Brewer Festival of Writing Featuring Laura Marris

The Brewer Festival of Writing, a two-part event named after former USU professor and Utah poet laureate Ken Brewer, hosted author Laura Marris, musician Meg Simper, and sculptor Myles Howell. 

The first event was a panel with all three guests, where they discussed the labor that goes into their craft as artists. One of the key qualities they highlighted was patience and the importance of not rushing art in order to make it honest and what it needs to be. 

The second event was Laura’s reading, where she delivered excerpts from her linked essay collection, The Age of Loneliness, which was published by Graywolf Press last year. The collection focuses on environmental degradation, isolation among and between species, and how to find wonder in the world despite everything. 

The second event was Laura’s reading, where she delivered excerpts from her linked essay collection, The Age of Loneliness, which was published by Graywolf Press last year. The collection focuses on environmental degradation, isolation among and between species, and how to find wonder in the world despite everything. 

English undergraduate student Brady Parsons said going to readings is always worthwhile to him as a writer: “It seeds inspiration in my own writing both in craft and concept.”

Avery Truman, an environmental studies and geography major, attended the reading as a student interested both in writing and how we talk about the environment. “The festival gave me a chance to explore themes I’m curious about within literature. I loved being able to connect my classwork to the reading,” she reflects, “I was surprised by how invested in the reading I was. Marris truly made her words jump off the page in what felt like an hour of entertainment and critical thinking. Her stories gave me some ideas for my own writing that I’m excited to pursue. I purchased her book at the event, and I’m thrilled that I get to read more of her work in my own time.”

For Amber, the most important part of the festival was the conversations it started among attendees afterward. “Students talking with one another about some aspect of Laura’s reading. Faculty talking with each other about what they heard and loved. Students approaching Laura to have their books signed and ask questions. Others asking Laura about her poetry or her experience as a translator,” Amber notes, “There was just such a good energy after the event that we now get to take back into our classrooms, our writing, and our lives. That feels incredibly valuable for our writing community.”