SMU Writers Group co-founders Josh Duke and Ben Painter are bringing back Literary Festival to the Hilltop after a decade long hiatus (Stuart Palley)

SMU students Ben Painter and Josh Duke want you to read.

Co-founders of the recently created SMU writers group, the pair are bringing back an old SMU tradition of an annual literary festival beginning Thursday.

The festival, which has not been seen at SMU in over a decade, will bring in accomplished writers from various fields of writing and give all students, not just writers, the chance to “rub elbows” with published writers, Painter said.

The two-day festival has been in the making for over a year and a half. According to Painter the idea came about during the SMU Writing Group’s second meeting 15 months ago, when one member wondered allowed what had happened to the tradition.

“It used to be such a great thing on campus, we wondered what happened and where did it go,” Painter said. “We have so many people that are excited about it, it just seems unnatural not to have it.”

Duke said that posters of past literary festivals can still be seen hanging in Hughes-Trigg as a testament to what a great tradition the festival used to be.

The festival, which will include panel discussions, luncheons, readings, and workshops with the writers, is designed to give students a fun way to enjoy published writing.

“We want it to be as much about literature as it is about fun,” Duke said. “It is not some stuffy discourse on the state of literature, but rather a group of friends that all love the art of story telling.”

Duke said that even those outside of the writing arena can appreciate a good story and would enjoy hearing the writers speak and tell stories of their lives.

Painter said the goal of the festival is to give up-and-coming writers the chance to interact with published writers, but also re-establish the festival and “reinvigorate the community.”

“Our goal is that someone comes to the festival and enjoys themselves and is able to enjoy the writers in the atmosphere we have created for the festival,” Painter said.

The pair attributed the success of pulling together the festival to the support of faculty that want to see the tradition return to campus as well.

“Without faculty support it would just be Josh and I sitting at a picnic passing books back and fourth,” Painter said.

Writers that will be attending the festival include Scott Blackwood, Melissa Kirsch, Michael Narducci, April Wilder, and Tracy Winn. The two-day event kicks off Thursday with a free luncheon with the readers in the Dallas Hall reading room Thursday at 2 p.m.

“You can’t imagine how big this festival used to be to SMU and the Dallas community, we really want to bring back for the students,” Duke said.