The UW-Madison student organizers of the first ever Madison Lit Fest want you to know: Reading is sexy.
They’ve set out to celebrate the enticing nature of the written word. The trailer they’ve created, featuring famous novels’ first lines scrawled on student’s bodies (watch it at www.madisonlitfest.com), is meant to command attention.
“Reading is sexy, sure, but it’s powerful,” said Sarah Mathews, the student director of the Wisconsin Union Directorate publications committee.
Mathews, a sophomore, came up with the idea of the festival about a year ago, something that student writers and readers could participate in, something to get her peers excited about reading.
The festival begins Wednesday and runs at various campus locations through April 19. The kickoff event is called Write On, a reception at which recipients of the Student Writer Awards will share their works.
Other events throughout the week include a reading by the Brittingham Prize in Poetry winner Alison Stine and the Felix Pollack Prize in Poetry winner Jacqueline Jones Lamon on Thursday, and an evening with former poet laureate Billy Collins on April 18.
A Saturday event called “Lovin’ Local” invites the community to get involved by visiting the bookstores and coffee shops of State Street, where writers will be sharing their work. A full schedule of events appears at www.madisonlitfest.com. All events are free.
While Mathews may be the driving force behind the lit fest, she credits her committee of approximately 30 volunteers for making it a reality. One of those volunteers, Claire Courchane, said she hopes the events have a broad appeal.
“People assume a literature festival will be a snorefest,” Courchane said, “but we want to portray reading as fresh, relevant and provocative.”
Susan Dibbell, a staffer at the Wisconsin Union and the adviser to the publications committee, said she’s been inspired by the students’ drive to organize Lit Fest and hopes that it becomes an annual event.
“I’m really optimistic about this generation,” Dibbell said. “These students see value in the written word. This was put together by volunteers who have had great conversations about what an audience wants, about editorial content ... it all bodes well for the future.”
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