The goal of the Highland Park Literary Festival is to inspire and encourage students, teachers, and the community to celebrate language in its artfully written, spoken, and sung forms. We believe that literary writing, distinct from other written forms, offers unique insight into and articulation of human experience and has its value not only in the story that it tells, but also in how the story is told. Consequently, the Festival showcases and provides access to professional writers who offer substantive artistic content through either fiction or nonfiction, and who can offer guidance or inspiration with respect to the craft and the appreciation of literary writing.

At the heart of the festival are over 80 workshops between students and accomplished novelists, journalists, poets, songwriters, and playwrights. Also, at a student-run open-mic night, students perform their own works. A writing contest and special awards breakfast recognizes outstanding student works of poetry, fiction, and narrative non-fiction.