Strange Bedfellows -- Politics and Literature

In our time, political speech and writing are largely the defense of the indefensible….political language has to consist largely of euphemism, question-begging and sheer cloudy vagueness.” ~ George Orwell, “Politics and the English Language”

Politics, as someone once remarked, is the art of the possible. Art, on the other hand, is where the possible and the improbable meet, where realities get checked and dreams gain probability. Art and politics? Strange bedfellows, surely, but it seems fitting that in this year -- in which America will elect a new president -- we gather with writers of poetry, fiction, and nonfiction who have attempted to make sense and art out of political actualities.

~ Michael Pearson and Katherine Jackson, 2016 Festival Directors

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Brochure: 39th Annual Literary Festival, 2016: Strange Bedfellows: Politics and Literature, Shara Weber

Elmaz Abinader, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Elmaz Abinader

President’s Lecture Series: Douglas Brinkley, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Douglas Brinkley

Ying Chen, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Ying Chen

PRESSing Matters: Cross-Collaboration and Explorations in Literature, Art, and Politics, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Ken Daley and Old Dominion University

Farideh Goldin, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Farideh Goldin

Joyce Hoffmann, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Joyce Hoffmann

Joe Jackson, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Joe Jackson

Karan Mahajan, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Karan Mahajan

Colum McCann, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Colum McCann

Azar Nafisi, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Azar Nafisi

Rashod Ollison, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Rashod Ollison

Tim Seibles, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Tim Seibles

Rick Skwiot, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Rick Skwiot

Anthony Swofford & Writers In Community, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Anthony Swofford, Adam Flores, and Norton Girault

Ocean Vuong, 39th Annual ODU Literary Festival, Ocean Vuong