University of Evansville to Host Annual LitFest, Featuring Visiting Scholar Alex Vernon
Evansville, Ind. (04/06/2026) — The University of Evansville's (UE) Department of English and Creative Writing will host its fourteenth annual LitFest, a three-day celebration of literature and storytelling, April 16-18 on campus. Attendance is free and open to the public.
The annual LitFest gives undergraduate students the opportunity to present creative and critical papers to audiences made up of their peers, their professors, and members of the community. Students also have the opportunity to win awards for their scholarly and creative writing.
The events for 2026 will kick off on Thursday, April 16 at 4:00 p.m. with a Senior Coffee Hour Reading, showcasing the work of graduating students.
Events will continue Friday, April 17, featuring visiting scholar Alex Vernon as part of the Melvin M. Peterson Literary Forum. Vernon will present on his new biography of Tim O'Brien, the acclaimed American novelist known for The Things They Carried, Going After Cacciato, and other influential works. Vernon's biography, called Peace Is a Shy Thing, marks his eleventh book.
Vernon is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, where he was the only literature major in his class of more than 1,000 cadets. He served in combat as a tank platoon leader during the Persian Gulf War and later earned his Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He currently serves as the M.E. & Ima Graves Peace Distinguished Professor of English at Hendrix College in Conway, Arkansas.
His presentation will take place at 7:00 p.m. in Shanklin Theatre in Hyde Hall on the University of Evansville campus. LitFest will conclude on Saturday, April 18 at 9:30 a.m. with the annual Student Literary Conference, highlighting undergraduate scholarship.
For more information about LitFest 2026, please contact the Department of English and Creative Writing or click this link.
The University of Evansville is a private, comprehensive university with a solid foundation in the arts and sciences and professional schools in business, engineering, education, and health sciences. Established in 1854, UE is recognized across the globe for its rich tradition of innovative, academic excellence and dynamic campus community of #Changemakers.
Home of the Purple Aces, UE is located in the southwestern region of Indiana and offers over 75 majors, 17 Division I sports, and a unique study abroad experience at Harlaxton, the University's very own Victorian manor located in the countryside of England. For more information, please visit evansville.edu.
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