Francis Marion University in Florence, South Carolina is proud to celebrate literature and reading with the annual Pee Dee Fiction and Poetry Festival. Free and open to the public, the festival is held every fall on the beautiful campus of Francis Marion University.
Panel discussions, readings, and book signings take place at Lowrimore Auditorium. Books by the featured authors will be available for purchase at the festival. The Lowrimore Auditorium is wheelchair accessible.
You can find a complete schedule of events as well as more information about this year’s featured writers in the drop-down menu in the upper right corner of the screen.
Featured Authors in Fall 2026:
Jericho Brown, Octavio Quintanilla, Kiersten White, and Marcella Pixley
Jericho Brown
Jericho Brown is author of the The Tradition (Copper Canyon 2019), for which he won the Pulitzer Prize. Brown’s first book, Please (New Issues 2008), […]
Octavio Quintanilla
Octavio Quintanilla is the author of the poetry collection If I Go Missing (Slough Press, 2014); The Book of Wounded Sparrows (Texas Review Press, […]
Kiersten White
Kiersten White is the #1 New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning, and critically acclaimed author of dozens of books for readers of […]
Marcella Pixley
Marcella Pixley is the award-winning author of five acclaimed young adult novels for young people: Freak, Without Tess, Ready to Fall, Trowbridge Road, and […]
Festival History
The first Pee Dee Fiction and Poetry Festival was held in 2006 with the generous support of Francis Marion University President Luther F. Carter. Since then, Francis Marion University is proud to have welcomed many award-winning writers including Ada Limón, Aimee Nezhukumatathil, Tayari Jones, Grady Hendrix, Benjamin Percy, Gregory Pardlo, Dorothy Allison, Tobias Wolff, Dorianne Laux, Naomi Shihab-Nye, Ross Gay, Emily St. John Mandel, Kay Ryan, Nikky Finney, Jane Yolen, Tracy K. Smith, Li-Young Lee, Daniel Woodrell, and Terrance Hayes.
