In the beginning, there was William Faulkner.

The first Sophomore Literary Festival commemorated the works of this Nobel Prize-winning American writer. 36 years later, SLF looks to expand beyond the traditional and into more diverse types of writing — including writing about fictional news, with headlines like, "Man Totally Proud of Last Night's Drunken Phone Calls."

Joanna Cornwell, one of the co-chairs of the 2003 festival, explains the changes in the spirit of the festival this year, as opposed to recent years.

"This year, we really wanted to change the direction of the festival and restore [it] to some of its former glory…we've really tried to increase student involvement and appeal to a larger range of people. This year we have multicultural aspects, journalists, playwrights, fiction, nonfiction and poetry. It really is a large variety," Cornwell said.

Also as co-chair, Meghan Martin wants to provide a wide range of styles, but emphasizes the importance of literary tradition at Notre Dame.

"SLF's 36 year existence is a testament to the thriving arts community here on campus—no matter how quiet or unimposing it may be, it proves that the written word must be celebrated, if for no other reason than the power that it evokes in such a subtly ubiquitous existence," Martin said.

Sophomore Literary Festival 2003: WordFest is the latest in a series of SLF's devoted to "Celebrating the power of the written word since 1967." This year's festival includes a partnership with the St. Joseph County Literacy Council, incorporating service to help raise literacy awareness. $1 admission to two of the events will benefit this cause. Another feature of this year's SLF was the organization of pre-events, such as "A Very Potter Evening" in November, held to celebrate the release of the latest Harry Potter movie.

On Wednesday, the actual festival begins. The first guest making an appearance will be Dan Coyle, class of 1987, journalist and author of "Hardball: A Season in the Projects." The acclaimed non-fiction work is Coyle's memoir of his experience as a baseball coach for troubled kids in Chicago's infamous Cabrini-Green housing project. The story of a makeshift young baseball team playing in the rough projects was adapted into a movie starring Keanu Reeves in 2001. Following Coyle's presentation there will be a reception and book-signing session that will feature entertainment by the student a cappella group Big Yellow Taxi.

The next event will be Cavanaugh Coffeehouse, with Sister Jean Lenz. Lenz, assistant vice-president for Student Affairs, is the author of Loyal Sons & Daughters: A Notre Dame Memoir. The book narrates her personal recollections of three memorable decades in Notre Dame's history and describes her role in those pivotal years. Lenz contributed as an administrator, teacher, minister and alumna, sharing her experiences with the University's first generation of women. During the first years of co-education, she served as rector of Farley Hall for 10 years. Her appearance at SLF's Cavanaugh Coffeehouse will appropriately commence the dorm's Women's Awareness Month. The event will also showcase Harmonia, the all-women a cappella group, and end with refreshments and a book-signing.

Nikki Giovanni, who also participated in the 1993 festival, will make the next writer's appearance. Giovanni has earned extensive critical acclaim, including the NAACP Image Award for Literature in 1998 and the Langston Hughes Award for Distinguished Contributions to Arts and Letters in 1996, for her poetry reflecting on the African-American identity. She has been named Woman of the Year before by several publications, including Essence, Mademoiselle and Ladies Home Journal, and holds numerous other honors as well.

Giovanni is considered a leader among black poets, and has written books including Love Poems and her latest, Quilting the Black-Eyed Pea. Another sure-to-be-legendary figure who has made strides in the black community will introduce her, Notre Dame football coach Tyrone Willingham. The book-signing for Giovanni will take place before her presentation, with a reception to follow. This is the first event to take tickets; the cost is $1 and proceeds will benefit charity.

Next up is SLF Slam, featuring top spoken word artists from Chicago as well as Notre Dame students. Jelani McEwen-Torrence, who is hosting this event, sees it as a forum for introducing ideas and sharing art. "[It's] an open avenue for the intellectual and philosophic, while maintaining a fun and free environment," he said. The student slam poetry showcase is an open mic night and another opportunity for students to participate.

Another exciting guest this year is Joe Garden, one of the founders of and a staff writer for "The Onion." One of the most popular satirical newspaper in the country, "The Onion" combines clever fictional stories with an amazingly realistic reporting style to call itself "America's Finest News Source." Recent headlines in the paper: "U.N. Orders Wonka To Submit To Chocolate Factory Inspections," "New Swiss Army Phone May Pose Health Risks," "Depressed Roommate Hitting The GameCube Pretty Hard" and "Guy at Gym Keeps Offering To Spot Everyone."

Garden, a former liquor store employee who denies being a journalist in interviews, landed at "The Onion" in 1993 and brought a 12-pack of Olympia Gold to his first staff meeting. The paper does not use bylines, because the stories are intended to be from "The Onion" instead of a specific writer. The news stories cover an assortment of topics, from sardonic takes on serious current events to parodies of normally unnoticed aspects of everyday life. A reception and book-signing will take place after this event as well; this event also costs $1.

For the next author, SLF will be a homecoming of sorts. Journalist Kevin Coyne, when writing the book "Domers: A Year at Notre Dame," managed to incorporate as many aspects of our University, from freshman orientation to graduation, as would fit in one year. Coyne's book will be filled with familiarity for students, alumni and die-hard fans alike, as it references a plethora of staples in the Notre Dame lifestyle. Pep rallies, classes, dances, parties, masses, football games, faculty meetings and trustee meetings all contributed to Notre Dame eventually winning over the author.

Coyne's outlook remains realistic, however, and he addresses common issues such as the often-precarious balancing act between spiritual, academic and social life on campus. The book also provides a view into the roles of legendary figures in Notre Dame's past, like Father Sorin, Father Hesburgh and the remarkable Knute Rockne. There will be a reception and book-signing after his presentation, featuring Notre Dame's all-male pop a cappella ensemble.

The next event will present actor and playwright John Buffalo Mailer, with a reception to follow. Mailer, whose father Norman Mailer appeared at the second annual SLF, is a promising recent graduate of Wesleyan University. It was there that he and friends founded the acting company Back house; as Executive Producer of the company, Mailer also wrote an original play that they performed. His "Hello, Herman" takes an explanatory view of a high-school massacre; the 16-year-old protagonist and murderer is also the play's victim of suburban American life. One of the event's organizers, Becca Van Schoick, is looking forward to a fun event and believes that Mailer is headed for fame.

The final event will be ND Unplugged II, designed to be a student and faculty coffeehouse with poets, spoken-word artists, singer-songwriters, fiction authors, nonfiction authors, essayists, playwrights and more from the Notre Dame community. There will also be refreshments and a student art display. Beth Franzosa, one of the organizers of ND Unplugged, is excited for this event because of the tremendous success of last year's. The committee is prepared for an even better response this year, with a larger venue and longer hours.

The organization and execution of so many events is the result of countless people putting in hours of work.

"The committee has met weekly since September, and made efforts to bring a wide array of literary artists to campus for WordFest…Meghan Martin and Joanna Cornwell have worked tirelessly since last April to put together this year's festival and committee," assistant chair of SLF, Bryan Kronk, said.

How did all this literary madness begin?

In 1967, as the Packers played the Chiefs in Super Bowl I, a Notre Dame student named Richard Rossi was busily establishing an enduring tradition. Inspired by a literary convention he had attended in high school, he dedicated himself to organizing a symposium of literary scholars at Notre Dame. With the help of the sophomore class, the first Sophomore Literary Festival was held that year, honoring William Faulkner.

Thanks to the promise of a football for a young boy, the tradition continued the following year. Sophomore John Mroz was assigned the task of carrying out Rossi's dream of making it an annual event, but Mroz envisioned inviting writers instead of scholars. The problem was that he had no money or connections to entice high profile authors. The second year's festival was saved when Joseph Heller of Catch 22 fame agreed to speak — after an autographed football was promised for his son.

As invitations were sent out, the event began attracting the attention of prominent writers; as a result, it also gained support and monetary assistance from the University. The final lineup that year included impressive names in addition to Heller: Wright Morris, Ralph Ellison, Granville Hicks, William F. Buckley, Kurt Vonnegut and Norman Mailer. Mailer, whose youngest son John Buffalo is the Mailer in this year's festival, garnered national attention for the event with the premiere of his film, "Beyond the Law."

In an e-mail Mroz sent to Martin this year as one of the new chairs, the second-ever SLF chair had inspiring words for the new chair.

"You need to have a committee, a little army of dedicated women and men who share a vision. Mountains are moved by vision. You have the potential to move a mountain if you want to," Mroz said. Martin and Cornwell did find their dedicated committee, and those words of advice pushed them throughout the planning process.

The festival has done a great deal of evolving since those first years. More focus is placed now on the students and their contributions. Cornwell feels strongly about how rewarding student involvement will be for all participants. "There is this untapped potential for festivals like this and we feel that only if we can get the word out, students can experience the power of the written word and even showcase their tremendous talents at nights like ND Unplugged," Cornwell said.

After 36 years, SLF is still going strong, thanks to unique visions by every sophomore class each year. This year is no exception. "Sophomore Literary Festival more or less had a face lift," Cornwell said.

Sophomore Literary Festival 2003: WordFest will take place from Wednesday to Feb. 13. All proceeds from ticket sales and donations accepted at the door will benefit the St. Joseph County Literacy Council.

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