By David Healey
The annual Purdue Global Literary Festival offers an opportunity to rejuvenate the creative spirit that brought many educators to teaching in the first place. This year’s theme will focus on the various forms that music takes. Now in its 14th year, the festival features keynotes, readings, workshops, and literature presentations.
In just a few short weeks, we’ll be gathering for one of my favorite events of the year—the Purdue Global Literary Festival. For me, it’s kind of like Christmas, Groundhog Day, and my birthday all rolled into one. Why is that? Because it is a chance not just to reconnect with colleagues, but to rekindle the creative spark that brought many of us to teaching in the first place. And in the spirit of full disclosure, it’s also a good excuse to spend the days snacking and drinking endless mugs of tea. Calories don’t count during Lit Fest. Getting crumbs stuck in the laptop keys is a definite Lit Fest hazard.
Fanning these flames of creativity can actually make us better teachers. In fact, we might think of creativity like a date night where, instead of reminding us of what we love about our partner, it reminds us of what we love about our work. Andersen et al. describe how nurturing our creativity by pursuing artistic, even joyous projects helps to prevent teacher burnout (2021). Similarly, according to Fundaro, “While engaging in a personal art project, an educator who practices mindfulness might find themselves completely absorbed in their creative process and become fully attuned to the subtleties of their craft. This immersion can lead to heightened creativity and deep satisfaction, essential for sustaining artistic passion” (2025, p. 115). Finally, the Literary Festival also helps us celebrate and remember colleagues who are no longer with us but were active festival participants, especially haiku workshop leader Ellen Manning and literary scholar Teresa Kelly—better known as TK.
Celebrating the many forms that “music” takes, this year’s 2026 Purdue Global Literary Festival theme will be, “Music: Literal or Lyrical.” This theme pays homage to the fact that sometimes it’s an idea rather than a musical note that reverberates within us. After all, the music of our hearts and minds doesn’t always have notes and sounds. There can also be something convivial about music (and writing). Author Stephen King describes his experience being part of a group of fellow authors-musicians called The Rock Bottom Remainders: “We do it for the music, but we also do it for the companionship. We like each other, and we like having a chance to talk sometimes about the real job, the day job people are always telling us not to quit. We are writers, and we never ask one another where we get our ideas; we know we don’t know” (2000, p. 9). In the end, it’s hard to know where “music” in its many forms will take us or the connections it will help us make.
Something else that makes the Literary Festival special is that this will be its fourteenth year. We haven’t started numbering these things like the Superbowl or Olympics just yet, but it’s nice to know that the Lit Fest is enjoying its teenage years, even if it’s not quite old enough to drive. Purdue Global Department of English and Rhetoric Assistant Chair and Gauge editor-in-chief Barbara Green returns as festival co-chair, a role she had taken on since the first year.
Looking back, themes have focused on topics as wide-ranging as climate change to women in literature to monsters of the imagination. There have been at least 26 keynotes by poets, authors, and publishers such as Ron Sauder of Secant Publishing. In those keynotes, we have also heard from colleagues about their own writing or creative projects. During those years, we’ve had dozens of mini-lit sessions that aligned with those various themes. The books they suggest often create an intriguing summer reading list. A number of colleagues have shared their fiction writing, nonfiction, poetry, and photography. In that time, we’ve had a few dozen workshops on poetry, fiction, and photography—always a festival favorite because The Gauge (Purdue Global’s own literary journal) publishes some amazing artistic shots. Speaking of The Gauge, this year’s festival will feature readings by colleagues published in its pages and a showcase of photographic work.
This year’s festival promises more of the same creative goodness. Our keynote speakers in 2026 will be novelist Jean Burgess, author of That Summer She Found Her Voice (2024). This wonderful coming-of-age novel set in 1978 tells the story of a young singer touring with one of the last legacy swing bands at a time when rock and roll was taking center stage. Our second keynote will be poet Katherine Lo, whose poetry chapbook The Ledger of Tiny Losses (2025) was recently published by Grayson Books. How wonderful it will be to hear about their journeys as writers while they have an opportunity to share their words and inspiration.
Another highlight of the festival will be the WAC Awards, celebrating outstanding writing by faculty and students at Purdue Global. Categories include The Transformational Writing “Make a Difference” Award (PG Employee and Student categories), The WAC/STEM Award (PG Employee and Student categories), The Global Writing Award, and The Teresa Kelly WAC Achievement Award. Overall, the WAC Awards have heightened awareness of exceptional writing across the university.
On occasion, the idea has been brought up to make this a public festival, or at least open it to students, or possibly open it to other campuses in the Purdue family. So far, the idea of keeping it a cozy festival limited to Purdue Global faculty and staff has won out.
Set among like-minded colleagues who often feel like extended literary family, this annual festival has enabled us to reconnect and reenergize as the creative types that we are at our hearts. And while music may indeed feed the soul, I will once again recommend that mug of tea and maybe a chocolate chip cookie for those afternoon stretches of the literary festival because caffeine and sugar provide the energy.
Festival Information for PG Faculty and Staff
For our Purdue Global colleagues, here are some details about WAC Awards and submitting festival proposals. Email waconcierge@purdueglobal.edu to learn more about the WAC Awards and how you can nominate yourself, a colleague, or a student. We’ll be getting the red carpet ready. If you have a favorite literary or pop culture topic that you would like to present about, your colleagues will be warm and welcoming. If you would like to submit a proposal or would like to lead a workshop, please email dhealey@purdueglobal.edu. Of course, it’s fine just to come to listen and rejuvenate your creativity. Although the festival is hosted by the Department of English and Rhetoric, all staff and faculty at Purdue Global are welcome. Bring your sense of fun and wonder—along with your snacks—and please plan to join us for our 14th annual PG Literary Festival on June 23-24.
References
Anderson, R., Bousselot, T., Katz-Buoincontro, J. & Todd, J. (2021). Generating buoyancy in a sea of uncertainty: Teachers creativity and well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic. Frontiers in Psychology, 11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.614774
Burgess, J. (2024). That summer she found her voice. Apprentice House.
Fundaro, D. (2025). Mindfulness practices to support art educators: A path to preventing burnout and promoting well-being. The Canadian Art Teacher / Enseigner les arts au Canada, 20(2), 110–118. https://doi.org/10.7202/1119997ar
King, S. (2000). On writing: A memoir of craft. Simon and Schuster.
Lo, K. (2025). Ledger of tiny losses. Grayson Books.
About the Author
David Healey teaches in the Department of English & Rhetoric at Purdue Global and returns as a PG Literary Festival co-chair.
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