Five Reasons To Attend Unbound
by Shelly Romero
Have you heard of Unbound, but aren't really sure whether to attend or not? Are you thinking that it's maybe not for you? Or are you just not really sure about what Unbound is and what's going to go on?
Give me a few minutes and I'll give you five great reasons why you should free up your day plans for April 23rd.
1. It's a book festival right in our backyards.
Columbia, Missouri is quite the interesting city. Three colleges encompass the city where students from many countries attend, making up a large portion of the population. Columbia has an incredible art scene and two film festivals - Citizen Jane and True/False - under its belt. Now, Unbound Book Festival will be adding to the many numbered list of things that make living in Columbia awesome. Not only that, but the festival will be held right on the Stephens College campus, a five minute or so walk away from Downtown Columbia and a mile away, in either direction, from the University of Missouri-Columbia and Columbia College.
2. Authors, panels, and a contest? Oh my!
It wouldn't be a book festival without authors, panels, and a writing contest. At Unbound, you'll get celebrate literature in an interactive manner, meet and participate in panels and Q&A sessions with nationally-recognized and best selling authors of a variety of genres, along with much more. What's that much more? Well, you'll just have to come and see.
Did I mention the contest? Check out our "1st Page Rodeo" tab for more information about this exciting opportunity.
3. Volunteer Opportunities
As with many festivals, Unbound has volunteer opportunities for any member or student within the Columbia community that wants to dip their fingers into this great literary pool and help make Unbound happen, smoothly and effectively, on April 23rd. If this is something you're interested in, don't hesitate to fill out the volunteer application here. Plus, it will be an incredible experience. Take your leap of faith today.
4. Local authors and diverse genres of writing
Not only is Unbound bringing on authors from outside of Columbia, it is also bringing to light the great, but often unheard of, writing community of Columbia. Among many of the authors traveling in for the festival, several including Nina Furstenau and Laura McHugh are local authors, both with best selling and award winning publications. The festival's visiting authors are also not confined to just one genre of writing; Unbound will feature many programs for genres such as Fiction, Nonfiction, Poetry, and even Children's literature.
5. Today for You, Tomorrow For All
Unbound is free to attend and while attendees will have an incredible time at the festival's intimate and interactive nature, our mission is why this is happening in the first place. Unbound, taking note of Missouri's poor literacy rates for children and adults, hopes to bring awareness to improve literary standards. Attending Unbound will help our mission greatly.
We hope to see you on April 23rd at the Stephens College campus.