Registration for admission to Eastern’s literary festival “Lions in Winter” is currently open to both students and the community.

The festival will be hosted from Jan. 27 through Jan. 28 in the Doudna Fine Arts Center.

Students enrolled in high school or college will be granted free admission, though they will still have to pay a $10 fee for meals.

The general admission fee for non-students is $40 if registration is done online or over the phone, and admission at the door is $50.

Admission is $30 for members of the Coles County Arts Council.

General admission includes entry into all the readings and lectures scheduled for the weekend. It also includes entry into workshops called “craft talks.”

Craft talks are groups attendees can participate in, focusing on specific genres or styles of writing such as fiction writing, poetry, children’s literature and mystery writing. Breakfast and lunch is also included in the general admission entry fee.

Online registration will be open until the first day of the festival, and tickets can be bought at the door before the first reading.

English professor Daiva Markelis said the festival is a good way to meet people who are also interested in writing.

She said various publishers attend Lions in Winter along with the featured writers, and they provide advice and tips to new and up-and-coming writers.

“We have something for everyone,” Markelis said. “We wanted to make it possible for students and also affordable. It’s always nice to see students go to these things.”

The festival will feature the works and readings of Laura van den Berg, James Davis May, Janice Harrington, Jerald Walker and Erica Wright. The audience will also have the opportunity to ask them questions after the readings.

Van den Berg is the keynote speaker and will be speaking 5 p.m. Jan. 27 in the lecture hall in Doudna.

The musical group Gangstagrass will also be performing 7:30 p.m. also on Jan. 27 in Doudna’s Dvorak Concert Hall. Tickets to Gangstagrass are sold separately from the literary festival.

General admission is $16, Eastern employee and senior admission is $13, and student admission is $7.

Gangstagrass will be hosting one of the craft talks the following Saturday.

The craft talks will go from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. and will be followed by a reading from May, Walker and Wright at 6 p.m. in the Doudna Lecture Hall.

This reading is free and open to the public and will also be followed by a book signing and reception.

Angelica Cataldo can be reached at 581-2812 or [email protected].