An array of poets, authors, artists, and musicians from all over the Midwest will gather at Southwest Minnesota State University Oct. 22-24 as part of Marshall Festival ‘15. The event is a three-day celebration of rural writing and culture. There is no registration fee for attendees.

The festival takes place every five to eight years, the last one being held in 2010. The gathering seeks to explore the creative endeavors taking place in the Upper Midwest and how the land and people have influenced the artists and patrons.

The planning process started a couple of years ago. Professor Marianne Zarzana, director of the Creative Writing Program, serves as director of Marshall Festival ‘15. She says community members and people from across the Midwest embrace the festival.

“Wherever I go, people are asking me about it,” Zarzana said. “They are remembering past Marshall Festivals and the fun that they had. Some old favorites are coming back, but there will be a lot of new faces.”

The event’s theme is “What Feeds Us.” This relates to the issues of sustainability in the contemporary world, and ties in with the festival’s focus on Native American contributors.

Featured performers include Native American writers Susan Power and Gordon Henry. Power’s debut novel received the Hemingway Foundation/PEN award. Henry is a poet and fiction writer, and teaches at Michigan State University.

Other Native American speakers include Cheryl Minnema, James Autio, Carter Meland, Rhiana Yazzie, Pauline Danforth, Trevino Brings Plenty, Sarah Agaton Howes, Dawn Quigley and Natanya Ann Pulley. All have been featured in SMSU’s literary journal Yellow Medicine Review (YMR), which was founded by Professor of English Judy Wilson.

“Because of the work I do with Yellow Medicine Review, I’ve become aware of a rich vein of extraordinary and unique talent,” Wilson said. “My greatest desire is to share this rich experience with others.”

Other featured performers include SMSU Professor Emeritus of English Philip Dacey, Bart and Ross Sutter and former South Dakota Poet Laureate David Allan Evans. Bart Sutter is an SMSU graduate and the only person to win the Minnesota Book Award in three different categories—fiction, non-fiction and poetry.

Dacey founded the Marshall Festival, which held its first gathering under that name in 1986. He designed the event to be more than any one person could experience. Marshall Festival ‘15 fulfills Dacey’s vision. It will span three days, with multiple events happening at the same time. Attendees can take two tracks, enabling them to choose what events they want to see.

Additional events include a spoken word performance at Brau Brothers on Oct. 24, 9-11 p.m., and a performance of Ady by award-winning playwright Rhiana Yazzie in the Black Box Theatre on Oct. 23, 2-3 p.m. Immediately following this is a YMR Reading featuring many of the invited Native American writers.

“The writers and performers are the ones whose creative work feeds us,” Zarzana said.

Marshall Festival ‘15 is sponsored by SMSU’s Access Opportunity Success (AOS) program, the SMSU Office of Diversity and Inclusion, and the SMSU Foundation. More information about the complete Marshall Festival will be available soon at www.smsu.edu/marshallfestival and on the Marshall Festival 2015 Facebook page.