In 2026, the Drexel Writing Festival will feature celebrated authors, contemporary poets, distinguished editors and leading academics who take us on a deep, reflective dive. This multi-day, in-person series offers something for everyone – we invite you to explore writing that connects us to and grounds us in shared human experiences. Join us for lively discussions and hands-on workshops across genres and topics.
Since 2011, the Drexel Writing Festival has explored rock music, ritual, play, hunger and empowerment. Guests represent esteemed authors and editors of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, news media and comic books. The event has also spotlighted Young Adult (YA) novels, screenwriting, music, food and essays. In addition, the festival hosts popular workshops for local high schools and presents readings from Drexel's Creative Writing MFA degree students.
Matthew Ross Smith is an author of middle grade fiction. His most recent book, The Million Dollar Race, was a Washington Post Book Club Selection; a Junior Library Guild Gold Medal selection; a finalist for the Sunshine State Young Readers Award, the Golden Sower Young Readers Award, the Maine Student Book Award, the Kansas NEA Reading List, and others. His adult debut, Owner's Box, a thriller/mystery, will be published in 2027.
Paula Marantz Cohen, PhD, is the author of six non-fiction books on literature, film, art, and culture and five novels, including, most recently, Of Human Kindness: What Shakespeare Teaches Us About Empathy (Yale University Press)). Professor Marantz Cohen is the host of The Civil Discourse, an interview series on controversial topics. Her essays and op-eds have appeared frequently in the Wall Street Journal, the Times Literary Supplement, the Yale Review, The American Scholar, and The Chronicle of Higher Education.
Elise Juska's novel Reunion was released in 2024 by HarperCollins and named a New York Times Editors' Choice. Her previous novels include If We Had Known and The Blessings, Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers selection and one of the Philadelphia Inquirer's best books of the year. Juska’s short fiction has been cited by the Best American Short Stories and Pushcart Prize anthologies and appeared in The Gettysburg Review, The Missouri Review, The Millions, Ploughshares, and elsewhere. Juska is currently a Visiting Professor at Haverford College.
Drexel English faculty, English majors, and English minors will present their original fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. Snacks, coffee, and tea will be served.
Paul Stoller has Stoller has published 11 books, including ethnographies, biographies, memoirs as well as two novels. In 1994 he was awarded a prestigious Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2002, the American Anthropological Association named him the recipient of the Robert B Textor Award for Excellence in Anthropology. In 2013, Dr. Stoller was awarded the Anders Retzius Gold Medal in Anthropology. He lectures frequently both in the United States and Europe and has appeared on various NPR programs as well as on the National Geographic Television Network.
Carl Whithaus is a professor of writing and rhetoric at the University of California, Davis. He studies writing technologies and digital cultures, edits the Journal of Writing Assessment, and works on a variety of projects related to writing in the sciences, engineering, and agriculture. His books include Multimodal Literacies and Emerging Genres, Writing across Distances and Disciplines: Research and Pedagogy in Distributed Learning, and Teaching and Evaluating Writing in the Age of Computers and High-Stakes Testing.
Moriel Rothman-Zecher is a National Book Foundation ‘5 Under 35’ Honoree, and the author of two novels, Before All the World (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), which was named an NPR Best Book of 2022, and Sadness Is a White Bird (Atria Books / Simon and Schuster), which was a finalist for the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, among other honors. Moriel is also the author of the poetry collection, I Still Won’t Have Known (forthcoming from BOA Editions). Moriel teaches at Swarthmore College, as a Visiting Assistant Professor of English Literature and Creative Writing, and is also a member of the faculty of the Bennington Writing Seminars’ MFA Program.
High School Workshops 2026
Save the Date! Friday, April 10, Friday, April 17, and Friday, April 24
Everyone’s a writer – Yes, that means you!
Our popular High School Workshops offer high-intensity, interactive writing sessions that get participants thinking and creating in a variety of forms. Held on Drexel University’s campus, this day of writing workshops is a fantastic opportunity for students to put their creativity to the test and hone their skills in a variety of different literary genres. High school students will work closely with Drexel facilitators to begin crafting writing in fiction, creative non-fiction, and poetry, all while gaining valuable feedback and guidance.
We can welcome a limited number of school groups of up to 20 students. While there is no minimum level of writing or English skills required, past groups have been comprised of junior or senior-level Honors and AP English and Literature classes. Clubs and organizations, such as student newspapers, literary groups, and drama clubs may also find these workshops worthwhile. Each team must have a group leader from their institution who can register the team here.
Space is limited – we encourage you to register early for our 2026 workshops.
Questions? Please email Janine Guerra, jg3897@drexel.edu
Register for 2026