students
verbal arts festival
“No, I was not born under a rhyming planet, nor I cannot woo in festival terms.”
- William Shakespeare (Much Ado About Nothing 5.2, 40-41)
The Verbal Arts Festival (VAF) is an annual tradition at UIS wherein we celebrate the joys of language and literature.
The Festival takes place each spring with English-related events. Guest speakers both from UIS faculty and from mainstream literary circles are featured, and the UIS literary journal, The Alchemist Review, is unveiled with an evening of readings from selected authors.
Other VAF events have included plays written and produced by students, poetry readings, and literary and critical presentations. Anyone and everyone with a passion for all things literary is invited to participate in the planning and organization of the Verbal Arts Festival.
The 2011 Verbal Arts Festival is pleased to present:
11:00 AM in Brookens Auditorium:
Join us in welcoming our keynote speaker, Peter Mountford, in celebrating the release of his new novel, A Young Man's Guide to late Capitalism. Mountford will speak about his novel and the real-life experiences that inform it as a parable of the contorted grid of global capital. Copies of the book will be available for puchase at a luncheon/reception in the
concourse outside Mary Jane's Cafe at noon.
1:30 PM in Brookens Auditorium:
Sarah Clinch presents a screening of her self-written and -directed film short, A Tragic Affair. Discussion / Q & A with Clinch will follow.
2:30 PM in Brookens Auditorium:
The debut of Nathaniel Schmidt's theatrical short, The Mystery of Milk.
3:30 PM at the UIS Colonnade:*
Renowned local artist and 2010 Art Prize contestant Michael Mayosky performs with his amzing spinning canvas, featuring live music by Chris Maxey!
The canvas will be auctioned to the highest bidder at the end of the event. Proceeds will be donated to the Prairie Art Alliance.
Come enjoy the spring weather--and free hot dogs!
*In the event of rain, festivities will be relocated to the Brookens Library Overhang.
7:00 in Brookens Auditorium:
Join us in welcoming AD Carson, local poet and HipHop/rap artist, in celebrating the release of his new novel, Cold. AD will host an Open Mic and Poetry Slam in honor of the release of the 2011 Alchemist Review alongside other local artists of the spoken word.
Musicians, poets, and authors welcome!
All VAF activities are free and open to the public.
Contact the English Department's Graduate Assistant to learn more.
