While the word “literary” may bring up bad memories of memorizing Chaucer in high school English class, Franklin Abbott, co-founder of the Atlanta Queer Literary Festival, promises that his event is nothing like that.
“Not that we aren’t literary,” Abbott says. “But many people think it is somehow or other like graduate school, high brow, and doesn’t resonate with them personally … like the dreaded English class you had to take in college. I can promise there is useful stuff and it is entertaining and engaging. We don’t put on boring events.”
This year marks the fifth anniversary of the grassroots festival. Keynote speakers for 2011 are Atlanta’s own Theresa Davis, the reigning champion of the Women of the World poetry slam, and Bryan Borland of Little Rock, Ark., a Pushcart-nominated poet and owner of Sibling Rivalry Press.
Atlanta Queer Literary Festival wraps up this weekend