The English Festival at Bluffton University, now celebrating its twenty-fourth year, offers high school students an intensive day of literary and writing activities based on various literary sources, with a particular emphasis on festival readings. Kristin Ohlson, author of Stalking the Divine (2003) and co-author of Kabul Beauty School (2005), will be the guest author for the 2008 festival. Ohlson is a freelance journalist, essayist, and fiction writer based in Cleveland, Ohio. She has published articles in national forums such as the New York Times; Salon.com; Ms; and O, the Oprah Magazine on a wide range of topics. She will speak on "From Kabul to the Corn Palace: the Life and Times of a Freelance Writer" during the Forum presentation and participate in a Q&A session.
2008 Festival Resource List
All participants will read the materials listed below in preparation for the festival. Writing exercises, readings, and discussions will be based on knowledge of these resources. If at all possible, please bring these materials with you to the Festival.
For this Festival, we have decided to use a slightly different format for the readings, drawing both on a non-fiction text as well as several of Ohlson's articles; all her articles are available at her website (or will be soon).
Kabul Beauty School: An American Woman Goes Behind the Veil, co-written with Deborah Rodriguez, Random House (0812976738).
"Faith in the Baby," Salon.com
"The Bransfords of Mammoth Cave," American Legacy
"Be a Man," in O (full text will be on her website soon)
“Kabul Nights,” in Gourmet Magazine (full text will be on her website soon)
Festival Workshops & Events
The day's events will feature an invigorating mix of impromptu writing, college-level discussions, and sessions with the guest authors.
Festival Workshops
Other Festival Events
Festival Contests
Poetry contest
Participants may submit 1-3 of their poems for this contest. Poems should be typed, one to a page and include your name, address and school. Entries should be postmarked by March 14, 2008.
Prose contest
The prose contest includes three categories:
Prose entries should be postmarked by April 1, 2008
Entries for both the Poetry and Prose contests should be sent to:
Lamar Nisly
Bluffton University
1 University Drive
Bluffton, OH 45817
How to register
If you are a high school sophomore, junior or senior interested in stretching your imagination and skills through encounters with literature and writing experiences, fill out a student registration form (available from the festival coordinator at your school) and return it to him/her with the $5 registration fee. This fee entitles you to a cafeteria lunch and all festival events.
You will be notified of your registration status through your coordinator. Meanwhile, begin to get acquainted with the festival resources.
Winners of the poetry contest may be asked to present their poems to the festival audience in the final session; selected poems and essays will be published in a booklet distributed to all participating schools.
For more information, contact Lamar Nisly at nislyl@bluffton.edu
