We hope you’ll join us virtually for the seventh annual LitFest, hosted in conjunction with Amherst College. This year’s lineup includes Pulitzer Prize winners Natalie Diaz and Viet Thanh Nguyen; 2021 National Book Award nominees Katie Kitamura and Elizabeth McCracken; and journalists Vann Newkirk and David Graham, among others.
This year, we are continuing to highlight the work of The Common’s own Literary Publishing Interns and Amherst Alumni Authors during a virtual reading at 4pm on Saturday, February 26. The Common is also hosting, in collaboration with Restless Books, a conversation with winners of the Restless Books Immigrant Writing Prize, Deepak Unnikrishnan, Grace Talusan, and Ani Gjika. Join us for this packed weekend!
The 2022 festival will largely be in-person, with virtual options for many of the sessions. Visitors will be required to show either proof of full COVID vaccination – and proof of booster if eligible – or a negative test result taken within 72 hours preceding the event.
Conversation with 2021 National Book Award Nominees Katie Kitamura and Elizabeth McCracken
Host: Kirun Kapur
7-8p.m., Friday, February 25
Hosted in partnership with the National Book Foundation
Poets at Amherst with Pulitzer Prize Winner Natalie Diaz
Host: Alicia Mireles Christoff
11a.m., Saturday, February 26
Hosted in partnership with the National Book Foundation
A Conversation with Pulitzer Prize Winner Viet Thanh Nguyen
Host: Jennifer Acker, editor-in-chief of The Common
7p.m., Saturday, February 26
Hosted in partnership with the Presidential Scholars Program
Voting Rights and the Future of our Democracy
A conversation with Vann Newkirk and David Graham
Host: Cullen Murphy
11a.m., Sunday, February 27
Richard Wilbur — Keeping the Difficult Balance
A conversation with Rhina Espaillat, Dana Gioia, and filmmaker Ralph Hammann
Host: Amelia Worsley
1p.m., Sunday, February 27
Restless Books/The Common presents (Im)migration Writing
Host: Ilan Stavans
3p.m., Sunday, February 27
Featuring Deepak Unnikrishnan, Grace Talusan, and Ani Gjika
