The Old Dominion University Department of English and the College of Arts and Letters have sponsored the Literary Festival for 25 years. In addition, the Office of the President and the President's Lecture Series, the Office of the Provost, the MFA in Creative Writing faculty and students, and the Associated Writing Programs have long been sustaining contributors.

This year's festival is co-sponsored by the Office of Student Activities and Leadership, Student Services, Multicultural Student Services, the Development Office, Women's Studies Program, the Departments of Art, Communication and Theatre Arts, Foreign Languages and Literatures, Music, the University Gallery, the College of Education's Reading Center, and all those faculty, student, and staff volunteers who give introductions, escort writers, distribute flyers, and fulfill other tasks necessary to continue this event.

Over the years partnerships with community organizations and individuals have increased. The Festival is particularly indebted to the Norfolk Commission on the Arts and Humanities, Virginia Commission for the Arts, Port Folio Weekly, New Virginia Review Inc., Blackbird: an online journal of literature and the arts, and Edie White, who established an endowment for the Literary Festival in memory of her husband, Dr. Forrest P. White.

This year, with the generous support of Verizon, the Festival joins with literacy providers in Hampton Roads and Virginia to expand the reach of literacy information that brings awareness and understanding to this critical issue. According to the National Adult Literacy Survey, 92 million adults in the U.S. - almost 48 percent of the population - have very low or low literacy skills. Help a child or an adult learn to read! Go online to www.odu.edu/educ/reading_ctr for local opportunities or to www.verizonreads.com for national opportunities.

Festival events are free and open to the public. Seating is limited, so please arrive early. For more information, contact the Department of English at (757) 683-3991.

Associated Writing Programs
The Associated Writing Programs (AWP) is a nonprofit literary and educational organization. AWP's mission is to foster literary talent and achievement, to advance the art of writing as essential to a good education, and to serve the makers, teachers, students, and readers of contemporary writing. AWP now serves 21,000 writers, 325 college and university creative writing programs, and 60 writers' conferences and centers, as well as literary magazines, small presses, and literary festivals.