ODU Literary Festival

The MFA Creative Writing Program at ODU and its annual Literary Festival
http://al.odu.edu/english/mfacw/ Snodgrass, and Dave Smith. D. Snodgrass was our first).

The MFA Creative Writing Program at ODU:

As part of the English Department at ODU, the MFA Program began in 1994 with twelve students and three creative writing instructors. It continues to grow with vigor: today, a range of 30-40 students work with the program's talented seven-member creative writing faculty in fiction, poetry, and nonfiction. The MFA core faculty -- Luisa Igloria, John McManus,

Ben Naka-Hasebe Kingsley, Sheri Reynolds, and Kent Wascom -- are talented and dedicated teachers as well as accomplished writers, having published many highly acclaimed and prize-winning books. In addition to taking workshops and craft courses with the MFA faculty, our students take courses with dynamic faculty who have expertise in American, British, and world literature, as well as literary theory, film studies, and rhetoric. In our 54-hour program, students graduate not only as writers but also as individuals competent in literary studies. Our students accomplish a great deal, even while they are in the program: publishing fiction and nonfiction books with major publishers, stories and poems in national literary magazines and journals, articles and reviews in major newspapers, prestigious citations, awards, and grants. MFA students also have opportunities to participate in the MFA Reading Series at venues on and around campus. Likewise, students have the opportunity to assist in the internationally recognized, annual ODU Literary Festival (more on this below); and present papers or give readings at the spring conference sponsored by the English Department. ODU's Writer-in-Residence Program (offered in both the fall and spring semesters) allows MFA students to work one-on-one with nationally renowned poets and writers. The MFA Program provides interested students with valuable volunteer and short-term internship types of experiences. In particular, our Writers-in-Community Program gives creative writing graduate students the chance to facilitate writing workshops in various local venues, such as schools, art galleries, libraries, hospitals, homeless shelters, housing projects, and retirement homes. The MFA Creative Writing Program at Old Dominion University has much to offer; and the greater Hampton Roads area (with its diverse locales ranging from oceanside to urban) provides access to a diversity of experiences. If ODU's MFA Program sounds good- and it is- we invite you to be a part of it. Please feel free to call John McManus (Graduate Program Director) at 757-683-4010 or contact by email ([email protected]). The ODU Annual Literary Festival:

In April 1978, the English Department of Old Dominion University held a Poetry Jam, featuring Richard Wilbur, W.D. The success of the Poetry Jam and community interest in the literary, visual, and performing arts in Hampton Roads led to the First Annual Literary Festival. It was called "The Arts Reunion," and it coincided with the arrival of the Associated Writing Programs' national headquarters, the birth of ODU's creative writing program, and the establishment of a Distinguished Visiting Writer position (W. It was a heady time. The enthusiasm has continued, sustained by university and community support. Each October the Hampton Roads and University calendar reminds us that for about a week, our area becomes home to nationally and internationally renowned writers like Robert Pinsky, Rita Dove, John McPhee, William Styron, Ann Beattie, Charles Johnson, Derek Walcott, Gwendolyn Brooks, Nikky Finney, Jane Hirshfield, and other literary stars. The diversity of readers, panels, workshops, and community involvement is one of ODU's Literary Festival hallmarks. Every year, the ODU Literary Festival is directed by one or two faculty members of the MFA Creative Writing Program; every year, a new theme is selected in order to be responsive to the regional, national, and global pulse in literary and cultural conversations. Over the years, students from Old Dominion University, surrounding campuses, and high schools are encouraged to attend the literary events; and every year, the greater Hampton Roads community (and beyond) looks forward to attendance at our programs. It is a rare and wonderful opportunity to hear the living voices of authors, meet and join them in conversation at events which are offered free to the public. Many of the events have been recorded. Brochures and posters (provided by the University Publications Department), news articles, interviews, and reviews are now housed in the University Archives of the University's Perry Library. Future material will also be collected there. Because of the importance of this annual event to the university and the community, the Library and English Department have collaborated to preserve and exhibit Festival materials through the Literary Festival Digital Project. Please watch this new FB space for exciting previews and announcements! We look forward to enjoying the ODU Literary Festival with you every October!

03/31/2026

Hey everyone. The ODU MFA students in Literary Editing and Publishing this spring are commissioning a new anthology of creative work featuring Hampton Roads. It's called Brackish Waters, and it's open for submissions.

Brackish Waters accepts previously published work. The editors have extended the deadline to April 30, 2026. Learn more here: https://barelysouth.submittable.com/submit

10/05/2025

Got young readers in your life? Please join us TODAY for our very first event of the Old Dominion University Literary Festival, featuring award-winning author P. Djèlí Clark, as he shares his novels written especially for middle grade audiences.

This special young adult reading will take place at 11am at Prince Books — don’t miss this chance to inspire the next generation of readers and writers!

10/02/2025

Hello, friends! Only three days until we kick off the 48th Annual ODU Literary Festival with a Muse-sponsored reception at Norfolk's Green Onion, Sun 10/5 at 4pm.

Please follow the ODU English Department's page for daily festival updates! https://www.facebook.com/oduenglishdept

Full schedule of events: odu.edu/litfest

Hope to see you at the festival!

Literary Festival The 48th Annual Old Dominion University Literary Festival honors this leap of faith. To suspend disbelief is to trust the artist, to let the boundary between reality and imagination blur until the written word is a vessel of wisdom and marvel. From Sun 5 Oct to Fri 10 Oct, join us in celebrating a t...

09/16/2025

January Gill O’Neil is an associate professor at Salem State University and the author of Glitter Road (2024), Rewilding (2018), Misery Island (2014), and Underlife (2009), all published by CavanKerry Press. Glitter Road won the Poetry by the Sea Award and was a finalist for the 2024 New England Book Award and the Mississippi Institute of the Arts and Letters Award. Her work has appeared in The New York Times Magazine, the Academy of American Poets’ Poem-A-Day series, American Poetry Review, The Nation, Poetry and Sierra magazine. Her poem “At the Rededication of the Emmett Till Memorial” co-won the 2022 Allen Ginsberg Poetry Award. She currently serves as the AWP 2022–2025 board chair. O’Neil earned her BA from ODU and her MFA from New York University. She lives in Beverly, MA.

Listen to January read live on October 6th @ 12:00pm, University Theater.

Free and open to the public!

Photos from ODU Literary Festival's post

10/11/2024

Today is the LAST DAY of the ODU Literary Festival. Please join us to hear these two amazing visiting writers read and speak about their work!

01:00pm - Micah Nemerever, University Theatre
Micah Nemerever is based in the Pacific Northwest. He was trained as an art historian, and he wrote his master’s thesis on q***r identity and gender anxiety in the art of the Weimar Republic. Micah’s fiction and poetry has been featured in SLICE Magazine, The Carolina Quarterly, Reckoning, and elsewhere. His debut novel, These Violent Delights, published with Harper Books in 2020.

03:00pm - Dolen Perkins Valdez, University Theatre
Dolen Perkins-Valdez is the New York Times bestselling author of W***h (2010), Balm (2015), and most recently Take My Hand (2022). Take My Hand was named a Most Anticipated Book of 2022 by Newsweek, San Francisco Chronicle, Essence, NBC News, and elsewhere. The novel was a finalist for a Goodreads Choice Award and named a Top 20 Book of the Year by the Editors at Amazon. It was awarded the 2023 NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work-Fiction and the 2023 BCALA Award for Fiction. The audiobook version of Take My Hand was named a Best of 2022 by Audible. Perkins-Valdez is a three-time nominee for a United States Artists Fellowship and is currently Associate Professor in the Literature Department at American University and lives in Washington, DC with her family.

10/09/2024

Day 1 and Day 2 of the 47th Annual Old Dominion University Literary Festival were a joy -- with readings and talks by faculty, alumni, students, and visiting writers.

Please join us for the second half of the festival! All events are located at the University Theatre, and they are free and open to the public.

Wednesday, October 8:
04:00pm-05:00pm - Beth Nguyen
07:00pm-08:00pm - Wine Dark Sea

Thursday, October 9:
12:00pm-01:00pm - Bill Glose and Jeff Schnader
02:00pm-03:00pm - Andréane Frenette-Vallières and Peter Schulman
04:00pm-05:00pm - SJ Sindu and Geoff Bouvier
07:00pm-08:00pm - Sigrid Nunez

Friday, October 10:
01:00pm-02:00pm - Micah Nemerever
03:00pm-04:00pm - Dolen Perkins-Valdez

10/07/2024

Hey all!! Join us tomorrow at the University Theatre at 2:00pm to kick off the LitFest! We'll be hearing from the recently published works of Luisa A. Igloria, Kent Wascom, and Marianne Chan. We encourage you to attend in person, but we'll also be streaming this event live on Instagram!

09/04/2024

Introducing nonfiction writer Rebekah Taussig! She is one of many talented artists at this year's literary festival, so be sure to mark your calendars!