The fourth annual ArkaText Literary Festival will be held Feb. 28-March 4 at the University of Central Arkansas. Each year, the festival brings noted Arkansas writers in various genres to campus for public readings and workshops with students.
This year, the festival will feature Marck L. Beggs (poetry), Melissa King (non-fiction), and Jennifer Paddock (fiction). A student reading and a faculty reading will also be held.A complete schedule for the festival follows:
Monday, Feb. 28
Student Reading
2 ? 3 p.m.
Student Center 214A
Tuesday, March 1
Faculty Reading
1:40 ? 2:30 p.m.
Student Center 213A
Wednesday, March 2
Craft Talk with Marck L. Beggs (poetry)
11 a.m. ? Noon
Student Center 214A,
Public Reading with Marck L. Beggs (poetry)
3 ? 4 p.m.
Student Center 214A, 3:00-4:00 p.m.
Thursday, March 3
Craft Talk with Melissa King (non-fiction)
11 a.m. ? Noon
Irby 215
Public Reading with Melissa King (non-fiction)
1:40 ? 2:30 p.m.
Irby 215
Friday, March 4
Craft Talk with Jennifer Paddock (fiction)
11 a.m. ? Noon
Irby 211
Public Reading Jennifer Paddock (fiction)
2 p.m. ? 3 p.m.
Irby 211
All events are free and open to the public.
About the writers:
Marck L. Beggs is the author of Libido Caf? (2004) and Godworm (1995). His poems have appeared in several anthologies, including Dog Music and Bark. His poems have been widely published in many magazines, including Eclectica, Exquisite Corpse, Painted Bride Quarterly, Recursive Angel, and others. Beggs has also written essays on poetry, including ?Translating the Gospel Back into Tongues.? He edits the Arkansas Literary Forum. Beggs lives in Little Rock.
Melissa King has written for Sports Illustrated, Chicago Reader, Sport Literate, Arkansas Times, and other publications. Her story ?It?s All in the Game? was selected by Richard Ford for the Best American Sportswriting 1999. King?s most recent book, She?s Got Next: Life Played Under a Hoop, is due to be published this spring. She lives in Fayetteville.
Jennifer Paddock has appeared in Stories from the Blue Moon Caf?, The North American Review and Other Voices. Her novel A Secret Word, a coming-of-age story about three young women from Fort Smith, Arkansas, was selected as the featured book for the Center on the Book?s ongoing series of author programming held in libraries and bookstores throughout Arkansas in September of 2004. Paddock grew up in Fort Smith and lives with her husband, writer Sydney Thompson, in Fairhope, Ala.
The ArkaText Literary Festival is part of the Central Arkansas Writing Arts Series and is sponsored by UCA’s Department of Writing and Speech. It is also part of UCA’s Artists in Residence program coordinated by the College of Fine Arts and Communication. While on campus, the writers will be meeting with UCA writing students in a workshop and discussion setting.
For more information, contact Terry Wright, Associate Dean, College of Fine Arts and Communication, University of Central Arkansas, at (501) 450-3295 or email terryw@uca.edu.
