Spring Literary Festival

Spring Literary Festival

蘑菇短视频's annual Spring Literary Festival has a long tradition of bringing established and emerging literary talent to our campus and region. It reflects WCU's commitment to providing the best humanities education possible to its students and to bringing the best of the arts to the mountains.

The festival grew out of 蘑菇短视频's Visiting Writers Series, the oldest such series in North Carolina. While the area has a rich literary heritage all its own, the festival seeks to secure that heritage's place on the nation's literary stage by bringing local and national writers together.

The next Spring Literary Festival will take place April 5-8, 2027.

Photo of audience at festival with clock tower in background

2026 Festival Highlights

Ross Gay and Aimee Nezhukumatathil on stage

Aimee Nezhukumatathil and Ross Gay

Gabrielle Calvocoressi and Joy Priest

Gaby Calvocoressi and students at community garden

Gabrielle Calvocoressi with students at the community garden

Shane Hawk

Audience members listening to a speech and laughing at a joke

About the Festival

Jericho Brown signing a book at a table for Litfest

Writing Competitions

2026 Sponsors

The 2026 festival received support from the Department of English Studies, the College of Arts and Sciences, the Office of the Provost, the Division of Student of Affairs, Campus Theme, the Visiting Scholar Program, the Latino/a Studies program, the Museum of the Cherokee People, and the North Carolina Arts Council, a division of the Department of Natural and Cultural Resources.