This year’s Drexel Writing Festival will feature celebrated authors, contemporary poets, distinguished editors and leading academics who take us on a deep, reflective dive. Join us between April 8 and May 12 for a series of lively discussions and hands-on workshops exploring writing that connects us to and grounds us in shared human experiences.  

The Drexel Writing Festival is sponsored by the College of Arts and Sciences, in partnership with the Department of English and Philosophy. In addition to guest authors, the festival hosts writing workshops for local high school students and presents readings from Drexel's Creative Writing MFA degree students. 

All events are free and open to the public. Read on for a preview of some of the authors who will share their work across a variety of genres and topics during the 2026 Writing Festival. 

Matthew Ross Smith

April 8

Matthew Ross Smith is an author of middle grade fiction. His most recent book, The Million Dollar Race, follows a speedy kid from an unconventional family who will do whatever it takes to win an international track contest. His adult debut, Owner's Box, a thriller/mystery, will be published in 2027. 

Elise Juska

April 27

Elise Juska's novel Reunion was released in 2024 by HarperCollins and named a New York Times Editors' Choice. It follows three friends in their forties who are forced to reckon with their lives during a college reunion in coastal Maine. Juska is currently a Visiting Professor at Haverford College. 

Paul Stoller, PhD

April 29

Anthropologist Paul Stoller has published 11 books, including ethnographies, biographies, and 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. 

Carl Whithaus, PhD

May 7

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.

Moriel Rothman-Zecher

May 11

Moriel Rothman-Zecher is the author of two novels, Before All the World and Sadness Is a White Bird. His first poetry collection, I Still Won’t Have Known, is forthcoming from BOA Editions. He teaches at Swarthmore College and is also a member of the faculty of the Bennington Writing Seminars’ MFA Program. 

Lynn Levin

May 12

Lynn Levin is a poet, writer, and Adjunct Associate Professor of English at Drexel University. Called one of the most “poignantly witty voices of our time,” Lynn is the author of nine books, most recently the short story collection House Parties.