The 24^th  annual Great Lakes Writers Festival (GLWF) comes back to Lakeland campus on November 3  and 4 with visiting authors Anna Harris-Parker and Tony Woodlief. Lakeland students are encouraged to attend the convocation portion at 11a.m  on November 3 as the authors will read excerpts from their work in the Bradley Theater. A full itinerary is located at  greatlakeswritersfestival.org where students and the public are also encouraged to register. T-shirts are available for purchase on campus during the festival (limited supply).

Parker and Woodlief are former peers of Lakeland University’s Associate Professor of Writing, Jodie Mortag from Wichita State University where they earned their M.F.A. in Creative Writing together. Mortag said, “I couldn’t help but reunite these unlikely yet likely writers. Anna, a southern drawl that slips down the hall in her cowgirl boots. Tony, a shirt and tie, I’m not just a writer on the side. Chic vs suit. However different they appear, their writings swan dive and cannonball through the heart of what brings readers together—relationships. Relationships to our pets, to our partners, to our children, to our politics, to our faith, and to ourselves.”

Lakeland Creative Writing majors, Darcyn Gross, Marian Cramer and Melissa Kassens organized the event this year overseen by Professor Jodie Mortag and hope for a large turnout from fellow peers. Marian said, “Working on the Great Lakes Writers Festival has taught me a lot about the other side of writing and event planning. I went into this experience with not a lot of knowledge on the subject, just a passion for getting others excited about writing.  It is looking like this year’s festival is going to be a big success, and I am excited to show the rest of the campus what we’ve all been working so hard on.”

Lakeland students and the public are welcome to join the authors for a reading at WordHaven bookstore in Sheboygan at 7p .m. on November 3.