Old Dominion University's 32nd Annual Literary Festival Considers Literature in Times of Conflict and Calm
"Writers in Peace and War" is the theme for ODU's 32nd Annual Literary Festival, which runs from Tuesday, Oct. 6, through Friday, Oct. 9.
Using the light of literature to examine the theme of war and peace, the writers, veterans, visual artists and photographers participating in this year's festival will share their stories in an attempt to map out the complex landscape from World War II through the present.
In the festival brochure prologue, co-chairs Janet Peery and Michael Pearson, authors and creative writing professors in ODU's M.F.A. program, comment on the selection of this year's theme:
"The great themes in the narrative of humankind's experience on this planet have not changed in thousands of years - love, peace, war, faith - how to live with honor and compassion in the face of apparently impossible choices. One of those ever-present verities is the seemingly tidal pattern of peace and war in our shared history.
"In literature we look not for answers but for ways of experiencing the world and opening our minds to new patterns of seeing. In this way, literature legislates to the individual heart, potentially changing the world one soul at a time."
Mark Bowden, author of the international bestseller, "Black Hawk Down: A Story of Modern War," is the President's Lecture Series speaker. He will speak at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 8 in the North Cafeteria of Webb University Center.
For a full schedule of events and list of participants, visit http://www.lib.odu.edu/litfest/32nd/index.htm.
The Old Dominion University Literary Festival is funded in part by the Norfolk Commission on Arts and Humanities.