October 5-10, 2025
Literature traps ideas in amber, preserving them to reawaken in future minds. This ancient technology, as potent as magic, requires no power source or machinery—only the willingness of readers to suspend disbelief. The act of surrender unlocks worlds, conjuring dreams, binding us to the shared human project of imagining what might be.
The 48th Annual Â鶹´«Ã½ Literary Festival honors this leap of faith. To suspend disbelief is to trust the artist, to let the boundary between reality and imagination blur until the written word is a vessel of wisdom and marvel. From Sun 5 Oct to Fri 10 Oct, join us in celebrating a timeless craft that is the inheritance of all of us.
—John McManus and Marianne Chan
2025 Festival Co-directors
All events are free and open to the community!
For more information, please contact the Â鶹´«Ã½ English Department at (757) 683-3991 or email mfagpdassistant@odu.edu.
Follow the Literary Festival on Facebook and on Instagram
- President Brian Hemphill, Ph.D., and the Office of the President
- Cullen Strawn, Ph.D., Sarah Glaser, and Arts@Â鶹´«Ã½
- Michael Khandelwal and The Muse Writers Center
- The Forrest and Edith White Writers in Residence Endowment
- Sarah Pishko and Prince Books
- Borjo Coffehouse
- SpringHill Suites by Marriott Norfolk Â鶹´«Ã½
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Dean Laura Delbrugge, Ph.D., and the Office of the Dean, College of Arts and Letters
- Veronica Watson, Ph.D., and the Â鶹´«Ã½ English Department
- Erin Dougherty and Eleanor’s Norfolk
- Jerri Dickseski
- Québec-United States University Grant Program from the Minister of International Relations and la Francophonie
- Veleka Gatling, Ph.D., Millicent D. Lee, Ed.D., John Wiley, and the Office of Institutional Equity and Diversity
- Logo Design by SuperCompStudios
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Design by Kris Cameron
Where great writers of the future connect with the great writers of our time
The Â鶹´«Ã½ Annual Literary Festival is the premier event of our MFA Program in Creative Writing and one of the many reasons to study the writer's craft with us at Â鶹´«Ã½.
Visit the University Libraries' Annual Literary Festival Digital Archives to view materials from past festivals.