Festival to bring five award-winning authors to Gainesville

October 1, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Five award-winning authors will visit Gainesville Oct. 11-13 for the 63rd Florida Writers Festival.

Hosted by the University of Florida’s MFA Program in Creative Writing, known as MFA@FLA, and the Alachua County Library District Headquarters, the festival brings nationally distinguished authors here for readings and talks. The festival is free and open to the public. This year’s festival presents the following authors:

● Lauren Groff, author of the story collection “Delicate Edible Birds” (2009) and the novels “The Monsters of Templeton” (2008) and “Arcadia” (2012)

● Mary Gaitskill, author of the story collections “Don’t Cry” (2009), “Because They Wanted To” (1997), and “Bad Behavior” (1988), and the novels Veronica (2005) and Two Girls, Fat and Thin (1991)

● Ben Lerner, author of the novel Leaving the Atocha Station (2011) and the poetry collections “Mean Free Path” (2010), “Angle of Yaw” (2006), and “The Lichtenberg Figures” (2004)

● Karen Solie, author of the poetry collections “Pigeon” (2009), “Modern and Normal” (2005), and “Short Haul Engine” (2001)

● Kevin Wilson, author of the novel “The Family Fang” (2011) and the story collection “Tunneling to the Center of the Earth” (2009)

Schedule:
● Oct. 11, 7:30 p.m.: Lauren Groff (fiction) reads, Alachua County Library District Headquarters (401 E. University Ave.)

● Oct. 12, 8-10 p.m.: Ben Lerner (poetry and fiction) and Mary Gaitskill (fiction) read, followed by an informal reception, Ustler Hall Atrium

● Oct. 13, 1-3 p.m.: Mary Gaitskill, Ben Lerner, Karen Solie, and Kevin Wilson present Craft Talks, followed by an informal reception, Ustler Hall Atrium

● Oct. 13, 8-10 p.m.: Karen Solie (poetry) and Kevin Wilson (fiction) read, followed by an informal reception, Ustler Hall Atrium

MFA@FLA, the Program in Creative Writing at the University of Florida, is one of the oldest writing programs in the country, founded in 1949. For more information about the Florida Writers’ Festival, please contact Becca Evanhoe at floridawritersfestival@gmail.com. Visit the the Festival’s Facebook page: facebook.com/floridawritersfestival, or the MFA@FLA website: english.ufl.edu/crw.