Glitterary Festival at Ole Miss Examines Boundaries of Literature and Gender
Organizers hope to spark community conversation surrounding race, class and intersectionality
Members of the University of Mississippi and Oxford communities can listen and learn about queer ideas and representation in literature by attending the Glitterary Festival, a queer literary festival with a broad definition of what is literature and what is queer.
The festival, set for Friday, April 29 in the Gertrude C. Ford Ballroom at The Inn at Ole Miss, is intended to spark conversation about boundaries surrounding queer identity and about race, class and issues of intersectionality.
Beth Ann Fennelly, UM professor of English and co-founder of the festival, is ready for community members to celebrate the university’s queer writers.
“I founded the festival with one of the graduate students in our MFA program, Kate Leland, to celebrate the robust population of queer writers in our communities,” Fennelly said. “Unlikely as it seems, Oxford has become a place where important and soulful work is being done in the intersection of queer studies and literature.
“We want to create a space for these nontraditional conversations to take place.”
Hosted by the Sarah Isom Center for Women and Gender Studies in conjunction with Oxford Pride, the festival will feature roundtable discussions with renowned writers, including Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Jericho Brown.
“We were delighted to partner with Beth Ann Fennelly to organize the Glitterary Festival as part of this year’s Oxford Pride,” said Jamie Harker, director of the Isom Center. “One of our core goals at the Sarah Isom Center is the creation of inclusive spaces, both on campus and in the larger community.”
“We have been expanding events, with community and university partners, over the years as part of Oxford Pride. A literary festival focusing on LGBTQ+ authors was a welcome addition to our broader array of events, including the Pride parade, Lavender Graduation and an annual drag show at the Lyric.”
The festival schedule includes:
- 9-10 a.m. – Queer Ecology Roundtable
- 10:15-11:15 a.m. – ACE Roundtable
- 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. – Writing the Queer Body
- 2:30-3:30 p.m. – Getting Queer Words into the World
- 3:45-4:45 p.m. – Queer Intersections
- 5-6 p.m. – Happy Hour
- 6:15-7:30 p.m. – Keynote Readings
All events are free and open to the public. For more information on the Glitterary Festival, go to https://glitteraryfestival.com, and click here for all Oxford Pride events.
By Michael Taplin
About the Author
University of Mississippi The University of Mississippi, affectionately known as Ole Miss, is Mississippi’s flagship university. A member of the elite group of R1: Doctoral Universities - Highest Research Activity by the Carnegie Classification, Ole Miss has a long history of producing leaders in public service, business, academics and the professions. Its 16 academic divisions include a major medical school; nationally recognized schools of accountancy, law and pharmacy; and an Honors College acclaimed for a blend of academic rigor, experiential learning and opportunities for community action. Acclaimed as one of the nation’s most beautiful, Ole Miss's main campus is in Oxford, which is routinely recognized as one of the nation's best college towns.
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