Lit Fest for High School Students April 18 at ATU

Lit Fest Logo 2025

Lit Fest, an event for high school seniors and juniors hosted by the Arkansas Tech University Department of English and World Languages, is planned for Friday, April 18, on the ATU campus in Russellville.

The inaugural Lit Fest will begin at 9 a.m. and conclude at 2 p.m. Registration is available at https://admissions.atu.edu/register/litfest. Deadline to register is Friday, April 4.

Participants will attend breakout sessions, take a campus tour and attend a presentation by Eli Cranor, best-selling and award-winning author of four novels. Cranor is in his second academic year as writer in residence and instructor in the ATU College of Arts and Humanities and the ATU Department of English and World Languages.

Breakout sessions will cover topics such as poetry, creative non-fiction, historical fiction, playwriting, editing, acquiring an agent and marketing literature.

The ATU Department of English and World Languages is presenting the Don’t Know Tough Writing Contest for high school seniors and juniors in conjunction with Lit Fest.

Participants in the writing contest are required to read Cranor’s 2022 debut novel “Don’t Know Tough” and write a short story that would serve as a follow-up to the conclusion of the book. Lit Fest attendees are not required to enter the contest. First prize for the contest will be $500. There will be two $250 runner-up prizes. Deadline to enter the competition is Friday, April 4.

“They can choose to focus on one character, or feature more than one character,” said Cranor. “They can write in first person, third or a combination of the two…similar to how ‘Don’t Know Tough’ is structured. The judges will look for stories that reach a satisfying conclusion and show a real knowledge of the characters/novel.”

Writing contest submissions should be 1,000 words or less, double-spaced and sent as PDF attachments to engl@atu.edu. Students should include their name, school, mailing address and e-mail address at the top of the first page and put “DKT WRITING CONTEST” in the subject line. Submissions without this information will not be considered.

For more information about Lit Fest or the Don’t Know Tough Writing Contest, send e-mail to engl@atu.edu and put “LIT FEST” in the subject line.