Finding voice and vision at the Spring Literary Festival
OHIO's 2026 Spring Literary Festival connected students with established authors through readings, conversations and personal interactions that made careers in writing feel more accessible. With firsthand experiences, the event shows how direct engagement with writers shapes students' perspectives on the professional writing world.
Emma Stevenson B.S. ‘27 | April 28, 2026
Share:
The 2026 Spring Literary Festival, held March 25–26, brought authors such as George Bilgere, Hala Alyan and Jeff VanderMeer to the Ohio University community for lectures, readings and conversations. Over the two-day event, students, including Paige O’Brien and Lilly Alexander, reflected on their experiences and perspectives of the festival.
One of the memorable moments of the festival was the opportunity for students to engage with the authors in a personal setting. Through Q&A sessions and informal conversations, attendees asked questions about the writing process, challenges, and the realities of working in the literary field. For many students, this access made the experience feel more inspiring, turning small ideas about writing into something achievable. O’Brien noted that hearing authors speak honestly about their struggles and successes made the path to becoming a writer feel “more real and less intimidating.”
The festival created a space for students to go beyond the classroom to challenge the way they think. Students talked to professionals within the literary industry and learned the small tidbits they may not learn in the classroom.
“Hala Alyan expanded on this by explaining what it truly means to ‘witness’ something and how those experiences can physically and mentally change a person,” O’Brien said.
The interactions that occur during the festival can be transformative for OHIO's literary community. Alexander, in her second year of attendance, created a tradition for herself: getting a book signed by a visiting author.
"This is my favorite part because you get to have a one-on-one interaction with these incredibly talented authors,” she explained.
This allows attendees to have individual interactions with the visiting writers in a non-intimidating manner, showing the humanity and connection between students and professionals.
For O’Brien, Hala Alyan had the most significant impact on her development as a writer.
O'Brien quoted Alyan's explanation that “to truly witness something is the ability to say, I am willing to change due to something I have seen” and said it changed how O’Brien understands the transformation of real-life experiences into writing. During a personal interaction, Alyan encouraged exploration and offered feedback, complimenting O’Brien and her fellow creative writing students as they continue pursuing their work in the field.
For Alexander, Alyan's lecture was the most impactful. Alyan encourages looking at everything around you through different lenses, aside from your own, to better understand who you are as a person and as a writer. This perspective changed how Alexander absorbs literature, and it will translate into her future within writing.
The Spring Literary Festival pushes the attendees out of their own world and perspective to look at the world through a different lens. With the emergence of artificial intelligence in creative spaces, going to the festival allows the students to converse with individuals in the ever-changing industry.
“[The Spring Literary Festival] helps keep the art of storytelling alive. In this new world of AI, it’s events like these that keep people engaged with literature,” Alexander said.
