“I've made so many connections with writers that started with Lit Youngstown's Lit Festival, in particular.”
2022 Fall Lit Festival
The in-person, 6th annual Fall Literary Festival will be centered around the theme “The Places That Make Us,” a conversation about writing, publishing, teaching, community outreach, and inclusion.
The conference aims to sustain and enhance discussion on real and imagined literary places that shape our memory, experience and identity.
This year's featured presenters are film scholar & screenwriter Laura Beadling, fiction writer Kelly Fordon, filmmaker Karla Murthy, children’s author Candace Fleming & poet Joy Priest.
THURSDAY
October 20
Gathering-In
Concept Studio
Warm welcome, Fall Literary Festival attendees and presenters! Join us downtown at the Concept Studio for a cookie table (a Youngstown tradition!), an open mic and the start of a great conference.
FRIDAY
October 21
9:15 WELCOME ADDRESS
Karen Schubert
Creative Reading
Sara Moore Wagner, Mixby Dickon, Jim Ferris
Workshop- Life Like: Crafting Memorable Settings in Creative Works
Melissa Dunlap, Amanda Miller
Talk- Honoring Others with Our Fiction Research + “Sitting of the Edge of the Waves”: Voices of the Foreigner in Their own Home
June Gervais + Michael W. Young
Talk- Documentary filmmaking: differences in processes between news piece and film
Karla Murthy
Narrative nonfiction talk or workshop
Candace Fleming
Creative Reading
Barrett Warner, Julia Wendell, Jan LaPerle, Tara Stillions Whitehead, Ashley Cowger
Workshop- Poem and Place Caught on Film: An Interactive Workshop Responding to Photography, Movies, and Other Art Forms
Marjorie Maddox
Crabgrass and Hummingbirds: A Generative Workshop with a Focus on Incorporating -- and Maximizing -- Natural Elements in Poetry and Prose
Keith Lesmeister, Erica Anderson-Senter, Christian Whitney
Moving Past Influence
Dylan Morris, Mary Biddinger, Ali Black
Creative Reading
Jeff Gundy, Becca J.R. Lachman, Karen Frank
1:00-2:00 Speaker Talk: Power of Film as Narrative, Power of Empathy
Karla Murthy
Workshop- screenwriting workshop
Laura Beadling
Workshop- "Let's Deconstruct a Story" Part 1
Kelly Fordon
TBD: Poetry talk or workshop
Joy Priest
Talk- Marketing Your Book--Tips from a Professional Marketer and Writer
Gabriel Welsch
Talk- Literary Citizenship: Writing for Other Writers
Erin Flanagan, Meredith Doench, Amy Gustine, Christina Consolino
Talk- Redirection as Reinvigoration
Melanie Murphy, Molly Fuller, Robert Miltner
Workshop- "Let's Deconstruct a Story" Part 2
Kelly Fordon
Workshop- LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION, POETRY!
Rikki Santer
Talk- The Danger of Forced Silence: Why Fighting Book Bannings and Problematic Educational Legislation Matters
Jackie Mercer, Chris Barzak, Tim Francisco, Sarah Valingo
Talk- Launching a Writer’s Residency on the Eve of a Pandemic + Strengthening Artistic Communities Through Podcasts
Arlan Hess, Dade Lemanski, Alyssa Velazquez, Jeremy Jusek
5:00-6:00 Happy Hour Noble Creature Cask House or Tour Museum of Industry & Labor
Youngstown Historical Center of Industry & Labor | 151 W. Wood St.
Noble Creature Cask House | 126 E. Rayen Ave.
6:00-7:00 Dinner & Jazz
St. John's Episcopal Church | 323 Wick Ave.
7:00 Reading (Free and Open to the Public)
Featured Presenters Kelly Fordon & Joy Priest
St. John's Episcopal Church | 323 Wick Ave.
SATURDAY
October 22
9:15 WELCOME ADDRESS
Karen Schubert
Talk- Creating a Creative Writing Infrastructure at the Community College
Michael Dittman, Jackie Kunkel
Creative Reading
Susan McKenzie, Mary Ozbolt, Amber Ree Robinson
Talk- How to Get Somewhere Without Going There: A Panel Discussion on Writing Authentically about Place
Marjorie Maddox, Marion Starling Boyer, Barbara Sabol
Workshop- Building Community & Empathy through Creative Writing
Cynthia Larsen, Amy Rosenbluth
Talk- Persevering to Publication: Some Practical Tips
June Gervais
Workshop- All Alone Without a Phone
Dana Washington
Talk- Ohio's Girlhood Landscape: Exploring the Intersection of Place and Identity
Sara Moore Wagner, Christen Noel Kauffman, Sarah Ann Winn
Workshop-The Objects That Reveal Who We Are
Jonie McIntire, Jim Ferris
Creative Reading
Janet Beard, Jennifer Militello, Rikki Santer
Talk- Writing Into and Out of Landscapes + Evoking the Spirit: Place as Character in Fiction Writing
Anastasios Mihalopolous, Joee Goheen + Karen Frank
Workshop- Bringing a film project to fruition
Laura Beadling
The Hub in Kilcawley Center
Creative Reading
Jen Knox, Jonie McIntire, Sarah Ann Winn
Talk-Legal Issues for Authors
Jacqueline Lipton
Talk- Been There, Lit That + Characteristics of Appalachian Literature and Film
Mario J. Ricciardi + Larry Smith
Talk- Make Your Mark(eting) + NAG the Competition -Naming, Aiming, and Gaming - A Guide to Titles and Marketing
Lannie Stabile + Dianne Borsenik
Workshop- The Window or the Door: Transitioning from Writing Stories to Novels
Erin Flanagan
Creative Reading
Lannie Stabile, Katerina Stoykova, William Heath
Workshop-Excavating a Protagonist's Inner Wounds
Meredith Doench
Talk- Women & Words: Stories that Connect
Mary Leoson
Talk- Persona's Not Just People
Dr. Christian Anton Gerard, Heather Dobbins
Talk- Centering Writing in our Community + Teaching Poetry in the Community
Cynthia Larsen, Amy Rosenbluth + Carrie George, Charles Malone
Panel Discussion, “The Places That Make Us”
5:00-7:00 Dinner & bowling
The Westside Bowl | 2617 Mahoning Ave.
7:00 Screening of The Place That Makes Us & Panel Discussion (Free and Open to the Public)
Youngstown Playhouse | 600 Playhouse Lane
