JACKSONVILLE WRITERS
WRITING JACKSONVILLE
JaxbyJax
Literary Arts Festival
10
Presented by:
Alternate Roots
Ford Foundation
Mellon Foundation
Chamblin's Bookmine &
Chamblin's Uptown Cafe
Florida State College at Jacksonville
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday
December 1st, 2nd, & 3rd
at FSCJ Kent Campus
3939 Roosevelt Blvd.
Jacksonville, FL 32205
FREE/Public Welcome
We are thrilled to announce:
Former JSO Sheriff Nat Glover will read from Striving for Justice: A Black Sheriff in the Deep South to open the festival on Friday night.
AND
Jacksonville Mayor
Donna Deegan will read from Through Rose-Colored Glasses: A Marathon from Fear to Love to close Saturday's event.
To see an alphabetical list of the selected adult reader-writers for 2023, click here.
To see an alphabetical list of the selected student showcase writers for 2023, click here.
To see a list of 2023 Workshops and leaders, click here.
To see a schedule of events, click here.
NOTE: Darlyn Kuhn has retired as Co-Director of JaxbyJax. All inquiries about the 2024 JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival and/or Writing Workshops should be directed to Erica Saffer at ericasaffer@gmail.com
2023 marks a decade of the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival where we’ve come together around our literary community and shared in narrating Jacksonville’s story. Over these ten years, we’ve shared poems in arcades, performed interpretive readings at the Jessie, and shared the words of many. We’ve also built a community, and that community is growing. We are deeply thankful for the unwavering support and contributions of past directors and JaxbyJax pioneers, Tim Gilmore, Jo Carlisle, Brad Kuhn, and Darlyn Finch Kuhn. Their vision has brought JaxbyJax to where it is now, and part of their vision looking forward seeks to grow and evolve our literary community across story genres, continue strong community partnerships, and provide opportunities for diverse thought. Facilitating these upcoming changes, JaxbyJax is happy to announce that they have appointed Erica Saffer as Co-Director for the 2023 JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival. We are excited to see how her vision advances the momentum of the movement that is JaxbyJax!
Darlyn Finch Kuhn introduces 2023 Co-Director Erica Saffer
Click on musical note at bottom right corner of video to hear sound.
Video produced and narrated by Brad Kuhn
The theme for 2022's festival was "This is Jacksonville."
Here's a word from JaxbyJax Founder & Director Emeritus, Tim Gilmore.
In collaboration with
904WARD and The Jessie,
the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival
was thrilled to sponsor the
“We Have a Write to Our Futures”
Writing Contest and Celebration.
2023 is the TENTH ANNIVERSARY of the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival, and we are happy to announce that Florida State College at Jacksonville's KENT CAMPUS will host the festivities on December 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.
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We are pleased to announce the receipt of an Alternate ROOTS Artistic Assistance Grant that will be used in part to sponsor monthly community writing workshops in 2023 at CORK Arts District, and writer honoraria at the Tenth Anniversary JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival in December, 2023. The Mellon Foundation and The Ford Foundation co-sponsored the grant, which we greatly appreciate!
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Brilliant young writers from the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, FSCJ, and UNF were featured in past Student Showcases. And, for the third year, poet Andres Rojas will sponser the Dr. James Robert Cobb Student Writer Awards to student poets, writers, and spoken word artists at the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival Student Showcase on Saturday evening. There will be three winners in each category. Cash prizes are $250 for 1st place, and $1 50 for 2nd place, and $100 for 3rd place.
And Jacksonville Writers Writing Jacksonville will read from their work.
This celebration of Jacksonville talent would not be possible without the generosity, support, and enthusiasm of our sponsors. The writers and readers of JaxbyJax thank you!
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One such sponsor is Chamblin's Bookmine and Chamblin's Uptown Cafe.
Ron Chamblin has once again given generously to the festival, and will provide dedicated JaxbyJax shelves at both bookstore locations so fans can find books by their favorite local authors. Look to the right to view a short video of Ron stating why he is a believer in the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival.
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In collaboration with
the Jacksonville Public Library,
JaxbyJax met and greeted book fans
at Jax Book Fest.
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2023 Community Writing Workshops
JaxbyJax hosted nine monthly Last Sunday Workshops for students and members of the community to polish their writing. Go to https://www.facebook.com/JaxbyJax for details.
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Student Showcase
2023's JaxbyJax Student Showcase will feature the work of talented Jacksonville students from the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, UNF, and FSCJ. Teachers/Writers Tiffany Melanson, Mark Ari, Tricia Booker, Jessica Stark, and Jenn Chase worked with the selected students to provide a great literary experience.
Writer/Reader Coaching
Director and Improv Queen Barbara Colaciello offered to elevate and invigorate the presentations of writers selected to read at the 2022 festival in her studio at Bab’s Lab!
Writers rediscovered their words in the moment and dispelled performance anxiety
Pre-Party
The only drawback to being a reader at the JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival is not being able to hear all the other writers read their work. Thus the pre-party was born. A celebration held exclusively for the selected writers and sponsors to have an opportunity to read to each other before the festival, 2022's event was hosted by the Jacksonville Literary Arts Alliance located in the Cork Arts District.
We appreciate the generosity of Erica Susan Saffer in sponsoring the pre-party in 2022. This year's Pre-party will be held on November 18th, and details have been sent to the selected writers.
Meet the 2023 writers below.
(Click on photo to see writer's name and bio.)
​Chamblin's Bookmine and Chamblin's Uptown Cafe
Alternate ROOTS
Mellon Foundation
Ford Foundation
FSCJ
​904WARD
​Brad Kuhn & Associates, LLC
​Scribbles
​Jacksonville Literary Arts Alliance
​Babs' Lab
​JaxPsychoGeo
​San Marco Books and More
​Delegal & Poindexter, P.A.
Documentary Film
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and out of an abundance of caution for the health and safety of our writers and their fans, JaxbyJax did not hold a face-to-face reading as part of the festival in 2020. Instead, we produced a documentary video.
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TO WATCH JAXBYJAX LITERARY ARTS FESTIVAL VII, you MUST have a Facebook profile and GO TO: facebook.com/JaxbyJax and LIKE the page.
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Here are links to JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival VII, in the video section of the JaxbyJax Literary Arts page.
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Day One:
https://www.facebook.com/1434005530221644/videos/271272430775623
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Day Two:
https://www.facebook.com/1434005530221644/videos/700879380540755
Please note that both videos have identical openings for the first minute and twenty seconds, but different writers and different content after that.
Day One will LIFT YOUR SPIRITS and OPEN YOUR MIND, featuring poetry and prose by Yvette Angelique, Ben Atkinson, Tayve Neese, Abel Harding, Lex Hamilton, Tim Gilmore, Taryn "Love Reigns" Wharwood, Brad Kuhn, Shannon Pulusan, Johnny Masiulewicz, Michelle Lizet Flores, Damon Thomas, singer/songwriter Jesse Montoya, and featured poet Lynn Skapyak Harlin, who will read her work and also wrap things up with a 15-minute workshop on HOOKS that you won't want to miss.
Day Two will HEAL YOUR HEART, featuring poetry and prose by Andres Rojas, Sarah Crooks, Thomas Ferriello, Sonja Mongar, Tricia Booker, Nikesha Williams, Sohrab Homi Fracis, singer/songwriter Jesse Montoya, and the fabulous STUDENT SHOWCASE. We'll learn how to get involved with Women Writing for a Change from Jennifer Wolfe, talk with Ron Chamblin about the importance of bookstores, and walk with Tommy Shapard through his experience at Baptist Health with COVID-19.