April 20th, 2011
The Missouri Literary Festival and the Springfield News-Leader are teaming up to host the 2011 Civil War Challenge Short Fiction Contest. In celebration of the Sesquicentennial events surrounding the U.S. Civil War, the Missouri Literary Festival will once again host a national writing contest.
All short story writers are encouraged to take up the challenge and contribute their own creative work. The contest is open to any fiction genre but stories should contain some element (such as setting, character, theme) related to the U.S. Civil War. Authors can submit their short story entries from through 9 p.m. July 1, 2011. The entry fee is $10. Click here for an application.
New for the 2011 contest, the Springfield News-Leader will be a leading corporate sponsor of the Missouri Literary Festival. Once judging is complete a selection of top finalists will be presented on the News-Leader Online where the public will be able to read and vote for their favorite short stories. Prizes of $100 will be awarded to the top National, Missouri and People’s Choice entries; a $50 prize will be awarded to the first runner-up in each category.
For questions regarding the Missouri Literary Festival/Springfield News-Leader Civil War Challenge Short Fiction Contest email us at fictionprize@gmail.com.
Tags: Civil War, Fiction prize, Missouri Literary Festival, News-Leader, writing contest
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December 8th, 2010
The 2011 Missouri Literary Festival: The Civil War is proud to announce the addition of author David Wilson Atwood, author Janis Cooke Newman and editor James S. Baumlin to the festival lineup.
Where the Mockingbird Sang
David Wilson Atwood is the author of “Where The Mockingbird Sang - A Novel of the Civil War.” Set in the Arkansas Ozarks, the novel is based on the Civil War diaries of the author’s great-great-grandfather, Evans Atwood, a Springdale physician who served with 15th Arkansas Infantry, CSA. “Where the Mockingbird Sang” combines journal entries, historical fact and fiction in a narrative that begins before the start of the war and follows events through the aftermath of the conflict.
Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln
Janis Cooke Newman is the author of the historical novel “Mary: Mrs. A. Lincoln.” Told from the perspective of Mary Todd Lincoln, whom the author calls one of the most misunderstood women in American history, “Mary” is a story filled with love and war, sex and seances, assassination, infidelity, madness, and politics. The book was honored as the USA Today’s Best Historical Fiction of the Year in 2006.
Confederate Girlhoods
James S. Baumlin is a contributor to “Confederate Girlhoods: A Women’s History of Early Springfield, Missouri.” According to Moon City Press, “Confederate Girlhoods” gathers materials from the Campbell-McCammon Collection as preserved in The History Museum for Springfield-Greene County. The book includes memoirs, correspondence and fiction by four generations of women in the Campbell family, a founding family of Springfield, MO. Focused on writings from 1855 to 1905, “Confederate Girlhoods” presents the women’s view of Indians and early settling; of slavery and Southern patriotism; of war and its social, political, economic aftermath; of the railroad and Westward migration; and of an Ozarks community’s early efforts at conservation and civic commemoration.
Tags: American history, Arkansas Infantry, Civil War, Confederate Girlhoods, David Wilson Atwood, Evans Atwood, James S. Baumlin, Janis Cooke Newman, Mary, Missouri Literary Festival, Mrs. A. Lincoln, Where the Mockingbird Sang, Women's History of Early Springfield Missouri
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November 16th, 2010
Local Civil War Historian William Garrett Piston, Literary Historian Randall Fuller and Novelist Steve Yates will appear at the 2011 Missouri Literary Festival: The Civil War, to be held Sept. 23, 24 and 25 at The Creamery Arts Center in Springfield, MO.
William Garrett Piston
William Garrett Piston, a professor of history at Missouri State University, is the author of “Wilson’s Creek: The Second Battle of the Civil War and the Men Who Fought It.” He has taught history at MSU for 22 years, specializing in American Military History, and the Civil War and Reconstruction.
Randall Fuller
Randall Fuller, an associate professor of English at Drury University, is the author of “From Battlefields Rising: How the Civil War Transformed American Literature” and “Emerson’s Ghosts: Literature, Politics, and the Making of Americanists,” as well as various articles on 19th- and 20th-century American literature.
Morkan's Quarry
Steve Yates, a novelist and native of Springfield, MO, is the author of “Morkan’s Quarry,” a father-and-son story of the Civil War set primarily in Springfield and the Missouri Ozarks. “Morkan’s Quarry” mines the rich Civil War history of Springfield, which was occupied by five different armies over the course of the war.
Tags: Add new tag, Civil War, Drury University, Missouri Literary Festival, Missouri State University, Morkan's Quarry, Randall Fuller, Steve Yates, William Garrett Piston, Wilson's Creek
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November 16th, 2010
William C. Davis
The 2011 Missouri Literary Festival is proud to announce that Civil War historian William C. Davis has joined the Festival lineup.
A native of Independence, MO, with more than 50 books to his credit as either author or editor, Davis is a widely consulted expert on Civil War and southern history. His books “Battle of Bull Run” and “Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol” were nominated for the Pulitzer Prize.
Davis served as on-camera senior consultant on the series “Civil War Journal” for A&E Network and The History Channel, and was historical consultant on television and film productions including “The Blue and the Gray,” “George Washington” and “The Perfect Tribute.”
The only three-time winner of the Jefferson Davis Award, honoring book-length works on Confederate history, Davis is a professor of history at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and director of programs at the Virginia Center for Civil War Studies.
Tags: Battle of Bull Run, Breckinridge, Civil War, Civil War Journal, history, Jefferson Davis Award, Missouri Literary Festival, Virginia Center for Civil War Studies, William C. Davis
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October 14th, 2010
DID YOU KNOW that the first quick-draw shootout of the Wild West took place in Springfield, MO, in 1865? The shootout on the square between Wild Bill Hickok and David Tutt was made famous in the February 1867 edition of Harper’s Magazine. Now, 143 years later, Artist Tim Schwartz of San Diego is seeking help from Springfield citizens to reimagine part of this historic tale. The Harper’s story on Wild Bill touches on his Civil War experiences and feats of shooting, fighting and horsemanship, but part of the story is missing due to an error that occurred when the article was scanned into electronic media: one page was scanned twice and another was omitted.
Tim’s project focuses on the conversion of old media – in this case the 1867 Harper’s article – to electronic media, focusing on what is lost in translation. In terms of the Harper’s article, what’s lost is Page 278. “In an attempt to elucidate this loss in translation I am asking YOU, the citizens of Springfield, MO, to imagine what happened on that lost page,” Tim says. Writers can rewrite the missing page with factual information left out of the original, or construct a fictional fantasy from the whole cloth. In any case, the reimagined text should begin where the original leaves off and leave off where the original picks up again. The full text (minus page 278) is available on request from molitfest@yahoo.com.
Submissions should be no more than 1,100 words, or more particularly 5,700 characters, and Tim will happily send everyone that submits text a T-Shirt from the project. Thanks in advance for all your imaginative help! Email text and questions to: tim.c.schwartz@gmail.com before Nov. 15, 2010. For more information on his project, visit http://www.stat-us.org
Tags: Civil War, Harper's, Missouri Literary Festival, rewrite history, shootout, Springfield MO, Tim Schwartz, Wild Bill Hickok, Wild West
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August 26th, 2010
Jeff Shaara | Photo by John Revisky
The 2011 Missouri Literary Festival: The Civil War is delighted to announce the appearance of Novelist Jeff Shaara at the festival, to be held Sept. 23, 24 & 25, 2011, at The Creamery Arts Center in Springfield, MO.
Shaara is the acclaimed author of “Gods and Generals,” the prequel to his father Michael Shaara’s Pulitzer Prize-winning work “The Killer Angels.” The younger Shaara also penned a sequel to “The Killer Angels, “The Last Full Measure,” which explores the final years of the war.
The 2011 Missouri Literary Festival: The Civil War, recognizing the sesquicentennial of the war and particularly the local Battle of Wilson’s Creek, will feature authors of Civil War history, fiction and poetry. Attendees will enjoy historic displays and re-enactors, children’s activities, a concert of Civil War era hymns and spirituals, and a variety of readings, performances, book signings and more.
Admission to the festival is $5 for age 11 and up; free for age 10 and under.
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October 2nd, 2009
The schedule of events for Saturday has changed from what appears in the printed program.
A Gathering of Local Writers: Readings of Original Works from Drury University, has been moved from 2-3 p.m. to 9-10 a.m. The location is unchanged. The event will be held in the Great Southern Bank Suite at Hammons Field.
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October 1st, 2009
The public and the working press are invited to attend the official opening ceremony for the inaugural Missouri Literary Festival, 10-10:30 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2, at the Hammons Field Plaza (in front of the main gates).
Literary Festival Chairman William Brandon Bowman will serve as Master of Ceremonies. The opening ceremony is free and open to the public, and the program will run as follows:
Invocation
Reverend Kenneth L. Chumbley, rector, Christ Episcopal Church
Welcome to Hammons Field and The Creamery Arts Center
Kirk Elmquist and Leah Hamilton Jenkins
Remarks
Local and state dignitaries, including Jim Anderson, president of the Springfield Area Chamber of Commerce; David L. Coonrod, Greene County presiding commissioner; Dan Chiles, Springfield mayor pro tem; Greg Burris, Springfield city manager; Norma Champion, District 30 state senator; andCharlie Denison, District 135 state representative.
Missouri Literary Festival Trumpet Fanfare
composed by Dr. John Prescott and performed by Maestro Ron Spigelman and three trumpeters from the Springfield Symphony
Collective Ribbon Cutting
Declaration of Opening by William Brandon Bowman
Tickets to the Missouri Literary Festival are $5 for ages 11 and up, and children 10 and under get in free. A single ticket is good for the duration of the festival, which is held Oct. 2, 3 and 4, and the ticket must be presented at the gate each day. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Borders Books, the Library Center, the Library Station, The Creamery Arts Center and Hammons Field in Springfield.
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October 1st, 2009
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 3
9 a.m. Bucky Bowman (opener)
9:15 Greg Burris
9:30 Annie Busch
9:45 Harold Bengsch
10-11:15 BILLY COLLINS READING
11:15 Randy Russell
11:30 Jeff Jenkins
11:45 Gary Whitaker
Noon Leah Hamilton Jenkins
12:15 Moira Bailey
12:30 Lincoln Knauer
12:45 Kevin Henderson
1 Dr. Norm Ridder
1:15 Jean Sellars
1:30 Rep. Roy Blunt
1:45 Roseann Bentley
2 Louise Whall
2:15 Kirk Elmquist
2:30 Brett Miller
2:45 Pat Walker
3 David Harrison
3:15 Jan Horton
3:30 Charles Taylor
3:45 TBA
4 Randy Humphrey
4:15 Jeanne Duffey
4:30 Sally Baird
4:45 Regina Greer Cooper
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 4
Noon Dave Snider
12:15 Nancy Brown Dornan
12:30 Bucky Bowman
12:45 Michele Skalicky
1 Lorraine Sandstrom
1:15 David Carson
1:30 Ron Spigelman
1:45 TBA
2 John Sellars
2:15 Ken Knauer
2:30 Jane Sellars
2:45 Marilyn Quigley
3 Jenny Edwards
3:15 Jason Brown
3:30 Randy Stewart
3:45 Marci Bowling
4:00 Volunteers TBA
4:15 Volunteers TBA
4:30 Volunteers TBA
4:45 Volunteers TBA
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October 1st, 2009
Roy Blunt, Greg Burris, Norm Ridder and Ron Spigelman head the roster in marathon reading of To Kill a Mockingbird at inaugural Missouri Literary Festival
U.S. Representative Roy Blunt, Springfield City Manager Greg Burris, Springfield R-12 Schools Superintendent Dr. Norman Ridder and Springfield Symphony Music Director Ron Spigelman are among the volunteers who will take part in a marathon public reading of the classic American novel To Kill a Mockingbird at this weekend’s inaugural Missouri Literary Festival, representatives with the Festival announced today.
“We’re delighted that our congressman, our City Manager, the head of our school system and Springfield’s favorite Music Man will be joining us in this celebration of reading,” said event coordinator Kelly Knauer, an editor with TIME Books. “This public reading of Harper Lee’s beloved novel is mainly for fun: it’s outdoors, out loud, and out of the box. But there’s a serious message involved: reading is essential to our success as individuals and as a society.”
Volunteers will take turns reading the novel for 15 minutes each on the concourse of Hammons Field, the Festival venue. Knauer said the marathon, dubbed “To Read a Mockingbird,” will be “a moveable feast … attendees will drop in, sit a spell, and read along with copies of the text we’ll provide, before they move on to other Festival activities.”
Other volunteer readers include Greene County Commissioners Roseann Bentley and Harold Bengsch; Springfield Greene-County Library Director Regina Greer Cooper; Greene County Circuit Judge Jason Brown; KSMU radio announcers Michelle Skalicky and Randy Stewart; KY-3 meteorologist Dave Snider; Skinny Improv director Jeff Jenkins; and educators from Drury University, Missouri State University, Ozarks Technical College, Evangel University and Southwest Baptist University. The complete schedule of readers is available at the Festival Web site, www.missouriliteraryfestival.org
“We’ll be ‘reading the Bird’ from 9 to 5 on Saturday and from 12 to 5 on Sunday,” Knauer said. “We’ve kept a few reading slots open on Sunday to include volunteers from the public. But we’ll keep quiet on Saturday morning from 10 to 11:15, when two-time U.S. poet laureate Billy Collins will give a public reading at Hammons Field. When Billy Collins talks, even Atticus Finch listens.”
The Missouri Literary Festival, a Celebration of Arts, Literature and Literacy, is a nonprofit event focused on raising funds to benefit Springfield Regional Arts Council, Ozarks Literacy Council, Family Literacy Centers of Springfield, the R-12 Title I Schools and the Writers Hall of Fame scholarship program.
Tags: Atticus Finch, Billy Collins, Dave Snider, Evangel University, Greg Burris, Hammons Field, Harold Bengsch, Jeff Jenkins, Kelly Knauer, Michelle Skalicky, Missouri State University, Norman Ridder, Ozarks Technical College, Randy Stewart, Ron Spigelman, Roseann Bentley, Roy Blunt, Southwest Baptist University, To Kill a Mockingbird
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