Ithaca College

November 18 - 29, 2020
www.SpringWrites.org

The Spring Writes Literary Festival, now in its twelfth year, features over 80 regional writers, and 23 literary themed events and performances.

All events are free with zoom registration.  

The Festival’s line-up was juried from an open call for proposals, and curated by this year’s Artistic Director Jennifer Tennant, a writer and Professor of Economics at IC. There is truly something for everyone! There are numerous readings of all genres, panel discussions, impactful performances, and an open mic. To see the full lineup of participating local writers and events, visit www.SpringWrites.org.  

The following events features members of the Ithaca College Community:

Mara Alper - Retired Associate Professor, Media Arts
Barbara Anger - Retired Instructor, Theatre Arts
Both Mara and Barbara are part of a Reading, “The Thursdays Read,” on Saturday, November 21st at 5:15. 

Eleanor Henderson, Associate Professor and Chair, Writing Dept.
Joan Marcus, Assistant Professor, Writing Dept.
Nick Kowalczyk - Associate Professor, Writing Dept. 
Eleanor, Joan and Nick have organized a Reading/Panel: “Crafting the Life in Progress” at 6pm on Saturday, November 21st at 6pm. 

Saviana Stanescu - Associate Professor, Theatre Arts
Jaime Warburton - Assistant Professor, Writing Dept.
Jaime and Saviana are part of a Group Reading: Writing Across Genres and Borders, at 7pm on Friday, November 27th.  

Nia Nunn - Associate Professor, Dept. of Education
Dr. Nunn has organized a reading of area youth (including IC students) at 6pm on Saturday, November 28th

Mickie Quinn - Director of Park Promotions
Mickie is showing her short film “Lenore” as part of part of a group reading at 6pm on Sunday, November 29th.  

Kristen Reid, Cinema and Photography '21 has curated an Ithaca College Senior Writing Majors showcase will be at 7pm on Sunday, November 29th. 

Elisabeth Nonas, Retired Associate Professor, Media Arts 
Elisabeth is leading a workshop, “Running Around the Writer’s Block” at 6:30 on Thursday, February 4th.

Katharyn Howd Machan, Professor, Writing Dept.
Katharyn will lead a “Writing Fantasy Fiction and Poetry” workshop at 6:30 on Wednesday, December 9th

Jennifer Tennant, Associate Professor, Economics 
Artistic Director of Spring Writes

The Spring Writes Literary Festival is a program of the Community Arts Partnership of Tompkins County (CAP). The Festival got its start in 2009 from a desire to shine a light on the abundance of literary talent across the Finger Lakes Region, and bring writers and audiences together.  Since then, it has grown from 14 events that first year, to 43 in 2019. This year's festival was originally scheduled to take place in May at ten downtown Ithaca locations, and was postponed due to the pandemic. CAP is very pleased to be able to preserve 30 events from the original line-up, now all virtual. (In addition to the 23 events during in November, 7 writing workshops will be held from December through April.)

A 2019 attendee wrote to CAP to say: “This was my first year attending the Spring Writes Literary Festival and I was completely unprepared for how powerful an experience it would be. We are so fortunate that we have such amazing artists in our community that so generously share their stories and their expertise!”

The impact on our writing community is also strong. “There is a groundswell of writers who want to participate, to help plan and organize events, and to get even more writers on board” says Robin Schwartz, CAP Program Director. “Writers typically work in isolation, so the excitement generated by bringing this community together with each other and audiences is palpable.”

The Spring Writes Literary Festival is supported with grant funding from the New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA), and Poets & Writers.  We thank our 2020 Sponsors: Ithaca College, M&T Bank, the Marriott in Ithaca, Odyssey Bookstore, and Wegmans.