The Southern Literary Festival Association is a consortium of Southern colleges & universities.
Each spring, students & faculty from these schools gather at The Southern Literary Festival.
The SLF celebrates undergraduate creative writing & features an annual writing competition.
To help students hone their craft, there are workshops & readings by established Southern writers.
Readings are given by students whose work was selected for the annually-produced festival anthology.
We value the talent & potential of undergraduate writers.
We recognize the necessity of community to the growth of all writers.
We believe in the importance of Southern writing to culture & identity.
The Southern Literary Festival Association is a consortium of Southern colleges & universities.
Each spring, students & faculty from these schools gather at The Southern Literary Festival.
The SLF celebrates undergraduate creative writing & features an annual writing competition.
To help students hone their craft, there are workshops & readings by established Southern writers.
Readings are given by students whose work was selected for the annually-produced festival anthology.
We value the talent & potential of undergraduate writers.
We recognize the necessity of community to the growth of all writers.
We believe in the importance of Southern writing to culture & identity.

2022 Keynote Speaker Ashley M. Jones

Ashley M. Jones is Poet Laureate of the state of Alabama (2022-2026). She received an MFA in Poetry from Florida International University (FIU), where she was a John S. and James L. Knight Foundation Fellow.
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Festival Schedule

The 2022 Southern Literary Festival will take place from Thursday, April 21 through Saturday, April 23, 2022 on the campus of Mississippi University for Women in Columbus, MS.
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Panelists & Speakers

Part of the Southern Literary Festival’s mission is to support undergraduate writers by connecting them with established writers. These honored festival guests participate in panel discussions, craft talks, and the festival bookfair.
VIEW GUEST SPEAKERS>>

The Anthology

Our winners who will go on to be featured in our annual anthology will also be featured readers at the Festival. All conference participants receive a copy of the anthology, and digital versions are available online.