Get lit

Tulsa LitFest will be a weekend for the books

In celebration of all things literary, the Center for Poets and Writers at OSU-Tulsa, Magic City Books, and the Tulsa Artist Fellowship present the inaugural Tulsa LitFest, April 19–22. The festival, which is free and open to the public, will include readings, workshops, lectures, parties, panels, a press fair, and more. Whatever kind of literary life you lead—or want to begin—you’ll find inspiration and entertainment at this first-ever fest.

Bookish weekend

The full Tulsa LitFest schedule
All events are free and open to the public. For more information, visit tulsalitfest.org.

THURSDAY, APRIL 19

7 p.m.
You’ve Got Mail: Celebrating Nora Ephron (Book Talk & Screening)
OSU-Tulsa Auditorium, 700 N. Greenwood Ave.

FRIDAY, APRIL 20

9 a.m.–4 p.m.
LitFest Writing Workshops
(registration is mandatory; visit tulsalitfest.org to register)
OSU-Tulsa, Tulsa Room ,700 N. Greenwood Ave.

5–6:30 p.m.
Seven Minutes in Heaven: A Reading of Short Prose
Mainline Art Bar, 111 N. Main St.

7 p.m.
An Evening with Kevin Young, Poetry Editor, The New Yorker
Click here to read a conversation between Oklahoma State Poet Laureate Jeanetta Calhoun Mish and Kevin Young.
OSU-Tulsa Auditorium, 700 N. Greenwood Ave.

SATURDAY, APRIL 21

10–11a.m.
Publishing Today, A Small Press Panel feat. AWST Press, Deep Vellum Publishing, Graywolf Press, and Sibling Rivalry Press
See below for more information.
Greenwood Cultural Center, 322 N. Greenwood Ave.

11 a.m.–4 p.m.
Small Press Book Fair
Greenwood Cultural Ce nter,322 N. Greenwood Ave.

12 p.m.
An American Memoir, Kiese Laymon
Click here to read Damion Shade’s interview with Kiese Laymon
Greenwood Cultural Center, 322 N. Greenwood Ave.
 

1 p.m.
Crime Time: Remembering Jim Thompson
Poet and scholar Robert Polito will discuss Oklahoma crime writer Jim Thompson.
Click here for more.
Magic City Books, 221 E. Archer St.

2–4 p.m.
Native Writing & Theater Workshop with Sterlin Harjo and Mary Kathryn Nagle
The filmmakers/playwrights tell stories to push Native art forward. Click here for more.
Woody Guthrie Center auditorium, 102 E. M.B. Brady St.

4 p.m.
The Naughty Nineties: David Friend of Vanity Fair
Tulsa Artist Fellowship Refinery, 109 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd.

7 p.m.
Jeanetta Calhoun Mish, Oklahoma Poet Laureate, & Woody Guthrie Celebreation, feat. Poetic Justice
Click here to read Zack Reeves’s article on Poetic Justice.
OSU-Tulsa Auditorium, 700 N. Greenwood Ave.

9 p.m.
Literary After Party: A Celebration of Words
Living Arts of Tulsa, 307 E. M.B. Brady St.

SUNDAY, APRIL 22

1–3 p.m.
Nimrod Journal’s GreenWriting: Celebrating the Earth with Poetry
Tulsa Botanic Garden, 3900 Tulsa Botanic Dr.

2 p.m.
Frances Mayes: Back to Tuscany
Congregation B’nai Emunah
Synagogue, 1719 S. Owasso Ave.

4 p.m.
Bob Dylan’s “Tarantula”: A Chat with Michael Chaiken, Curator of the Bob Dylan Archive
For more information, click here.
Woody Guthrie Center, 102 E. M.B. Brady St.

Publishing Today

A Panel and Press Fair feat. Indie Publishers

On Saturday of Tulsa LitFest, nine independent small press publishers and journals will gather at Greenwood Cultural Center to sell books, talk about their work, and meet with local writers.

Press fair participants include AWST Press (Austin, Texas), Cimarron Review (Stillwater), Deep Vellum Publishing (Dallas), Graywolf Press (Minneapolis), Literati Press (Oklahoma City), Mongrel Empire Press (Norman), Nimrod International Journal (Tulsa), Penny Candy Books (Oklahoma City and Savannah, Ga.), Sibling Rivalry Press (Little Rock, Ark.), Tulsa Artist Fellowship, and The Tulsa Voice.

To kick off the day, representatives from four of the presses—AWST, Deep Vellum, Graywolf, and Sibling Rivalry—will lead a panel on indie publishing. The discussion should be relevant to writers, readers, editors, and publishers alike.

The press fair participants publish a range of voices and genres—everything from children’s books to translations, from lit mag selections to full-length works.  The first 25 fair attendees to arrive will receive a Tulsa LitFest tote bag.