JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival Comes to the Downtown Main Library

#Writers Writing Jacksonville

A grassroots festival showcasing and bringing together local writers, JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival asks the city of Jacksonville to listen to its own literary voice. Founded in 2014 by prolific local author Tim Gilmore and his wife, Florida State College at Jacksonville professor Jo Carlisle, the event includes local author readings, workshops, coaching and a student showcase.

Save the Date for JaxbyJax XI

JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival has hosted many writers over the years, in venues large and small all over Jacksonville. For its 11th year, JaxbyJax will make its return to the downtown Main Library on Friday, November 8, from 4-8 p.m. and Saturday, November 9, from 11 a.m. - 6 p.m.

The event is free and open to the public. 

#Featured Authors

Meet Michael Wiley

Shamus Award-winning local author, Michael Wiley, opens JaxbyJax XI on with a special reading of his latest novel on Friday, November 8, at 5 p.m. in the Zimmerman Overlook on the First Floor. Written under his pen name, Michael George, Kirkus Reviews describes the Changing Light Award-winning novel, Find Your Own Way Home: A Novel-In-Verse, as “gripping, kaleidoscopic crime novel.” Learn more about the book from his recent interview with First Coast Connect.

The reading will be followed by a Q&A and book signing.

Michael Wiley is the author of twelve novels in four series. The most recent series features Franky Dast, an exonerated convict who's investigating the crime that sent him to prison and the police detective who seemed obsessed with sending him there.

Michael’s short stories appear often in magazines and anthologies, including Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Black Cat Weekly, Shotgun Honey, and Best Mystery Stories of the Year. He is also a former board member of the Mystery Writers of America.

Michael grew up in Chicago and lived and worked in the neighborhoods and on the streets where he sets his Kelson and Kozmarski mysteries. Monument Road and Long Way Out are set in Northeast Florida. Before turning to fiction, Michael was a freelance writer, a political speech writer, an assistant at a last-chance residential facility for teenagers charged with felonies, and, briefly, a fruit picker. Michael has taught literature and creative writing at University of North Florida for 25 years.

Meet Tia Levings

New York Times bestselling author Tia Levings will close JaxbyJax XI with a special presentation on Saturday, November 9, at 5 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room (on the Conference Level). An audience Q&A and book signing will follow (and end by 6:30 p.m.).

Tia Levings is the author of A Well-Trained Wife, her memoir of escape from Christian Patriarchy. She writes about the realities of Christian fundamentalism, evangelical patriarchy, and religious trauma, and is quoted in Salon, the Huffington Post, and Newsweek. She is the creator and host of The Working Writer Podcast. She also appeared in the hit Amazon docu-series, Shiny Happy People.

Based in Jacksonville, Florida, she is mom to four incredible adults and likes to travel, hike, paint, and daydream. Find her on social media @TiaLevingsWriter. Her second book, The Soul of Healing, releases with St. Martin’s Essentials in 2025.

#Schedule of Events (Overview)

Event Kick-Off & Open Mic Night

The event officially kicks off on Friday, November 8, at 4:15 p.m. with special guest Jennifer Chase. She is the author of I Can Smell You From Here: Thirty Years, Seventeen Letters to My Town 1993-2023. She will also introduce featured author Michael Wiley. After the featured author presentation from 5 - 6 p.m., stick around for a first-ever JaxbyJax Open Mic from 6:30-7:30 p.m. 

Tabling Vendors & Organizations

• Femme Fire Books (local bookseller)
• City Bus Print (independent publisher)
• Feral Books (carefully curated counterculture)
• Happy Tapir Press (indie publisher of handmade zines and literary chapbooks)
• Élan (international student literary magazine published by Douglas Anderson School of the Arts )
• Talon Review (literary magazine housed at the University of North Florida)

For Writers, Readers and Lovers of Literature... 

On Saturday, Local Author Readings will begin at 11 a.m. and continue through 4 p.m. on the First Floor and the Conference Level. Check the event listings below for a list of participating authors and locations. Jennifer Wolfe with Women Writing for (a) Change - Jacksonville will lead a workshop in Multipurpose Room 3 (Conference Level) from 1 - 3:30 p.m. Book sales and book signings with JaxbyJax writers will take place between 4-5 p.m. in the Center for Adult Learning. The festivities will begin wrapping up when featured author, Tia Levings, takes the stage from 5 - 6:30 p.m. 

Note: All attendees will enter and exit through the main entrance doors on Laura Street. For parking information, visit jaxlibrary.org/parking-main-library.

#Event Listings by Interest/Genre

For the Fiction Track, journey downstairs to the Center for Adult Learning (on the Conference Level).

Hosted by Tim Gilmore:

• 11 a.m. - Andrea LeDew
• 11:15 a.m. - Bill DeLaney
• 11:30 am. - Sorhab Homi Fracis
• 11:45 a.m. - Abel Harding
• 12 p.m. - Victoria Nations

Looking for Nonfiction Authors or Graphic Novelists? Come back to the Center for Adult Learning after lunch. 

• 1 p.m. - Jim Draper
• 1:15 p.m. - Tim Gilmore
• 1:30 p.m. - James Greene
• 1:45 p.m. - Anthony Aiuppy

If you're a fan or writer of Poetry, be sure to stop by the "Lounge at 303 North" on your way into the Main Library (find it just inside the entrance, on the left). Poetry readings begin at 11:45 a.m. with a break for lunch between 1 - 1:45 p.m. and a Blackout Poetry Workshop at 3:30 p.m.

Early session, hosted by Taryn "LoveReigns" Wharwood:

• 11:45 a.m. - Heather Stafford
• 12 p.m. - Maxwell Carrillo
• 12:15 p.m. - Phoebe Mullins
• 12:30 p.m. - Lynn Skapyak Harlin
• 12:45 p.m. - Schynell Walker

Afternoon session, hosted by Keri Foster:

• 1:45 p.m. - Jenny Noble Anderson
• 2 p.m. - Dimitri McCloghry
• 2:15 p.m. - Princess Simpson Rashid
• 2:30 p.m. - Nicole Zwolinski
• 2:45 p.m. - Shutta Crum
• 3:30 p.m. - Blackout Poetry Workshop

Five Memoirists will read in the Zimmerman Overlook (First Floor) starting at 2:30 p.m.

• 2:30 p.m. - Rebecca Craig
• 2:45 p.m. - Damon Thomas
• 3 p.m. - Tricia Booker
• 3:15 p.m. - Michael Walsh
• 3:30 p.m. - Jeff Whipple

#Student Showcase & Awards

The Student Showcase will take place from 11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. in the Zimmerman Overlook (First Floor) which features ten talented student writers from Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Florida State College at Jacksonville, and the University of North Florida. Cash awards for the winners of the Dr. James Robert Cobb Student Writer Awards will be presented by Andres Rojas and Daryln Finch Kuhn after the readings. Cash prizes are $250 for 1st place, $150 for 2nd, and $100 for 3rd place.

Douglas Anderson School of the Arts

• Clover Anglin - "My Mother at 22"
• Esme DeVries - "I Bled at My Baptism"
• Emerson Flanagan - "Kindred Spirits"
• Oona Keleher - "A Lesson on Teenage Girlhood"
• Layla Stalford - "Maritime Spirit"
• Richard Wirth-"The Effects of Seasonal Changes on Floridian Coastal Wildlife"

(with thanks to Tiffany Melanson)

Florida State College at Jacksonville (FSCJ)

• Amaria Dukes - "Sun-Power Woman: A Journey of Self-Love"
• Faith Evans - "What is Love?"

(with thanks to Jenn Chase, Darlyn Finch Kuhn, and Whitney Lafond)

University of North Florida (UNF)

• Kinsey Gabree - "The Day the Music Died"
• Nayra Lea McMahan - "The Collector," from "Rockhounds"

(with thanks to Mark Ari, Tricia Booker, and Jessica Stark)

#About JaxbyJax

The annual JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival showcases Jacksonville's thriving writing scene by sharing the voices of local writers. In addition to writing workshops, various writers take the stage to perform selections from their work, in short 15-minute sessions. From poetry to excerpts from novels and anthologies, there's something for every writer, reader and lover of literature. 

Note: To share their work at the Festival, authors must have been born in Jacksonville, live in Jacksonville now, write about Jacksonville, OR use Jacksonville as a setting in their work. All genres welcome. The deadline for writers for this year's event has passed. For questions, please email jaxbyjax@yahoo.com and include "JaxbyJax application inquiry" in the subject line.

Meet the Director of JaxbyJax XI

Kathleen Shelton-Gilmore began hosting and organizing poetry open mics in the spring of 2017. She has been an active member of the literary community, hosting events at venues such as Chamblin’s Uptown Books and Rain Dogs. She is the founder of the spoken word poetry open mic What’s in a Verse (formerly Kes Poetry Night) and the creator of Blue Monday Literary Zine. She worked for Hope at Hand facilitating workshops for teens, and assisted in the 2019 Jax Poetry Festival. Kathleen studied English and Creative Writing at the University of North Florida. She is an avid reader of poetry, inspired by Anne Sexton, bell hooks, and Denise Levertov. She is happiest rummaging thrift stores, estate sales, and hanging out with her family. Kathleen just completed her first chapbook titled Sticks, Stones, and Charlatans, which is set to release at the beginning of October 2024 by local independent publisher, City Bus Print.

#The Library Loves Local Authors

Browse our Local Author Collection

Jacksonville Florida is the home of many talented writers. To make their work accessible to the entire community, Jacksonville Public Library created the Local Author Collection. Physical items in this collection are housed at the Main Library and are available for customers to check out through the Library's catalog. 

Donate Your Book

Want to see your book on the shelf? For selection criteria and a submission form, click here.

Create Your E-Book or Print-Ready Manuscript

Create, edit, format, and generate print-ready and eBook formats for your book—no matter how where in the writing process you are! Pressbooks Public is a free, online tool that gives you complete control over your content and the ability to collaborate with other authors and editors. It's browser-based, so you don't even have to download software. You can access it from anywhere!

Share Your E-Book with Readers in Florida

Jacksonville Public Library is partnering with Library Journal and the Indie Author Project to help readers discover local authors just like you through the BiblioBoard discovery platform. To get started, just submit your e-book (via the Indie Author Project website) for inclusion in this online collection. For more information, visit Self-Publishing E-Books with the Library. 

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