The EIU Lions in Winter Literary Festival hosted masterclasses, readings and roundtables with two guest authors in the Doudna Fine Arts Center on Saturday.

Poet Ruth Awad, a Lebanese American who has written three books, hosted a masterclass on poetry and read aloud from her book “Outside the Joy.”

Writer, editor and professor at University of Michigan Aram Mrjoian held a masterclass on fiction and read from his debut novel, “Waterline.”

“We focus on what we call emerging writers, which means that they usually only have one or two books out so far. We also center people we felt have something important to say to students or something about their work that would resonate with students,” said Colleen Abel, assistant professor of English at EIU.

Abel, with the help of a committee, directed Lions in Winter.

“The most exciting part for me is seeing students make connections and seeing students have role models that they can use to be like, ‘Okay, here’s how to be a creative person. Here’s how to make a living. Here’s how to get published. Here’s how to keep writing every day when you don’t feel like it.’ That kind of thing,” Abel said.

Mrjoian, whose book covers an Armenian American family dealing with both the passing of a young family member and the impact of generational trauma due to the Armenian genocide, said that writing is a way for him to process things.

“The world is a complicated place; personally, culturally, politically. Writing is where I work through a lot of the emotional and intellectual problems that I’m dealing with,” Mrjoian said. “I love that creative writing can start conversations and the way that it allows me to express myself both towards people I care about and complete strangers with some nuance and thoughtfulness.”

The festival also showcased three students who read their own work. Anj Baker, who is pursuing a master’s degree in English, shared a short story at the event.

“Someone in my playwriting class in undergrad insulted me a bit and said I should give more concrete genders to my characters. I was like, ‘Well, I’m going to keep telling stories about characters and gender, and that’s going to be my thing,’” Baker said.

Abel said that Baker and two other students, senior English major Elijah Kubicek and graduate English major Jenna Tobias, are gifted writers whose work she wanted to share at the festival.

After their readings, each student received a round of applause from the audience and visiting authors alike.

“If you even have this idea in the back of your mind that someday you’d like to write poetry or someday you’d like to write a novel, [Lions in Winter] is going to be a good fit for you because anybody can do this. It does not take any special classes. Making art is for everybody and is good for anyone with any type of creative ambitions in their life,” Abel said.

Adia Struck can be reached at 581-2812 or at [email protected]