In Print Festival of First Books to feature 1st-time authors

<p>The <em style="background-color: initial;">In Print Festival of First Books</em>, sponsored by the English Department and coordinated by the Creative Writing program, will take place on March 22 and 23 at 8 p.m. in the Art and Journalism Building room 175. The event will feature three&nbsp;emerging authors and a professional editor.&nbsp;<em>PHOTO COURTESY OF SEAN LOVELACE&nbsp;</em></p>

The In Print Festival of First Books, sponsored by the English Department and coordinated by the Creative Writing program, will take place on March 22 and 23 at 8 p.m. in the Art and Journalism Building room 175. The event will feature three emerging authors and a professional editor. PHOTO COURTESY OF SEAN LOVELACE 

What: In Print Festival of First Books

When: 8 p.m. March 22 and March 23

Where: AJ 175

An upcoming two-day literary festival will bring together a poet, fiction writer and nonfiction writer to showcase their work and share their experiences as first-time authors.

The In Print Festival of First Books, sponsored by the English department and coordinated by the creative writing program, will feature three emerging authors and a professional editor.

The event will take place at 8 p.m. March 22 and 23 in the Art and Journalism Building Room 175.

The authors featured are fiction writer Gabriel Urza, author of "All That Followed;" nonfiction writer Sarah Einstein, author of "Mot: A Memoir;" poet Sarah Blake, author of "Mr. West;" and editor Keith Tuma of the Miami University Press. 

Sean Lovelace, director of creative writing, said the first day will include each author reading from their work and staying after to sign books and take questions from the audience.

Day two will feature a panel discussion with the authors, where each will tell about how their book was created and published. Along with the authors, Tuma will share his experiences and the roles of editors in making books.

The festival is an important event for new authors, Tuma said.

“It can be very important for authors to read their work in public,” Tuma said. “For one thing, it often helps with sales, but it also allows authors an opportunity to learn how different audiences respond to it. And it gets them out of the house — writing is a solitary endeavor.”

The festival, which is free to the public, is also an opportunity for students to meet actual authors, ask questions and get answers about the writing and publishing life, Lovelace said.

“We think this festival is unbelievably important, because these authors are reading from their first, newly published book, so they can relate to the students and the student writers can relate to them,” Lovelace said. “These authors and editors represent the goals of many writers at Ball State and in the larger community — to live a creative life as an artist and to publish a book."

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