Journalist Anna Clark and Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, whose critically acclaimed books about the Flint water crisis, will headline the second-annual Flint Literary Festival, Oct. 26-27 at the Flint Public Library.
Clark is author of The Poisoned City: Flint’s Water and the American Urban Tragedy. Hanna-Attisha, a Hurley Medical Center pediatrician and professor, wrote the water crisis memoir What the Eyes Don’t See: A Story of Crisis, Resistance and Hope in an American City. Both books were published in 2018 and have been widely reviewed, including by the New York Times Book Review.
The authors will read from their work and talk about writing and publication process at the festival’s concluding event on Saturday evening, Oct. 27. Earlier that day, fiction writer Stephanie Carpenter, a former UM-Flint professor whose short-story collection Missing Persons won the 2017 Press 53 Prize in Short Fiction, will read from her work and discuss writing historical fiction.
On Friday evening, Oct. 26, poets and Flint natives Sarah Carson, award-winning author of Before Onstar and Buick City, and Jonah Mixon-Webster, author of Stereo(TYPE)from Ahsahta Press, will be the featured readers.
Both evening readings start at 6 p.m., followed by receptions and book signings. In addition, there will be an after-hours open mic night on Friday beginning at 8 p.m. at Totem Books, 620 W. Court St.
Saturday’s activities begin at 10 a.m. with the opening of the book fair and a workshop on creative writing. To see the full scheudle, please visit: flintliteraryfestival.org/schedule
Now in its second year, this free event is a partnership between Gothic Funk Press, the Flint Public Library, East Village Magazine and the University of Michigan-Flint English Department.
“In keeping with our founding mission, the Flint Literary Festival 2018 will promote literature in all its forms, from poetry to fiction to creative nonfiction,” said Connor Coyne, festival co-founder and director of Gothic Funk Press.