What: Tenth Annual In Print Festival of First Books
When: March 17 at 7:30 P.M., readings by authors;
March 18 at 7:30 P.M., panel discussion about writing and publishing;
Both events followed by a reception and book signing
Where: Student Center Ballroom
Cost: Free and open to the public
This year marks the 10th In Print Festival of First Books, and the festival will feature one of Ball State's own graduates.
Alumnus Tyler Gobble, In Print speaker, recently published his full-length collection of poems, “MORE WRECK MORE WRECK.” In order to qualify to be a speaker at In Print, an author needs to have had their first book published a year before the festival.
According to his website, in addition to his book, Gobble is editor-in-chief of “NOO Journal,” an online literary journal and a poetry fellow in the Michener Center for Writers.
Having a Ball State graduate as a guest speaker for the Festival offers a unique perspective to students since “he's the proof in the pudding,” as Associate Professor of English Sean Lovelace puts it.
Lovelace expressed that he is “not surprised” Gobble has achieved success and that he is returning as a published poet recently after graduating.
“[Gobble] was a very, very active and dynamic student here at BSU … He was a great example of a creative writing student at BSU who engaged with every opportunity we offered as a creative writing program,” said Lovelace. “We offer a lot — from literary magazines to making films from screenplays to creative writing in the community classes, to internships, to on and on — in creative writing, but not every student engages with all we offer. Tyler did.”
Student Hannah Schneider will introduce Gobble at the event.
“I found his work incredibly poignant and creative in its unique description of experiences we all undergo,” she said. “I was often baffled at his ability to create metaphor. He is truly an artist.”
The In Print Festival found its beginnings in Minneapolis, Minn. Before coming to teach here, Associate Professor of English Jill Christman started a program called “First Books” at the University of Minnesota, where she first taught after completing graduate school. She wanted to program to bring the reality of publishing work for the first time to the students.
“My gut sense was that our students needed to stand next to writers who were closer to themselves on the paths to become working, publishing authors,” she said.
When Christman came to teach at Ball State in 2002, she brought the idea of this program with her. She applied for Lilly grants, which she received and used to fund the visiting writing series and the In Print Festival of First Books, maintaining the structure and vision she had started with when she began First Books.
“The core vision of In Print is simple: it’s for the students,” Christman said. “We want to get the students involved.”
The guest speakers this year will be poet Gobble, nonfiction writer Kerry Howley, fiction writer Celeste Ng and editor Jodee Stanley.
The first night of the festival includes a reading by Gobble, Howley and Ng, and the second night is a panel-format discussion about writing and publishing, which includes Stanley.
“Writers who have just published their first books don’t get the kind of publicity more established writers enjoy, so In Print serves an important function on the national scene: providing a platform for emerging writers,” Christman said.
Ball State has more than 140 creative writing majors and more than 100 minors. Lovelace noted that the reason why they have such high attendance each year is because of the “multifaceted value” the festival offers to this group, and also to the broader Ball State and Muncie communities as a whole.
“This is an opportunity for a very vibrant creative writing community at Ball State to closely interact with professional authors,” Lovelace said.
Additionally, the In Print Festival includes the release of The Broken Plate, Ball State’s national award-winning literary magazine. People who attend the Festival will receive a free copy.
“My heart feels full when I think about our initial hope to build an event especially for students and I look around a packed, standing-room-only In Print Festival: we built it, and they came,” Christman said. “Now the students themselves are doing the building. It’s fantastic.”
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