Literary Festival Welcomes Authors
St. Mark’s welcomed five distinguished authors to campus on Friday, January 17, 2025, for its 18th annual Literary Festival. This year’s distinguished lineup included:
Each author spent the day visiting classes and sharing their creative processes, writing influences, and career paths. Children’s author John Allman spent his entire day in Lower School, meeting with the 1st-4th grade classes.
The other four writers gathered in Decherd for a special Upper School panel discussion. The assembly was especially poignant for two panelists: Arnie Holtberg, who served more than two decades as St. Mark’s headmaster, and Max Marshall ’12, who once sat in the student section he now addressed.
“The Literary Festival was one of the first times I saw people up on a stage making a living writing, and it was the first time I realized that was possible,” Marshall told his fellow Marksmen. He also credited his experience writing for The ReMarker student newspaper with preparing him for an unexpected career as an investigative journalist. “I used a lot of the reporting techniques I learned on The ReMarker – find a corroborating source, looking for the right files, and certainly when it came to writing a lead.”
This year’s Brent P. Johnson ’89 Guest Writer, R. F. Kuang, shared her experiences finding early success in the publishing world. Her novels Babel and Yellowface both became #1 New York Times bestsellers. She encouraged budding authors to also pursue interests outside of writing.
“If you have this burning desire to be a writer, I think it’s dangerous to make the study of writing your sole focus,” Kuang said. “Unless you’re living a life that is engaged with the world, with access to new ideas and you’re spending all of your time in your writing office, trying to come up with stories out of thin air, you’ll find that you have less and less to say.”
The Upper School discussion was moderated by Literary Festival Student Director Ben Standefer ’26 and co-chairs Alex Dahlander ’26 and William Kozoman ’26. Sophomores Payton Elder, Deven Aurora, and James Dunlap also assisted in this year’s festival.
In addition to spending a day on campus, Kuang also sat for a Writer’s Forum moderated by David Brown, St. Mark’s Director of Leadership & Ethics and Director of the Literary Festival.
Writer's Forum with R. F. Kuang (Brent P. Johnson '89 Guest Writer)
Literary Festival Upper School Panel (Jan. 2025)
Back
- R. F. Kuang – Bestselling novelist (Brent P. Johnson ’89 Guest Writer)
- John Allman – Children’s writer
- Arnie Holtberg – Young adult fiction author, former St. Mark’s Headmaster
- Rachel Kann – Poet
- Max Marshall ’12 – Journalist and author
Each author spent the day visiting classes and sharing their creative processes, writing influences, and career paths. Children’s author John Allman spent his entire day in Lower School, meeting with the 1st-4th grade classes.
The other four writers gathered in Decherd for a special Upper School panel discussion. The assembly was especially poignant for two panelists: Arnie Holtberg, who served more than two decades as St. Mark’s headmaster, and Max Marshall ’12, who once sat in the student section he now addressed.
“The Literary Festival was one of the first times I saw people up on a stage making a living writing, and it was the first time I realized that was possible,” Marshall told his fellow Marksmen. He also credited his experience writing for The ReMarker student newspaper with preparing him for an unexpected career as an investigative journalist. “I used a lot of the reporting techniques I learned on The ReMarker – find a corroborating source, looking for the right files, and certainly when it came to writing a lead.”
This year’s Brent P. Johnson ’89 Guest Writer, R. F. Kuang, shared her experiences finding early success in the publishing world. Her novels Babel and Yellowface both became #1 New York Times bestsellers. She encouraged budding authors to also pursue interests outside of writing.
“If you have this burning desire to be a writer, I think it’s dangerous to make the study of writing your sole focus,” Kuang said. “Unless you’re living a life that is engaged with the world, with access to new ideas and you’re spending all of your time in your writing office, trying to come up with stories out of thin air, you’ll find that you have less and less to say.”
The Upper School discussion was moderated by Literary Festival Student Director Ben Standefer ’26 and co-chairs Alex Dahlander ’26 and William Kozoman ’26. Sophomores Payton Elder, Deven Aurora, and James Dunlap also assisted in this year’s festival.
In addition to spending a day on campus, Kuang also sat for a Writer’s Forum moderated by David Brown, St. Mark’s Director of Leadership & Ethics and Director of the Literary Festival.
Writer's Forum with R. F. Kuang (Brent P. Johnson '89 Guest Writer)
Literary Festival Upper School Panel (Jan. 2025)
-
-
Upper School Panel Discussion
-
R. F. Kuang
-
Rachel Kann
-
John Allman
-
St. Mark’s School of Texas
10600 Preston Road
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000
Dallas, Texas 75230
214-346-8000
About Us
St. Mark’s School of Texas is a private, nonsectarian college-preparatory boys’ day school for students in grades 1 through 12, located in Dallas, Texas. St. Mark’s aims to prepare young men to assume leadership and responsibility in a competitive and changing world.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
St. Mark’s does not discriminate in the administration of its admission and education policies on the basis of race, color, religion, sexual orientation, or national or ethnic origin.
