51看片to host national book award winner, bestsellers at 21st Annual Spring Literary Festival
51看片鈥檚 Spring Literary Festival returns to campus March 20-23 with a series of live events.
The 21st annual gathering of poets and authors is free and open to the public, with all events taking place in the Hinds University Center. Directed by Jeremy Jones, an associate professor of English, the festival has a long tradition of bringing established and emerging literary talent to the community.
鈥淭his 21st annual Spring Literary Festival will host a wide array of award-winning and bestseller writers for four days of free events,鈥� Jones said. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a little something for everyone in Cullowhee 鈥� crime fiction, young adult, memoir, poetry, journalism and more.鈥�
The 2023 schedule:
Ashley M. Jones
Monday, March 20
- Noon 鈥� Gilbert-Chappell Poets
- 4 p.m. 鈥� Idra Novey, author of 鈥淭hose Who Knew鈥� and 鈥淭ake What You Need,鈥� and Glenn Taylor author of 鈥淭he Ballad of Trenchmouth Taggart鈥� and 鈥淭he Songs of Betty Baach.鈥�
- 7 p.m. 鈥� Ashley M. Jones, the Poet Laureate of the State of Alabama and author of 鈥淩EPARATIONS NOW!鈥�
Tuesday, March 21
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Noon 鈥� Stephen J. West, author of 鈥淪oft-Boiled: An Investigation of Masculinity & the Writer鈥檚 Life鈥� and A. Kendra Greene, author of 鈥淭he Museum of Whales You Will Never See.鈥�
Beth Macy
- 4 p.m. 鈥� Mark Powell, author of eight novels, most recently 鈥淟ioness,鈥� and Charles Dodd White, author of 鈥淚n the House of Wilderness,鈥� the recipient of the Appalachian Book of the Year award in fiction.
- 7 p.m. 鈥� Beth Macy, author of four books, including national bestsellers, 鈥淭ruevine,鈥� 鈥淔actory Man,鈥� and 鈥淒opesick,鈥� which was adapted into the Emmy-award-winning Hulu series.
S.A. Cosby
Wednesday, March 22
- Noon 鈥� Winners of the high school, undergraduate and graduate student creative writing competitions.
- 4 p.m. 鈥� Erin Tran, a queer Vietnamese poet and the author of 鈥淢outh, Sugar, and Smoke鈥� and 鈥淭he Gutter Spread Guide to Prayer鈥� and Devon Miller-Duggan, poet and author of 鈥淧inning the Bird to the Wall,鈥� 鈥淎lphabet Year,鈥� and 鈥淭he Slow Salute.鈥�
- 7 p.m. 鈥� S.A. Cosby, a crime fiction writer and author of 鈥淢y Darkest Prayer,鈥� 鈥淏lacktop Wasteland,鈥� and 鈥淩azorblade Tears.鈥�
Jason Mott
Thursday, March 23
- Noon 鈥� Tom Belt (Cherokee Nation) and Lisa Leffler, co-authors of 鈥淪ounds of Tohi: Cherokee Health and Well-Being in Southern Appalachia.鈥�
- 4 p.m. 鈥� Angela Velez, a Peruvian-American writer, artist and author of the young adult novel 鈥淟ulu and Milagro's Search for Clarity.鈥�
- 7 p.m. 鈥� Jason Mott, author of 鈥淗ell of a Book,鈥� the 2021 National Book Award recipient for fiction.
"So many organizations and people have a hand in making this big festival in little Cullowhee robust and exciting each year," Jones said. "This year we received support from the North Carolina and Jackson County Arts Councils, the North Carolina Humanities, the National Endowment for the Humanities, WCU鈥檚 campus theme committee, Degree Plus and the College of Arts and Sciences. We feel the love from the university and the region."
For more information, visit or contact WCU鈥檚 English Department at 828-227-7264.
