EIU Media Relations

EIU to Host Lions in Winter -- An Annual Literary Festival

Registration is now open for Eastern Illinois University’s annual literary festival, Lions in Winter, set to take place Friday and Saturday, Jan. 25 and 26, 2013.

For the first time since the festival’s inception, it will be a two-day event, featuring workshops, lectures, readings, a book fair and more.

The festival will begin with a reading by Jaimy Gordon, 2010 National Book Award winner for her novel “Lord of Misrule,” at 7 p.m. Jan. 25 in Eastern’s Doudna Fine Arts Center’s Lecture Hall.

Individual events planned for Saturday, Jan. 26, include intensive genre workshops led by EIU creative writing faculty; craft lectures from featured writers Eduardo C. Corral, Tina May Hall and Randa Jarrar; an editor’s panel with editors from The Missouri Review, Ninth Letter, 32 Poems, PANK and Bluestem; and an evening reading by the festival’s featured writers.

All events will take place in the Doudna Fine Arts Center. Detailed schedules and information, including registration details and area hotel accommodations, can be found on the festival’s website (www.lionsinwinter.org).

Participant registration includes continental breakfast and lunch on Saturday, well as entry into workshops and/or lectures. Students may register to attend the craft lecture for free, or $10 for those who wish to join the group for lunch.

Admission to the readings on both Friday and Saturday are free and open to the public.

Lions in Winter, co-sponsored by EIU’s Department of English and College of Arts and Humanities, is an annual reading series for new and emerging writers. Past featured writers include Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz, Megan Stielstra, Maureen Stanton, Peter O’Leary and Anastasia Royal.

Those with questions should contact information@lionsinwinter.org.