Oh snap. Today is the last day of the Literary Festival.
Lit Fest is an annual event that brings authors to SMU for workshops as well as readings of their work.
This year’s Lit Fest began Sunday with speakers Lauren Gulbas, Gayle Newhouse and Leilani Petranek.
Lauren Gulbas is a medical anthropology graduate student at SMU. She spoke about anorexia, and it’s new form as a religious and spiritual experience.
Other topics that were discussed included interior design and Hawaiian culture.
Monday’s events spiced things up a bit with discussions of body painting, sexuality and feminist witchcraft, led by Star Oakland, Dr. Kala Kos and SMU anthropology Ph.D. student Susan Harper-Bisso respectively.
These discussions were all worth attending, some more than others depending on your interests.
Today’s should be no different. Things start off at 6 pm in Hughes-Trigg ballroom east. However, this is an invitation only banquet, so you might have trouble getting in.
So take an hour, hit up Umphrey Lee or any of our other fine dining establishments, and return at 7 to hear publisher William Gladstone discuss his role as a publisher.
The last speaker is at 8 pm, award-winning journalist Melissa Rossi. Rossi is an international traveler, writing articles for magazines such as Newsweek, The New York Observer and MSNBC as well as providing a regular column for the National Geographic Traveler.
These discussions are especially useful for those hoping to someday write professionally, but they are also entertaining for an average student. Seriously, who wouldn’t want to attend a lecture about body painting?
SMU’s Lit Fest is the second oldest student run literary festival in the country, surprising considering SMU is a relatively new college.
This year’s Lit Fest was designed with the woman in mind, because this is the 30 th anniversary of the SMU women’s studies program.
This shouldn’t stop students from attending though. If you are interested in writing, these would be well worth your time, and the next Lit Fest is a year away.
