Spring Writes Literary Festival returns to Ithaca

By Jamie Swinnerton
Tompkins Weekly

 

Starting Thursday, May 3, writers from across the region will invade Ithaca for readings, workshops, and panels in celebration of the rich literary scene the Finger Lakes has to offer. The Spring Writes Literary Festival from the Community Arts Partnership (CAP) of Tompkins County is now in its ninth year and has been growing steadily since its inception.

“New York State Council on the Arts has a literature department, and the woman in charge of that department – Kathleen Masterson – called us 10 years ago and said ‘I know there’s a lot of writers in your region, I know that there’s a lot of talent and literary loving people, but there’s no formal not-for-profit that can apply to us for something. So why don’t you put together a festival?’” said Robin Schwartz, Program Director for CAP. “So, we didn’t have a big budget and we wanted to showcase local people, and that’s what New York State Council on the Arts wanted us to do.”

In 2010, CAP started the Spring Writes Literary Fest with 18 events. This year there are nearly 50.

“We accomplished what they wanted us to accomplish, which is showcase local writers,” Schwartz said.

But beyond showcasing and offering opportunities for writers, Schwartz said they also wanted to be able to bring in the general public to the events. Nearly every event this year, as has been the tradition all along, is free and open to the public.

“Every year as people learn about the event or attend the event we have more writers that want to be involved and that’s really why it’s grown,” Schwartz said.
Masterson’s intuition had been correct. Writers within the region have flocked to Spring Writes each year. Many of them having been involved since the beginning.
“This year for the first time we put out a formal request for proposals,” Schwartz said. “We got slammed with about 90 proposals and it was hard to say no to anybody.”

At first, they tried to put a limit on the events, starting with 35. But it became obvious that this plan wasn’t going to work. In total there are 47 events at Spring Writes. The event is really supposed to be about helping writers, Schwartz said, and over the years that help has expanded from limited readings and workshops into so much more. While readings and workshops are still a big part of the fest, the areas and themes they cover have reached further than the traditional, general themes that once filled the fest.

“We have all sorts of interesting things to bring in different audiences,” Schwartz said. “We have a comedy writing workshop, we have a songwriting workshop,” Schwartz said about the array of events to expect this year. “We’re doing literary Jeopardy on Saturday night at Lot 10, that’s just a game show with literature.”

With musical performances, readings from high school and college students in the area, and a storytelling workshop, literature and culture fans will find something to enjoy in this year’s catalog of events. CAP has been pairing with local organizations to try and reach as wide of an audience as possible, including the Southside Community Center, The History Center, Buffalo Street Books, the Tompkins County Public Library, Sacred Root Kava Bar, Cinemopolis, and Argos Warehouse.
“We want to attract as many people as possible to come to these events,” Schwartz said.

Many of the submissions from CAP’s request for proposals from the authors included readings and panels with authors that the proposal writers chose, so there will be a number of new authors at Spring Writes that have not participated before. One of the few reasons some of the RFPs might have been rejected, Schwartz said, is because it would be redundant.

The Tompkins County Public Library has been a longtime participant and supporter of the Spring Writes fest and many of the events will be held in the public rooms of the library. TCPL will also be organizing and hosting a few of their own events, including a poetry writing workshop for kids.

“Most of the venues aren’t charging us, they just want to be partners,” Schwartz said of the many organizations hosting events for the fest across town.
The events change each year to make for a new experience, Schwartz said, but some of the more specific workshops stick around.

“There’s a writing sci-fi and fantasy workshops,” Schwartz said. “We’ve done that three years in a row because I just want someone to teach us sci-fi and fantasy. I want to cover some of the genres of writing and that’s a popular workshop so we’ve repeated it.”

One of the ways that participants at the fest can help support it is by buying a button. The festival is mostly paid for by grants and sponsors (this year’s sponsors are Wegmans and M&T Bank), but button sales offer participants something extra.

“Buy a damn button,” Schwartz said with a smile. “I encourage people to buy a button just to support the event.”

What CAP is working on now is adding incentive to buy a button by partnering with local businesses, perhaps getting button-wearers special offers of discounts during the festival. Schwartz is fairly certain that Spring Writes is the only festival of its kind because it’s free for both the writers and the public. In the future, Schwartz said her fear is that the festival will outgrow the spaces they have been using as more and more people attend. It’s a good problem to have for a festival.
The entire schedule of events for Spring Writes Literary Festival, and any other relevant information, can be found on the events website: wpringwrites.org. The performance of The Moth Mainstage at the State Theater on Friday, May 4, is one of the two events on the festival schedule that costs money.