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49th Annual ODU Literary Festival: Make Room for WonderWe read because we wonder about ourselves: who would I have been in that body, that country, that century, and what would I have done when the soldiers came, or the diagnosis, or the flood. Wonder is also the astonishment when a book answers.
This festival, the longest-running in the United States, has been making room for both since 1978, when it began as an Arts Reunion built on the premise that "every person is potentially an artist." Forty-nine years later the premise holds. Five days of readings and conversation, free and open, everyone welcome.
The theme is drawn from a line in "On Learning to Dissect Fetal Pigs," the poem by Renée Good (1988–2026) that won the 2020 Academy of American Poets Prize at Old Dominion University. We dedicate this festival to her memory.
John McManus and Michael Weber
2026 Festival Co-directors
49th ANNUAL ODU LITERARY FESTIVAL SCHEDULE
All events are in University Theatre unless indicated otherwise. Follow the Literary Festival on Facebook: @ODULitFest
Sunday, Oct. 4:
◉ 4:00 p.m.: Opening Reception: The Green Onion, 1603 Colley Avenue, Norfolk
Monday, Oct. 5:
◉ 2:00 p.m.: Local Authors Reading: Nicole Glover and Kimbra Drake. University Theatre.
◉ 4:00 p.m.: Professors Emeriti Reading: Joe Jackson and Michael Patrick Pearson. University Theatre.
◉ 7:00 p.m.: Edith & Forrest P. White Writer-in-Residence Reading: Hanif Abdurraqib. University Theatre.
Tuesday, Oct. 6:
◉ 12:00 p.m.: Workshop: Coptic Bookbinding with Luisa A. Igloria, MPark, BAL 9024.
◉ 2:00 p.m.: MFA Faculty Reading: Jane Alberdeston and Julia Johnson. University Theatre.
◉ 4:00 p.m.: Scott McClanahan. University Theatre.
◉ 6:00 p.m.: Reception in honor of Chris Adrian, EVMS: Lester Hall Lobby.
◉ 7:00 p.m.: Chris Adrian, EVMS: Lester Hall, Room 135.
Wednesday, Oct. 7:
◉ 10:00 a.m.: Workshop: Narrative Medicine with Chris Adrian, EVMS: Waitzer Hall, Room 133
◉ 12:00 p.m.: Bread + Puppet Theater: Sculpture in Action. Curator’s Tour with Jasper Waugh-Quasebarth. The Baron & Ellin Gordon Art Galleries.
◉ 2:00 p.m.: Virginia Poetry Database Reading: Lesley Wheeler, Carolyn Kreiter-Foronda, and Luz Schweig. ODU Perry Library.
◉ 5:00 p.m.: Screening from Naro Video @ODU Libraries: Once, The Slover Library, 235 E Plume Street, Downtown Norfolk.
◉ 7:00 p.m.: Siobhan Fallon. The Slover Library, Community Engagement Room 650, 235 E Plume St, Downtown Norfolk.
Thursday, Oct. 8:
◉ 12:30 p.m.: Workshop: A Conversation on Craft with Mecca Jamilah Sullivan. Burgess Room, BAL 9024
◉ 2:00 p.m.: Alumni Reading: Emma Comery, Bob Kunzinger, Richard Leise, and Caleb True. University Theatre.
◉ 4:00 p.m.: Launch Party for Brackish Waters & Constellate anthologies. ODU Perry Library.
◉ 6:00 p.m.: Room to Wonder: A Game Jam, Monarch Hall, Room 2116.
◉ 7:00 p.m: Mecca Jamilah Sullivan. University Theatre.
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4600 Hampton Boulevard, Norfolk, VA, United States, Virginia 23529
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