Four accomplished writers visited campus on Friday, Jan. 19, to share their experiences and their craft with Marksmen at the 17th annual Literary Festival.
This year’s guests included:
Michael Chabon (Brent P. Johnson ’89 Guest Writer) — Pulitzer Prize-winning fiction writer (The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay); essayist; screenwriter.
Sara Hickman — singer-songwriter who has recorded more than 20 award-winning albums since 1988; tours extensively.
Jason Hinojosa ’99 — Author of short stories and the novels TheConception of Zachary Muse and The Last Lawsons.
Elizabeth Kincaid, PhD — theologian and essayist, Legendre-soule chair in Business Ethics and director of the Center for Ethics and Economic Justice, Loyola University.
The Festival kicked off on Thursday evening with a Writer’s Forum. Literary Festival faculty sponsor David Brown hosted a lively discussion with Michael Chabon that was open to the public. The next day, English students in all four of the Upper School grades had the chance to meet with the writers and learn more about their experiences and creative processes.
The entire Upper School also attended a special panel discussion moderated by Lit Fest student director Lukas Palys ’25 and co-chairs Gavin Bowles ’25 and Aidan Moran ’25.
Sophomores Alex Dahlander, William Kozoman and Benjamin Standefer served as assistants for the festival.
“Because of some changes made this year and the effective mix of the four writers, it was the most exciting and successful Literary Festival in many years,” said Brown, who holds the Victor F. White Master Teaching Chair in English.
During their stay, the visitors also judged the annual Writing Contest and named the following winners:
Fiction — Nate Wilson ’24
Nonfiction — Dawson Yao ’24
Poetry — Carson Bosita ’25
Click below to watch a recording of the Panel Discussion.
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.