Thanks to Flint Festival of Writers’ partner East Village Magazine for this review of the 2019 Flint Festival of Writers. Read the entire article on their website here.
By Harold C. Ford
‘Writing is the painting of the voice.” …Voltaire
The latest iteration of a local festival that elevates the literary arts displayed the depth and diversity of Flint-based writers Sept. 13-14. This year, its third, the event premiered a new name, date, location, and talent.
Formerly the Flint Literary Festival, the Flint Festival of Writers featured a program of talented Flint writers at the Ferris Wheel building in downtown Flint. Flint-born LaTashia Perry, whose children’s books have sold more than 60,000 copies since 2015, was “featured reader” at the event.
What I Wish I Knew:
The festival’s first Saturday event—a panel discussion titled “What I Wish I Knew”—featured four Flint-based writers who reflected on their literary journeys for an audience of about 30.
The panel included Perry, author of six children’s books; Jonah Mixon-Webster, author of Stereo(TYPE), a gritty award-winning book of poetry, prose, and essays; Bob Campbell, a journalist with stints at East Village Magazine, The Flint Journal, Detroit Free Press, and other publications; and Ben Pauli, the panel’s newest Flint resident, who recently authored a personal, historical, and sociological reflection on Flint’s water crisis, Flint Fights Back, Environmental Justice and Democracy in the Flint Water Crisis.
[While this review focuses on the four aforementioned writers and three events they participated in, the festival also featured award-winning and much-published fiction writer and essayist Kelsey Ronan, a Flint native who presented a workshop on “Writing Our Stories: A Nonfiction Workshop,” and a broadside-making workshop with Elizabeth O’Connell-Thompson. )
The festival also featured a kickoff party Friday night, a book fair, and an open mic celebration Saturday night at Totem Books–Ed.]
To read the rest of East Village Magazine’s article about the 2019 Flint Festival of Writers, visit https://www.eastvillagemagazine.org/2019/09/21/review-flint-writers-fest-displays-depth-diversity-of-flint-talent/.