2023). Her award-winning short fiction has appeared in Narrative Magazine and elsewhere and appears most recently in phoebe and the anthology Puro Chicanx Writers of the 21st Century. She is a past recipient of a fellowship from the Rona Jaffe Foundation. Originally from El Paso and later from Albuquerque, she now lives in Seattle, where she teaches fiction writing at Hugo House and is a manuscript consultant.

Creative Storytelling Workshop

HUB 340 - Big, Story, Tiny Space - 1:30-2:20pm

Petersen Room - Accordion Book-Making - 1:30-2:20pm

This is a hands-on workshop on making a physical accordion book. We’ll start by looking at a variety of accordion books, then move on to making our own text blocks and covers, and end by completing an exercise or two on developing content appropriate for that form. You’ll come away with a blank book and a plan for filling it with text and images. All supplies will be provided, and absolutely no previous book-binding, art-making, or crafty experience is necessary!!!

About Maya Sonenberg: Maya Sonenberg is the the S. Wilson and Grace M. Pollock Professor in Creative Writing at the University of Washington. Her story collections include Cartographies (winner of the Drue Heinz Prize) and Bad Mothers, Bad Daughters (winner of the Sullivan Prize). She has also published fiction and nonfiction containing images, and her artist’s book, Contained, can be found in Special Collections at Suzallo/Allen Library. For years she taught an undergraduate creative writing class with a focus on artists’ books.

Big Story, Tiny Space: Writing for Games

A novel is around 60,000 words. A short story is 10,000 words. But a Magic card? It might only get 15 words to tell its story. How can you best use that small space to still make a big impact on the reader? In this workshop, Principal Game Designer at Wizards of the Coast, Gavin Verhey, will cover how to paint big pictures that draw people in - and let you try your hand at it live! Whether you're looking to improve how page-turning your story is, sharpen your poetry, or simply curious about writing for games, you'll want to join this session!

About Gavin Verhey: Gavin Verhey's dream when he was eleven was to make games - and now he does every day as a Principal Game Designer on Magic: The Gathering. After graduating the University of Washington with an English degree, he went on to use what he learned to build worlds and design cards for the game. Now he's a face of the game, talking about it both online and at events around the world! He'd like you to know he still has copies of Bricolage on his shelf to this day. You can find him @gavinverhey.

Petersen Room - 2:30-3:50pm

Featured Author Reading

Come hear UW Alumna, E.J. Koh, read selections from her critically acclaimed memoir The Magical Language of Others. There will be a Q&A, book signing opportunity, and live-podcast recording of this session.

Book Fair Vendors

HUB Lawn - 11:00-3:00 pm

Seattle Literary Organizations:

Short Run Comix Festival
Girl Noise Press
Adelaide Blair
The Vera Project Screen Print Studio
Wave Books
Left Bank Books
Chin Music Press
Common Area Maintenance
Charlie's Queer Books
Seattle Arts & Lectures
Tulipwood Books

UW RSOs:

Jackson School Journal of International Studies
The Historical Review at UW
HOMEROOM UW
UW Journal of Political Science
Grey Matters
Student Mycology Club
Bricolage Literary & Visual Arts Journal
The Garden of Ideas
Microphiles

Creative

Book Fair

Featured Author

Author Panel

Writer's Workshops

Inaugural Performance

LITFEST SESSIONS

Inaugural Performance

Author Panel and Q&A

Writer's Workshops

Author Panel

Creative Storytelling Workshop

Featured Author Reading

Book Fair Vendors

BRICOLAGE LITERARY & VISUAL ARTS JOURNAL