Writers Festival invites attendees to experience the magic of writing

Luther College is welcoming 15 writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry for its Writers Festival on Sept. 12–13. Visit luther.edu/events for a list of participating authors and to read their biographies.

Luther College is welcoming 15 writers of fiction, nonfiction and poetry for its Writers Festival on Sept. 12–13.

Registration is currently open and a schedule of events is available on the registration page. There is no charge to attend, but participants are encouraged to make a freewill donation.

The 2025 Luther College Writers Festival is the eighth incarnation of an event first held in 2007. The event examines the diverse ways in which highly crafted literature in all genres explores the human condition and activates the spiritual and moral imagination of readers.

The festival features a variety of readings and publishing advice, in addition to book signings with the authors. Organizers are expecting between 100 and 200 attendees to be on campus for the festival.

The festival’s theme, Writing is Magic, invites participants to explore the enchanting and magnetic energy involved with crafting literature.

“In its effects on the readers who enjoy it and the artists who create it, writing is magic,” said Amy Weldon, professor, head of Luther’s English Department and co-director of the Writers Festival. “Taking the time to behold the world around us and experience it anew through language is a process in which anyone can engage, and the Writers Festival will offer attendees the chance to experience this process for themselves, through talking with and hearing the work of published writers and trying their own hand at generating work on site.”

Megan Mayhew Bergman, an award-winning fiction writer and climate journalist, will give the Farwell Distinguished Lecture at 7 p.m. on Sept. 12 at the Center for Faith and Life.

“We are delighted to have Megan join us at the Luther College Writers Festival,” Weldon said. “Having experienced her unique ability to inspire writers firsthand, I can say that festival attendees have a real treat in store.”

Bergman is the author of three books, “Birds of a Lesser Paradise” (2012), “Almost Famous Women” (2016) and “How Strange a Season” (2022). She has written columns on climate change and the natural world for “The Guardian” and “The Paris Review.” Bergman is the director of creative writing at Middlebury College and of the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ Conference. She cofounded GreenStory, an environmental narrative consulting firm.

About the Farwell Lecture Endowment

The Elwin D. and Helen Farwell Distinguished Lecture Series Endowment was established in 1981 in recognition of the contributions the Farwells made to the Luther community. Elwin D. Farwell was president of Luther College from 1963 to 1981.