It’s spring…the season of hope, promise, and the nagging sense that you’d like to write more. We have a solution! Drexel’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council and the University Writing Program are sponsoring a writing retreat series for the first four weeks of the spring quarter. Any Drexel faculty or staff member working on a writing project is welcome to attend.

The printing press is considered one of the greatest innovations in literature – making documents and texts more easily reproduced and accessible. The physical book has been the dominant form for centuries. As digital books and audiobooks take hold, will the physical book be flushed out of existence, a remnant of what used to be? Or will it be able to maintain its place on the shelf? Does it matter?

In 2023, the Drexel Writing Festival will explore the theme, “em|power,” an idea that encapsulates both power dynamics and the drive for empowerment, particularly for those who have previously been powerless. Featured guests include fiction writer Molly Antepol, author of The Unamericans; Cihuayollotl, trans woman Xicanx poet Moncho Alvarado; Kim Kelly, the author of Fight Like Hell: the untold story of American labor; and Philadelphia Inquirer journalist Helen Ubinas who writes about the impact of gun violence in Philadelphia. In addition, Drexel faculty member Jakeya Caruthers will speak on race, gender, and state discipline; faculty member Travis Curtice will discuss repression and policing.