      Literature aficionados, the Crossroads Writer Conference was this weekend! The big literature event of the fall, Crossroads is an event where a number of renowned and popular Southern writers get together to do readings and interviews. But don’t be upset if you yourself are a writer: you can register to join the conference, share your work, and receive feedback for your writing! This fun event is must-attend for anyone with a passion for reading and writing!
           Started in 2008, this conference was founded as a fun get-together between fellow writers. From the efforts of Chris Horne, Drs. Heather Braun, Kelly Whiddon, and Monica Young-Zook, these link-minded individuals managed to gather together a multitude of writers, volunteers, and sponsors in order to hold the conference. However, it was the support of famous novelist Ad Hudler who managed to secure both a credible respect for the writers involved and the general atmosphere of the conference as more of a fun get-together than a stiff and highbrow affair.
           Since then, support and enthusiasm for the conference has steadily grown. Over the past four years, the conference has been showcase to many well-known writers, including Steve Almond, Rick Moody, Joshilyn Jackson, Jay Parini, and a plethora of writers in the Macon community. With this mix of established authors and aspiring writers, the conference has garnered a reputation as a laid-back and respectful communal event.
           Crossroad’s influence has recently led to the acceptance of the Knight Neighborhood Challenge grant, helping to fix the broken and untended sidewalks in Macon, specifically those in the College Hill area, painting and decorating them with forms of literature, including poetry, quotes, music lyrics, and more. The conference has a separate form for this project called Sidewalk Stories, and anyone wishing to contribute their work and help the community is encouraged to sign up.  Â
           The whole weekend is crammed with activities, starting on Friday and ending Sunday evening. The event is scheduled into blocks, each of which lasts about an hour. The only thing, though, is that once each seminar or reading starts, you’re basically locked in until it ends, so you have to make sure the event you participate in is one you really want to see.
           The schedule for Sunday actually held lunch at the Mercer Village, so if you saw a bunch of writers sitting around, drinking coffee and talking about literature, you were actually witnessing a part of the Crossroads Writer Conference. This is also due in part to Mercer’s support of the conference; many of our resident English professors are involved with Crossroads, so you know what they were doing this weekend.
           In a very exciting turn of events, our own Dr. Mitcham took part in Crossroads! A noted writer and poet, awarded Poet Laureate of Georgia, Dr. Mitcham gave a poetry reading from his collection, “Oblique Lexicon.” So if you see Dr. Mitcham around campus, ask him about Crossroads and his experience there!
           Crossroads may now be over, but it is always exciting to see so many people passionate about literature. In an age of smartphones, reading is becoming more an exception than a rule, and Crossroads is a major push for the credibility and livelihood of the written word.  Â