1455’s Fourth Annual Summer Festival concluded in celebratory fashion, having presented three days of extraordinary storytelling. Once again offering free, online programming, the festival that ran from July 14 – 16 delivered a variety of content, from interviews and readings to workshops, with an impressive lineup of authors, poets, educators, and creatives.
The event featured a diverse array of over 150 speakers across 50 panels, all focused on the power of storytelling and the crucial role it plays in the creative and academic fields, as well as the business political, and media arenas. The 1455 Summer Festival welcomed participants from around the country and globe including India and the UK, all uniting across its three focal tracks of “Inspiration & Advocacy,” “Timely & Topical” and “Craft & Community.” Among the most popular sessions were the keynote featuring international best-seller and co-creator of A Mighty Blaze Jenna Blum (author of Woodrow on the Bench), 1455’s 4th Annual Young Poets Award and Reading, featuring Arlington, VA Poet Laureate Holly Karapetkova, the DC Pride Poems Reading, “Cultivating a Daily Writing Practice,” “MFA Nation” (featuring National Book Award Finalist Karen E. Bender), and special appearances by Sekou Andrews and featured artist Kim Triedman. Every session was recorded, and the recorded videos will be available on 1455’s YouTube channel in the coming weeks. We invite you to follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn to stay up to date on when the SummerFest video is available, as well as ongoing free programming that 1455 produces year-round.
“I’m proud and honored to be joined by such an engaged and global audience at this year’s festival,” said 1455’s Executive Director Sean Murphy. “This enthusiastic response confirms our belief that celebrating creativity and building community is empowering and contagious. 1455 is committed to showcasing storytelling of all kinds and connecting people who share a passion for the arts. It was also important to make this year’s event as inclusive and topical as possible, and we’re proud to have produced such quality content at a time when peoples’ ability to freely interact has been disrupted. We were able to provide a variety of topics for interests ranging from literature and politics to poetry and pop culture. It was especially meaningful to honor Jenna Blum as our Keynote Speaker—not only because of her remarkable body of work, but her literary advocacy and work with A Mighty Blaze—an organization of volunteer creatives helping storytellers connect with audiences. We are already hearing from people—literally from around the world—asking us if we’ll be back next year. We have every intention of seeing this festival evolve (along with all our year-round free programming) and hope we can count on fans of 1455 to spread the word and support us! Our primary goal heading into 2023 is ensuring our mission remains effective and sustainable.”
ABOUT 1455
1455 is a nonprofit organization seeking to advance the appreciation of and passion for storytelling through programs that support expression, education, and the sharing of writing and literature. It holds events throughout the year dedicated to supporting writers of all ages and skill levels. Its annual Summer Literary Festival was held Thursday, July 14th—Saturday, July 16th, 2022. To learn more about 1455, please visit 1455litarts.org.
We need your support
1455’s free programming has been made possible by support of generous sponsors and individual supporters like you. If you enjoyed this year’s festival and would like to support 1455’s ongoing programming, please consider making a donation at 1455litarts.org/support
