HP Literary Festival
February 23, 2024
First, choose your class period
Then take a look at past presentations below
Note, however, that enrollment ended on Feb 22, 2024.
Excused School Sponsored Absence
This is to be used in place of a workshop if you have an excused school sponsored activity during this class period. You will need to provide the appropriate paperwork to your Attendance Officer to verify your absence.
Speaker*** Excused School Sponsored Absence
Exploring the World of Independent Publishing: Choose Your Own Adventure
After considering which type of manuscript they'd like to publish, students will be guided through the stages of self-publishing. We'll discuss what to expect during the publishing process and some of the choices that will pop up along the way, including whether to publish "wide" or exclusively to Amazon. By the end of the workshop, each student will have an outline in hand for publishing their work, as well as a list of resources.
SpeakerK.E. Davenport
K.E. Davenport graduated from HPHS in 2000 and went on to study film, storytelling, and animation at NYU and later at The University of Texas, where she graduated in 2004.
She worked as a distance learning coordinator, a controller for JP Morgan, a home remodeler, and a teacher before becoming a full-time author. She has also volunteered as an animal rescuer, transporting and fostering animals on behalf of local shelters, as well as running social media for one of her favorite rescue groups.
During the last five years, K.E. has immersed herself in learning the world of independent publishing while releasing her science fantasy trilogy: The Moon Travelers. Currently, she's in the process of developing two new series that will be released later this year and in 2025.
K.E. spends most of her leisure time with her husband, kids, and pets. When she's not daydreaming, writing, or editing, she can be found hiking or having fun outdoors with her family.
Metaphorically Speaking
In this interactive poetry workshop, World Poetry Slam Champion, Joaquín Zihuatanejo will guide students as they write, revise, and share. We will take a deep look at metaphor and delve into why it is stronger than simile. And through a powerful revision technique we will walk away from the workshop with not one but two versions of a new poem. Sound intimidating? Trust us, it won't be as Dallas Poet Laureate, Joaquín Zihuatanejo, facilitates the entire process.
SpeakerJoaquín Zihuatanejo
Joaquín Zihuatanejo is the proud descendant of immigrant field workers. In the last year, Joaquín has been awarded a $20,000 honorarium from the city of Dallas along with a $50,000 Laureate Fellowship Prize from the Academy of American Poets, all in honor of the outstanding work he has done in his city as their inaugural Dallas Poet Laureate.
The second sentence is not greater than the first. The second sentence would not be possible without the first.
Joaquín received his MFA in creative writing with a concentration in poetry from the Institute of American Indian Arts in Santa Fe, New Mexico. His poetry has been featured on HBO, NBC, and on NPR in Historias and The National Teacher’s Initiative. Joaquín’s new collection, Occupy Whiteness, is due out from Deep Vellum Books early in 2024. Joaquín has two passions in his life, his wife Aída and poetry. Always in that order.
The Art & Business of Being an Indie Author
How an independent author who publishes on Amazon can make $100K or more selling books. How focusing on the marketing aspect, building a solid following, turning out high-quality, award-winning work and staying touch with readers can make you a successful author. This class will go in-depth on the positives and negatives of indie authorship vs. traditional publishing.
SpeakerBill Thompson
If variety is the spice of life, author Bill Thompson’s life so far has been spicy for sure! Over the years, and in no particular order, he’s been
• an international insurance broker • a mayor • head of a state prison board • a stockbroker • a newspaper reporter • a Bourbon Street piano player • a corporate entrepreneur • presented to Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip • in jail (briefly … and wrongly!) • a goat herder • a church organist and choir member • a real estate broker • a world traveler • president of an animal shelter • a husband, father and grandfather • an observer at a knighting in Westminster • a fluent Russian speaker • a passenger on the Concorde • a caregiver • a lifetime dog lover • an award-winning novelist
What Is Great Screenwriting?
What makes great screenwriting great? A lot of things, big and small. In this interactive workshop, we will discuss the seminal, 1980s classic, The Breakfast Club, and the multitude of ways in which it exemplifies outstanding writing for the screen.
SpeakerKurt Voelker
Kurt Voelker was born and raised in Dallas, graduated from Harvard and went to graduate film school at USC. He has since written feature screenplays for Warner Bros, Paramount, Disney, Fox, Sony, MTV Films, Screen Gems and more. His work includes the Warner Bros release SWEET NOVEMBER, starring Charlize Theron and Keanu Reeves, and Lionsgate/Huayi Brothers' animated feature ROCK DOG. Kurt also wrote and directed the award-winning, independent features PARK and THE BACHELORS, starring J.K. Simmons and Julie Delpy. He is currently revising the feature screenplay LIVE LIKE THAT for Affirm Films and Sony and is attached to direct the feature film SCRATCH.
Full Presentations
"40 Million Streams Later" - How I Wrote Songs, Got Signed & Toured the World
Ever wonder how a song gets written? Recorded? Released? And Streamed millions of times? Want to be entertained by a guy who’s played 2,000+ shows to millions of people all over the world? Then my fun, energetic, inspired & inspiring workshop is for you.
I’ll bring my guitar, sing some songs and talk about my 35+ year career in the music biz. We’ll go back to my humble beginnings as a student at SMU, to my band getting courted by all the major labels in LA and New York - to writing songs that got millions of streams and two Grammy nominations. I’ll talk about what’s working and what’s not - especially in this “New Music Business” where social media has become almost as important as the music itself. (+ maybe you’ll be in our next post ;-)
SpeakerCary Pierce
An HP Dad, Cary is a Grammy-Nominated Songwriter, Performer & Producer. His songs and co-writes have been streamed over 40 Million times and he's had record & publishing deals with Universal, Capitol and Warner Brothers.
He’s toured the world and shared stages with John Mayer, Dave Matthews Band and many others. He has appeared on Conan O'Brien, countless other national and local TV shows and has written songs with artists as diverse as Katy Perry & Chris Tomlin.
Cary & Jack O’Neill founded the band Jackopierce as SMU theater majors. After spending 5 years relentlessly recording & releasing music and touring the country they were signed to major label A&M Records. For 36 years now, Jackopierce has toured the world in 48 states, 10 countries, on 3 continents and they’ve sold about 500,000 albums. They play about 50 shows per year and will be at the Granada in Dallas Friday, May 10. He lives in Dallas with his HP grad wife, Cara, and three HP boys: Jordan ‘19, Jaron ‘26, and Elijah ‘28.
Telling Your Story: How to Craft Distinctive Personal Essays for College Applications and Beyond
Writing a personal essay that will attract the attention of college admission officers isn’t as easy as it sounds. It involves telling your personal story in a way that’s engaging, surprising and memorable. That involves using a variety of literary techniques – metaphor, pacing, interior monologue, reconstructed dialogue, and other aesthetic strategies of fiction to enable your personal essay to resonate with your readers. Getschow will use a few selections from his published personal essays and from other writers to illustrate some literary devices and strategies that can be employed to transform otherwise ordinary prose into literature.
SpeakerGeorge Getschow
George Getschow, a Pulitzer Prize finalist, worked for The Wall Street Journal as a reporter, bureau chief, and Mexico correspondent for 16 years. He was a Pulitzer Prize jurist in 2017 for General Nonfiction and for feature writing in 2013 and 2014. He was inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters in 2012 for “distinctive literary achievement.” He’s won numerous awards for his essays, long-form narratives and investigative stories for magazines and newspapers in Texas and across the country. He’s the editor of Pastures of the Empty Page, a collection of essays by prominent writers, mostly from Texas, about Larry McMurtry’s life, legacy, and titanic influence on the literature of the West.
Writing True Crime
True Crime is one of the hottest genres in publishing. Learn to research a subject that involves crime and law enforcement, interview victims, and witnesses, and then use that information to craft compelling page-turning true stories.
SpeakerGlenna Whitley
Glenna Whitley is an award-winning investigative reporter. Whitley’s work has appeared in numerous publications, including the Dallas Morning News, D Magazine, Dallas Observer, Glamour, Ladies Home Journal, More, New York Times, Texas Monthly, Penthouse, Reader’s Digest, Redbook, Town & Country, and many more.
She is co-author of Stolen Valor, a non-fiction book published in 1998 about the Vietnam War. The book received the 2000 William E. Colby Award for non-fiction writing on military affairs. It received acclaim from news outlets as diverse as ABC’s “20/20,” NPR’s “This American Life with Ira Glass,” and Naval Proceedings, and popularized the phrase “stolen valor” to describe military pretenders.
She has discussed her stories on numerous television programs such as Dateline, NBC News, “The Hunt with Jon Walsh,” ESPN’s “30 for 30” documentary series, Snapped, and “Discovery Investigates.” Whitley is a graduate of Texas A&M University, where she earned a degree in journalism.