On Thursday, Nov. 6 and Friday, Nov. 7, the Great Lakes Writers Festival will bring two published authors, Maggie Su and Albert Abonado, to Lakeland University. The festival invites students and the community to celebrate and cultivate the art of writing.
This free, annual festival includes readings by the featured authors, master classes, book signings, an open mic, a question-and-answer session and a writing contest. Attendees can come to as few or as many events as they like.
Su will read from her novel, “Blob: A Love Story,” and Abonado will read from his poetry collection, “Field Guide for Accidents.”
Maggie Su
Maggie Su, a writer and editor, earned her PhD in fiction from the University of Cincinnati and her MFA from Indiana University. “Blob: A Love Story,” published by HarperCollins, is her debut novel. Her writing has appeared in New England Review, Four Way Review, TriQuarterly Review, Puerto del Sol, Juked, DIAGRAM and other publications. Su lives in South Bend, Ind., with her partner, daughter, cat and turtle.
In “Blob,” Vi, an aimless young woman, finds a sentient blob and shapes him into her ideal boyfriend.
“‘Blob’ was born out of my own hopeless confusion about how people create relationships with one another, both platonically and romantically,” Su said. “Connecting with a stranger seemed as unlikely to me as discovering a sentient blob.”
Like the creation of the blob-turned-man, the formation of the story idea was a gradual process. Seven years ago, Su wrote a 10-page blob story, which she later shaped into a 10-minute play. After a self-imposed, year-long writing drought where Su focused on her PhD qualifying exams, she returned to her notebook to write the novel.
“I knew I wasn’t finished with the characters, and I needed a larger space to do justice to their growth and development,” Su said. “Just like Bob and Vi [the main characters from ‘Blob’], it took a little while for this story to find its final form.”
Albert Abonado
Albert Abonado, a poet and essayist from Rochester, N.Y., received his MFA from the Bennington Writing Seminars and was granted fellowships for poetry from the New York Foundation for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts. Abonado teaches at the State University of New York at Geneseo, where he is artist in residence, and Finger Lakes Community College, where he serves as managing editor of the Bare Hill Review. His work is published in Boston Review, Colorado Review, The Laurel Review, The Margins, TriQuarterly, Waxwing and Zone 3, among others. Sundress Publications published his first poetry collection, “JAW.”
“Field Guide for Accidents,” published by Beacon in 2024, is a National Poetry Series winner. Through motifs of food and family, five sections of poems explore identity, culture and religion from the perspective of a poet with Filipino immigrant parents. Abonado explained that this collection “emerged from a near-fatal accident involving [his] parents.”
“Their accident lead me to ask questions about mortality, about writing, about family and my fragile relationship with my identity,” Abonado said.
Abonado views writing as “a way of thinking about the world.” Just as Abonado grappled with his parent’s accident through his poetry, he encourages others to simply write:
“Write the lines that make you cringe. Write the lines you resist. Write the lines that you know you will regret. Write the lines that are mistakes. […] The bad sentence, the language you want to cut: these may be necessary to write to reach the language that is essential. Allow yourself to make those supposed mistakes. Writing is a delightfully messy process. Roll around in the mess until something beautiful emerges.”
The Great Lakes Writers Festival creates a space for writers to wrestle with the mess of the writing process. It’s also a reminder that writers don’t have to work through that process alone.
“Festivals like this are an opportunity to use writing to connect with a community of writers as we reconsider our perspectives and to cultivate relationships through our art,” Abonado said.
Event Information
Attendees can participate in two master classes, which are round-table opportunities to meet with the authors for an interactive writing experience. Su will hold her master classes in Laun 228, and Abonado’s master classes will be in Laun 210.
On Friday, Nov. 7, high schoolers and their chaperones can enjoy a private, interactive master class that showcases how the authors get inspired and work on their craft, followed by a writing exercise.
In addition to the master classes and readings at Lakeland University, the festival includes a reading and open mic at Jake’s, A Lakeland Community, in downtown Sheboygan. Attendees can each have up to three minutes to read a piece of their writing.
The festival also offers a writing contest. All attendees are invited to submit one unpublished poem, short story or personal essay under 5,000 words. The winning submission will earn a $100 prize. Email submissions to [email protected] by Dec. 1.
Schedule:
Thursday, Nov. 6
10:30-11 a.m.: Registration in the Bradley Theater lobby
11 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.: Reading and book signing in the theater, convo credit available
12:30-2 p.m.: Lunch break
2-4 p.m.: Master Class One in Laun 2nd floor
7-8 p.m.: Reading, open mic and book signing at Jake’s, A Lakeland Community, 529 Ontario Ave., Sheboygan.
Su’s Thursday master class topic is titled “(de)Constructing Monsters.” Abonado will lead a master class called, “Make it Strange: Reimagine the Mundane through our Poetry.”
Friday, Nov. 7
9:30-10 a.m.: Registration in Laun 2nd floor
10-11:30 a.m.: Reading and Q&A in Laun 209
11:30 a.m. – 1 p.m. Lunch break
1-2 p.m.: High School Master Class in Laun
4:30-5 p.m.: Master Class Two in Laun 2nd floor, book signing in Laun 209
Su’s Master Class Two is titled “Flipping the Script: Using Film to Inspire Fiction.” Abonado’s Master Class Two is “How to Say Thank You: Gratitude and the Ode.”
For more information and to register, visit greatlakeswritersfestival.org.