Eighth Annual New Writers Literary Festival Saturday, March 7, 2015
Lusher Charter High School and New Orleans Center for Creative Arts are collaborating once again to produce the eighth year of a remarkable day-long event for high school students: New Orleans New Writers Literary Festival. The Festival, coordinated by Lusher faculty member Brad Richard and NOCCA faculty member Lara Naughton, draws nearly 150 young writers from the New Orleans area who come together to learn new skills, share ideas and celebrate the writing life. “LitFest is a great environment to be in to experiment with writing, make new writer-friends from all over the city, and learn from professional writers who don’t hold back sharing what they know,” said high school student Khipper Thompson.
LitFest offers high school students a festival of master classes with professional writers and artists, readings and performances, seminars, food, and sharing of work and ideas. Saturday’s events will be held from 9:30 AM-4:30 PM at NOCCA, 2800 Chartres Street, New Orleans LA 70117
Headlining the Saturday festival will be Slam Team New Orleans, which will perform for all festival attendees and participate in a Q&A moderated by student writers. After the master class, Slam Team New Orleans will also meet with a small group of students in a workshop setting. Other workshop sessions include Screenwriting with Henry Griffin; Fiction with Maurice Ruffin; Poetry with Anne Marie Rooney; Book Making with Yuka Petz; Songwriting with Mike Rihner; and Creative Non-Fiction with Anya Groner. In addition, there will be an open mic reading by members of the local high school literary scene.
Co-founder Brad Richard says, “As professional writers, we know how important it is to be part of a larger writing community. The same is true for young writers who want to meet other students with similar interests and explore the craft with outstanding artists and mentors. We’re thrilled to offer this opportunity again this year.”
The Saturday festival is open to high school age students and requires pre-registration. Interested 8th graders should contact Lara Naughton at [email protected] for approval to register. The non-refundable registration fee is $20.00, payable on-line, and the registration deadline is March 1, 2015.