The nonprofit 1455’s third-annual Summer Festival takes place virtually from July 15-17, 2021. This free and inclusive program will offer a wide array of content designed to showcase storytellers, celebrate creativity, build community, and encourage participants to pursue their own creative endeavors.

Highlights of the three-day event include:

• More than 200 speakers appearing on 70+ panel sessions.
• A diverse array of contributors from a variety of genders, cultures, ethnicities, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
• Three separate storytelling tracks: Inspiration & Advocacy; Timely & Topical; and Craft & Community.
• A closing keynote session with 2020 Booker Prize-winning author Douglas Stuart (Shuggie Bain).

The 2021 festival will focus on the power of storytelling and the crucial role it plays not only in creative and academic fields, but far beyond. The gathering is a rare opportunity for participants to learn from some of today’s most celebrated storytellers, who bring their unique perspectives to timely issues such as politics, race relations, sexual equality, sports, and the environment. Among the panelists are award-winning author and screenwriter Brian Broome, Deesha Philyaw, Jake Tapper, Lisa Ling, Sunny Hostin, S.A. Cosby, and Robin Givhan.

“The 1455 Summer Festival is, by design, unique and inclusive: It stands apart from strictly literary events as a free and dynamic experience. Anyone can find a topic of interest and drop in on intimate conversations among some of today’s hottest creative thinkers and powerful storytellers on the rise,” says Sean Murphy, executive director of 1455 Literary Arts.

“We constantly seek out diverse talent, and our goal is facilitating meaningful connection. These conversations are intended to provide insight into what storytelling means, who does it, how they do it, why they do it, their struggles and triumphs, and everything in between.”

For more info on 1455’s Summer Festival, or to register, click here.