Speaker 1: 0:00

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Speaker 1: 1:09

I'm Martha Jackson, and the Highland Park Literary Festival is coming up on February 20th. I'm super excited for you all to meet chairs Ashley Blanchett and Julie Mellichuk, who will be telling us all about this year's keynote speaker and all the workshops that they have going on. They're celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Highland Park Literary Festival and I attended this event last year and I was blown away by the quality of the speakers and the options for the workshops for the students. I mean, if I would have had access to something like that in high school, who knows what I would have gone on to do? It is so motivational for these kids to attend these workshops. They learn so much and they have so many takeaways that they can apply through life. And it's not just for the kids On Thursday night, when they have the keynote speaker, there is an opportunity for you to bring your book club, your friends.

Speaker 1: 2:00

It's an opportunity for all the adults in the community to get involved. Friends, it's an opportunity for all the adults in the community to get involved. And, as a side note, I was asked to be a presenter this year and I'm super nervous and also super excited to be a part of this amazing event. And so, to give us all the details, please welcome Ashley and Julie. Welcome to the show. Ladies. Will you please introduce yourselves and tell us how you got involved with the Highland Park Lit Fest?

Speaker 2: 2:22

Hi, my name is Ashley Blanchett and I'm one of this year's co-chairs and I've been involved for a number of years. Rennie Loki, who is a former co-chair, roped me in a few years ago and I've loved it and been involved ever since.

Speaker 1: 2:38

She's hard to say no to, isn't she? She's hard to say no to. We all love her.

Speaker 3: 2:46

And hi, I'm Julie Mella Herchak. I'm also co-chairing with Ashley this year. I came to learn more about this event and the more I learned, the more I loved about it, and when they asked to have me help chair, I was very glad to do it.

Speaker 1: 2:59

Well, I hear you have a very interesting story of how you met over 10 years ago.

Speaker 2: 3:03

Yeah, so we met through the UP Preschool Association's book club over a decade ago and kind of as our kids aged out we rolled our book club off that platform and it's grown and we've been together ever since, kind of meeting once a month for 12 years Years yeah.

Speaker 1: 3:26

Oh my gosh, that's so cute. I too was involved with the UP Preschool Association and to this day, the best friends I have are through that organization. I absolutely loved it.

Speaker 2: 3:36

Yes, it's such a fun way to kind of get to know the neighborhood and all the families that are coming up and you're going to be involved with for years.

Speaker 1: 3:45

Right. It really helps get you plugged in, like when you're new and you have these little kids, and it's a great way to get involved. Well, so we are talking about the Highland Park Lit Fest today. We are celebrating the 30th anniversary this year, which that's quite the history. Can you tell us about how it got started?

Speaker 2: 4:03

Absolutely In 1995, they were wanting to provide a platform for literary enrichment at the high school and to inspire and motivate students. So that's a tall order. And then it's just continued to grow into a two-day festival. But we involve all the campuses. So our third and fourth graders get to write poems for a poetry contest. Our middle schoolers get to illustrate those winning poems. We've got a speaker coming to the middle school. So there's just so much going on scholarships and writing contests. And it has evolved over the years, but the mission has stayed the same.

Speaker 3: 5:04

Yes, I think the evolution is what's so amazing. I think it started fairly small at the high school, but they've broadened the horizons quite a bit and it does, like Ashley said, it touches all the schools. It touches really any student in our district and it's become much bigger than just bringing in a keynote speaker.

Speaker 1: 5:23

Well, we're talking a span of 30 years here, which is a really long time to have a program like this going on. Tell me about any memorable moments, any interesting keynote speakers or anything that has happened along the way.

Speaker 2: 5:37

So a few years ago we had Peter Heller, and one thing that some of the co-chairs will say is you become a meteorologist when you become a co-chair, because having an event in Dallas in February is a little iffy.

Speaker 2: 5:52

The year before was Snowmageddon, so they pushed this event into March, thinking they were going to avoid any kind of weather issues thinking they were going to avoid any kind of weather issues. Peter comes in, and that was when we had our tornado warnings, and so we've got Chief Rowden, principal Gilbert. They're on the horn trying to figure out if we call it off, if we need to go shelter in place, and Peter Heller's in the green room going I've never seen a tornado before. And so he sneaks out to see vertical rains, the wind, and made a comment and said you know, I've never seen this before. This might make it in one of my books, and so we're anxiously awaiting a book with a tornado or Highland Park or something that's a really good story because you honestly, honestly like, as fellow Texans, we never know when to take it seriously and not.

Speaker 1: 6:44

You know, there was many years ago that I would never take it seriously. And then one hit Fort Worth, one's hit our area and you just really never know, we don't and we were thankful to the leadership.

Speaker 2: 6:55

They were making sure that you know everyone there was safe and that we were doing the right thing. It ultimately ended up not being a tornado and the program, you know, went on without a hitch, but it certainly was an anxious moments leading up to that. I can only imagine Wow.

Speaker 3: 7:13

And when Amor Tolles came, a few years prior to that was, as Ashley mentioned, the ice storm where schools were closed. That was, as Ashley mentioned, the ice storm where schools were closed. No one was on the road and he had flown in and the event was happening and I think, given that he's from New York, he thought we were very, very wimpy that none of us were out in the weather coming to the event, because he'd seen much worse up in that, I know.

Speaker 1: 7:37

But what they don't understand is we're not equipped for it quite like that and we get the ice. It's not just pretty snow, you know. But what they don't understand is we're not equipped for it quite like that and we get the ice. It's not just pretty snow, you know. So I get a little frustrated with people from those areas but, they don't understand what's going on down here in Texas.

Speaker 1: 7:50

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Speaker 1: 8:38

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Speaker 2: 9:14

We can't wait. Mark Sullivan is coming and he is author of the Beloved Beneath the Scarlet Sky. But he has a really interesting story leading up to how he became an author. So after college he joined the Peace Corps, he went to West Africa that's really, it seems, like informed the writing of his brand new book, All the Glimmering Stars. He gets back to the States, he goes to grad school at Northwestern. He becomes an investigative journalist. He writes about the financial world. He goes to grad school at Northwestern. He becomes an investigative journalist. He writes about the financial world.

Speaker 2: 9:45

He goes to DC, does some political writing, ends up in California and really has a crisis of conscience that he has not fulfilled his childhood dream of writing. And so he kind of checks it all, goes and lives in the mountains with some extreme skiers and pops out a book that becomes a New York Times Notable Book of the Year, which is apparently an astonishing feat for a debut author. Fast forward and he wrote a bunch of thrillers. He co-wrote with James Patterson five number one bestsellers. And then where Julie and I think where I think Julie and I kind of fell in love with his writing, was in this historical fiction genre. He has just really developed these amazing relationships with people who had stories of heartbreak and triumph, and he's taken their real life stories and written a fictionalized account of them, and so he's going on number three of doing that. He's got a great formula.

Speaker 3: 10:49

He does and he's told some really interesting stories about how he gets the ideas for these books that he writes and I think his most recent book, his son actually brought the story to him. His son is also a writer but had met certain people that brought the story forward of all the glimmering stars and it was so fascinating and it's different. Him writing about the setting of Africa is different than several of his other books, but it's always. We're hoping that when he comes he tells us a little bit more about how he comes up with some of these amazing true stories and most recently, his son was a part of that, I believe.

Speaker 1: 11:28

Well, I just love how you guys do such an amazing job of getting these keynote speakers. If you really think about it, I always say that our little community is a small town within a really big city. How are you able to lock these speakers in?

Speaker 3: 11:44

I think the Lit Fest has really gained a reputation is the wrong word, but I think it has grown, and it has grown.

Speaker 2: 11:54

I don't know, you may want to jump in on this, but want to jump in on this, but Well, I think that HP Lit Fest certainly has a reputation and authors can reach out to other authors and see who has come to our Lit Fest and spoken before. We have just such a fantastic roster over the last 30 years of keynote speakers and I think that probably is the first thing they check off the list. Wow, if Amor Tulls and Peter Heller, dave Eggers, you know if these people are coming to this small Lit Fest. I want to learn more.

Speaker 3: 12:31

And we were really honored last year with Kristen Harmel. She was here and after she was our keynote she actually said she'd love to come back anytime as a workshop presenter, which was so flattering and so nice of her to say.

Speaker 1: 12:41

That's huge.

Speaker 3: 12:42

We loved having her to come back anytime as a workshop presenter, which was so flattering and so nice of her to say. That's huge. We loved having her. But she was so impressed with not just the keynote element of the event but the workshops and all the other pieces that go into making it such a special event.

Speaker 2: 13:03

Well, I was going to say one of the benefits of being a co-chair is you do get to go through your roster of beloved authors. What was?

Speaker 1: 13:09

interesting. It takes a while.

Speaker 2: 13:09

I mean Julie and I started a year ago, yeah for sure, and put out a number of author offers to authors and some authors simply say I don't do high schools. And some say you know, I'm not traveling this year because I'm writing a book. I'm not traveling this year because I did. I had a book come out last year and I did press for it. So you know there are great ones on the list that have said I can't do it this year but ask me next year. And we have some fantastic people who said that to us that in future years, you know, might come and visit us.

Speaker 1: 13:45

That is so amazing. Well, last year was my first time to attend the Thursday night keynote speaker, so I personally know why I should come. But for those that are listening that may have never been, tell us why they should come.

Speaker 2: 13:57

I really think that listening to an author talk about his work and talk about the craft of writing really deepens the experience. And since Julie and I met through book club, we'd really love to encourage you know, book clubs to come, make it a community event, grab your neighbor, grab your friend, grab your parent, even eighth graders, you know, if you have a kid in eighth grade, grab them and come, because it's a little preview into the high school. If parents want to volunteer, they get to walk the halls and sit in a classroom. So it makes a big scary transition not so scary, but really I think it's just to celebrate the art of the written word.

Speaker 3: 14:39

And if you love books, come it's just to celebrate the art of the written word and if you love books, come. And I think for those who do love books, there's nothing more interesting than going behind the scenes with the author and having them explain how a book came to be, what their process is, some of the pitfalls, some of the challenges, even little things like where they sit to write their books and what their process is and their routines, and I think it's very interesting.

Speaker 1: 15:03

Right, I would agree. I just felt like it was a very intimate setting and even though they were on the stage and you're in the seats in the auditorium like it's not a big venue and so you really feel a part of it and you feel like you're really connecting with the author and really getting to know all the behind the scenes things that goes into them becoming such amazing novelists and everything. So let's talk about the students for a minute. So we started covering the Lit Fest a few years ago on the Bubble Lounge and just looking through the speakers and the presenters and everything that you have, I was just blown away. I mean, you name it, it's out there. It's not just book authors, it's a little bit of everything. Can you talk to us about what students can expect in these workshops?

Speaker 3: 15:48

Absolutely we can. We've got a really amazing variety of people coming to work with the students. We have about 25 people who are professionals in the literary arts, but what's so fun to see is that means so many different things. We have Ben Baby coming, who specializes in journalism and sports writing. He has come for a number of years and is always a big hit with the kids, the students. We have two of Dallas's Poet Laureates coming, the current one and the previous one, which is such an honor, and they'll be talking to anyone who's interested about poetry. We have editorial cartoonists coming. We have screenwriters. We have fiction writers.

Speaker 3: 16:32

Of course, we have several songwriters coming. Cary Pierce is coming, who is an HP dad but also extremely well known through the band Jack O'Pierce. He's going to come and speak to the students about songwriting. He will focus on how a song gets written, recorded and released and obviously there will be some music played as well. He'll be in the auditorium.

Speaker 3: 16:55

But we have your coming to talk about podcasting, which I think is something a lot of students will be really interested in, because we don't hear a lot about that in school. But I think it's going to be so interesting for students to remember that there are so many careers that stem kind of out of the literary arts but doesn't just mean you have to write a book. I think podcasting is an amazing example of that. But we have playwrights, we have comedy writers, and the list goes on and on. It's really a nice variety of people who have made a living or chosen to spend time after school pursuing something in the literary arts. We did hear one story of a high school boy a few years ago so they're not here anymore but they weren't necessarily sure what to expect, weren't necessarily looking forward to it, but they went to one of the songwriting workshops and walked away thinking really, songwriting is just writing and you never think about how writing can lead you into so many different interesting careers. And that was kind of fun to hear.

Speaker 1: 18:06

I mean, songs are essentially poems, right? So I mean it's the same, you know the same actions that they're doing, it's just a different format that they're delivering it.

Speaker 2: 18:17

And I think that's the goal is to just expand these high schoolers' knowledge, to say, you know, if you have an interest in this, this is why your individual and it helps high schoolers who feel like the college draw is near and everything feels so heavy. It helps kind of inspire them that there are so many ways they can get to where they want to go.

Speaker 1: 18:52

Right, right. I feel like you guys do an amazing job of just opening up the students' minds of the endless possibilities that they can get into. Well, I am super excited about being a presenter this year for the first time, also a little bit nervous. High schoolers can be a challenging audience, so, as presenters, what can you do that appeals to them? What makes them say this was really a great presentation. I really got a lot out of it.

Speaker 2: 19:18

So I have seen a few, and those presentations when the kids were really involved, it was because it was interactive. And so there was one with Kale Alford, who is a photojournalist, and she got the kids to bring their phones out, which you don't ever hear in school. Let's bring your phone out, I want you know. She explained how to take photos and how to capture the essence of a person, and then their job was to go off and take photos and come back and talk about them.

Speaker 2: 19:49

Oh I love that, which was really fun. And then Carrie Pierce I was in his one year, I guess last year, and he he involved the kids in singing songs that he's written. He involved the kids in singing songs that he's written and at first and this would be a warning for all presenters the kids were really slow to warm up. He did not give up. He kept encouraging them. I know you can sing louder, I know you know this song, or, if you don't, let me tell you the words. And once they got into it and realized all the other kids in the class are going to be involved, then they let their guard down and it was a great rest of the rest of the president.

Speaker 1: 20:28

Oh my gosh, that is a good story. I love that. Well, I know that anytime you put on a big event like this, you need the community's involvement in different areas. Do you have anyone you would like to thank?

Speaker 2: 20:40

Absolutely. 30 years of LitFest wouldn't be possible without our sponsors and our volunteers and our committee. Specifically, we are grateful to La Fiesta, hp Arts, pc Tag, the Highland Park High School PTA and district families who donate the Wild Detective Bookstores who's our book partner. Families who donate the Wild Detective Bookstores who's our book partner, bryn Baggett PR and Barbara Hunt Crowe, who puts on a dinner to celebrate our keynote speakers and our workshop prisoners.

Speaker 1: 21:09

Wow, that is quite the group there. Tell us how we can get involved and help you.

Speaker 2: 21:13

Well, certainly we have over 100 volunteers. 30 of those are on our Lit Fest committee. But we need Parent Volunteers Day of that February 21st, when all the workshops are going on in the high school, and so you can go to our website, HPLitFestcom, you can reach out to us DM on Instagram, HP Literary Festival and tell us you want to get involved and we'll send you the sign up to look at what all the different opportunities are.

Speaker 1: 21:43

Well, that's definitely what lured me in is I signed up to help last year and I introduced a particular speaker and I was just blown away by the amount of things going on and the attention to detail and just all the learning opportunities for the kids, and I think I'll be involved for a long time one way or the other.

Speaker 2: 22:01

We love it. We hope so, we hope so. We're fortunate we have repeat volunteers, repeat presenters, people who stay on the committee, and so there's a lot of historical knowledge that's there. But then it builds this sense of community and camaraderie. So, for example, one of our presenters was a college professors of now several of our presenters. So they're seeing each other year after year and it was their college professor, and so you know, these ways that bring people together are just really fun, and if you are out there wanting to get involved in a bookish community, we'd love to hear from you.

Speaker 1: 22:41

Well, let's tell everyone again the dates and what's going on.

Speaker 3: 22:44

Yes, the keynote event, which is open to the whole community it's free of charge is on Thursday, february 20th. The doors will open at 630 and the event will start right at 7. And no tickets are required. But we do really encourage everyone to get there early to get a good seat and we're very excited about that.

Speaker 1: 23:06

You just show up, you just show up.

Speaker 3: 23:07

We're going to have books for sale there that Mark will sign afterwards. He's going to do a book signing at the end of the event, and so February 20th, which is Thursday, okay perfect, and we're so excited.

Speaker 2: 23:21

Workshop presenters will be there. We'll be selling their books as well, so you can get a little preview of what's coming for the kids the next day too.

Speaker 1: 23:28

Well, I'm really looking forward to it. I'm super excited. Ladies, thank you so much for being here today. I really appreciate you talking about this and letting our community know what's going on. Thank you so much. That's been another episode of the Bubble Lounge. I'm Martha Jackson and I'll see you next time.