The Ilyse Kusnetz Writing Festival

Students, faculty, staff, and the community are invited to submit writing to be included on this blog and in our live online and in-person festival March 28, 2023. The festival is happy to accept all kinds of word-based art. This includes prose, poetry, audio recordings, video performances, and visual arts.

Here’s the link to join the curated open mic at 6:30 PM if you are unable to attend in person: https://valenciacollege.zoom.us/j/91820555626

This year’s live event will be held on March 28, 2023, Valencia Winter Park, Room 242. Prof. Michael Wheaton will host an autobiographical writing workshop at 4 PM. A break and reception will follow from 5-6:30. Then, our curated open mic will take place at 6:30 PM in Room 242 of the Winter Park campus, featuring readers from your submissions.  Please feel free to attend one or both parts of the fest!

Interested writers please email any questions and your submissions to Professor Stephen Narain at snarain1@valenciacollege.edu .

While the festival accepts writing of all kinds, we ask that you consider this year’s theme: Writing Ourselves.

Writing is the process of taking what is internal, perceived or believed, and making it real in the world as text. No matter the content, writers can only write from their lived place in the world. In this way, all writing is autobiographical. But what happens when we intend to write about ourselves? How does a text represent the self, and how does the author live in a text?

We invite you to write about yourself for this year’s festival and explore what autobiographical writing can do for your sense of self.

We are excited to see you this year. Thank you for reading and writing!

See writing submissions here!

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