Project Summary

The University of Massachusetts-Amherst (UMass-Amherst) is seeking funding to support a public literary festival geared towards environmental literature, for all audiences.  The University of Massachusetts-Amherst’s 2008 Juniper Festival, The World and the Word, of the MFA Program for Poets and Writers will celebrate the confluence of environmental science and literary art, and seek to improve the community life of Massachusetts through environmental awareness and activism.  Poets, essayists, fiction writers, activists, publishers, and scientists will gather to investigate the many ways environmental science and literary art can converge.  The festival will be held from April 25-26.  It will consist of film screenings, readings and roundtables.  The public will thus gain a better understanding of the current environmental issues and learn how to address them.  The events will be held on the UMass-Amherst campus, as well as selected sites in the Town of Amherst.