LitFest Then… And Now Exhibit
March 17 – June 9, 2014
Fondren Library Center Lobby
The first SMU Literary Festival was held in 1975 and for many years thereafter it attracted major stars of the literary world to Dallas. John Updike, Eudora Welty, Kurt Vonnegut, John Cheever, T.C. Boyle, Louise Erdrich, Joseph Heller and Horton Foote were among the writers who filled McFarlin Auditorium at various times between 1975 and the mid-nineties. This festival is credited with putting SMU on the literary map for many years.
Jack Myers, SMU Professor and one of the original advisors of the Literary Festival , contributed a fascinating essay describing some of the highlights (and low lights) of these early days. A few excerpts from this essay are included in the exhibit, along with some of the early LitFest posters, signed by the authors. This essay can be found in Marshall Terry’s history of SMU “From High on the Hilltop” along with many more personal reminiscences by various SMU faculty and staff members about SMU’s early days.
Students in SMU’s English Dept. were in control of the early LitFests. Eventually Program Council took over. The festival was held over 10 days each autumn. There was much drinking and carousing and some hair-raising moments when advertised speakers cancelled at the last minute or showed up just minutes before they were to go on stage.
A few years ago, a group of industrious Creative Writing students from Professor David Haynes’ classes revived the LitFest in a slightly different format. It is now focused on novelists and poets who, although relatively early in their careers, are rising stars with recognition of their talents in the form of prizes, awards and fellowships. This year’s LitFest authors will read and sign books, meet with creative writing students in workshops, and bring a fresh perspective to Professor Haynes’ creative writing classes during the week of March 18-22. Go here for information on LitFest authors and activities: http://smulitfest2014.wordpress.com/ . All readings are free and open to the public. Books will be available for purchase.
This year, the LitFest has teamed with the Writers Garret to add a Local Small Press Fair to the LitFest lineup. On March 18th, representatives of several local small presses will participate in a panel discussion about the changing world of publishing. Following the panel discussion will be a reception and readings by several of the participants.
Examples from the exhibit
You’re Interesting!
Please join us for a lecture and book signing with New York Times bestselling author Ross King, who will present his book, Leonardo and the Last Supper. 
Please join us for a lecture and book signing with New York Times bestselling author Kelly Corrigan. Ms. Corrigan will present her new book, Glitter and Glue. 
Please join us for a lecture and book signing with New York Times bestselling author Sue Monk Kidd. Kidd will present her new book, The Invention of Wings. 
Please join us for a lecture and book signing with New York Times bestselling author Nancy Horan. Horan will present her new book, Under the Wide and Starry Sky.
The library recently purchased access to BrowZine, a new tablet application that allows you to browse, read and monitor many of the library’s scholarly journals all in a format optimized for your iPad or Android tablet. Built to accompany your searching needs, articles found in BrowZine can easily be synced with Zotero, Mendeley, Dropbox or several other services to help keep all of your information together in one place.
