JaxbyJax is thrilled to host award-winning writer and director, Franklin Ritch, for a workshop on Screenwriting on Sunday, December 3 at noon in Building B, Room 204 at FSCJ Kent Campus. This hosted genre workshop entails Ritch sharing expert knowledge in film development from idea to screen.

Franklin Ritch is an independent filmmaker who writes, directs, and edits with a passion for unique ideas and sharp storytelling. Collaborating with Emmy-winning cinematographer, Britt McTammany, Franklin’s early short, BEDRIDDEN (Fantastic Fest, 2018), kicked off a marathon of short film productions that included STILL LIFE (Sleeping Giant Fest 2019), POWERFUL (SERFF 2019), THE 27 DEATHS (Fantastic Fest 2021), and many more. His first feature, THE ARTIFICE GIRL, starring sci-fi legend Lance Henriksen, won the Golden Audience Award for Best International Feature during its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival. After its US premiere at SXSW, THE ARTIFICE GIRL released in April of 2023 and quickly became the #1 Independent Film on iTunes. The film currently holds a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes and is available to rent or buy on Amazon, iTunes, and VUDU. Franklin has since been named one of the “25 New Faces of Independent Film” by Filmmaker Magazine, and his work continues to be recognized and reviewed in outlets such as The New York Times, Variety, and Screen Rant. Franklin is now developing an ambitious follow-up feature film, with several more projects and a rumored TV series on the horizon.

JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival X, a celebration of Jacksonville Writers Writing Jacksonville, will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, December 1, 2, and 3, 2023 at FSCJ’s Kent Campus, 3939 Roosevelt Blvd, Jacksonville, FL, 32205.

JaxbyJax is grateful to our generous sponsors: FSCJ, Alternate Roots, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, 904WARD, Chamblin’s Bookmine and Uptown Café, Delegal & Poindexter, Andres Rojas, Jacksonville Literary Arts Alliance, Babs’ Lab, JaxPsychoGeo, San Marco Books and More, Scribbles, and Brad Kuhn & Associates, LLC.

Fati D. is a Ghanaian-American literary & visual artist who resides in FL. Her poem “Cape Coast” was performed in Echoes of Us, a series of curated monologues, directed by Tony Award nominee Michele Shay in 2022. D is the Editor-in-Chief for The Banyan Review and is a 2023 Best of the Net nominee, published in The Midway Journal, The Lumiere Review, and The Talon Revie. She consults & facilitates workshops for Author’s Roundtable of N FL & teaches writing at the Jacksonville Art & Music School.

Fati D. will read her work on Saturday, December 2 in the Main Auditorium F128 at 11:30 AM.

JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival X, a celebration of Jacksonville Writers Writing Jacksonville, will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, December 1, 2, and 3, 2023 at FSCJ’s Kent Campus, 3939 Roosevelt Blvd, Jacksonville, FL, 32205.

JaxbyJax is grateful to our generous sponsors: FSCJ, Alternate Roots, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, 904WARD, Chamblin’s Bookmine and Uptown Café, Delegal & Poindexter, Andres Rojas, Jacksonville Literary Arts Alliance, Babs’ Lab, JaxPsychoGeo, San Marco Books and More, Scribbles, and Brad Kuhn & Associates, LLC.

Emma Klopfer has been writing for as long as she can remember and writes primarily long-form novels and screenplays, as well as poetry. She attends Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and is 18 years old. Her work primarily discusses her connection to nature and the transition from girlhood to womanhood.

Klopfer will read at the Student Showcase on Saturday, December 2nd at 3 pm in the Main Auditorium, F-128.

JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival X, a celebration of Jacksonville Writers Writing Jacksonville, will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, December 1, 2, and 3, 2023 at FSCJ’s Kent Campus, 3939 Roosevelt Blvd, Jacksonville, FL, 32205.

JaxbyJax is grateful to our generous sponsors: FSCJ, Alternate Roots, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, 904WARD, Chamblin’s Bookmine and Uptown Café, Delegal & Poindexter, Andres Rojas, Jacksonville Literary Arts Alliance, Babs’ Lab, JaxPsychoGeo, San Marco Books and More, Scribbles, and Brad Kuhn & Associates, LLC.

Here is a second chance to learn from a master. In celebration of the literary art of fiction writing, JaxbyJax is honored to host the esteemed and accomplished writer, Sohrab Fracis.

Fracis will reprise his recent Last Sunday Session workshop on Sunday, December 3rd at noon in FSCJ’s Kent Campus, Building B Room 201.

Sohrab Homi Fracis’s new book of North Florida and elsewhere stories, True Fiction, won the 2023 International Book Award for story collections. American Book Award winner Rilla Askew says of it: “True Fiction is a tour de force.” Fracis is the first Asian American author to win the Iowa Short Fiction Award, juried by the legendary Iowa Writers’ Workshop and described by the New York Times as “among the most prestigious literary prizes America offers,” for his first book, Ticket to Minto: Stories of India and America. Publishers Weekly called it “A reminder of how satisfying the short story form can be…the work of an impressive new talent.” His novel, Go Home, was shortlisted by Stanford University Libraries for the William Saroyan International Prize. Singapore Poetry described it as “newly poignant and even heartbreaking.” He taught literature and creative writing at University of North Florida. He was Twin Cities Visiting Writer in Residence at Augsburg College and Artist in Residence at Yaddo. He received the Florida Individual Artist Fellowship in Literature/Fiction. The South Asian Literary Association bestowed on him its Distinguished Achievement Award.

TRUE FICTION wins the International Book Award for Short Fiction: https://www.fracis.com/

JaxbyJax Literary Arts Festival X, a celebration of Jacksonville Writers Writing Jacksonville, will be held on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, December 1, 2, and 3, 2023 at FSCJ’s Kent Campus, 3939 Roosevelt Blvd, Jacksonville, FL, 32205.

JaxbyJax is grateful to our generous sponsors: FSCJ, Alternate Roots, Mellon Foundation, Ford Foundation, 904WARD, Chamblin’s Bookmine and Uptown Café, Delegal & Poindexter, Andres Rojas, Jacksonville Literary Arts Alliance, Babs’ Lab, JaxPsychoGeo, San Marco Books and More, Scribbles, and Brad Kuhn & Associates, LLC.