St. Stephen's recently hosted an impressive group of writers across multiple genres for the 2025 Literary Festival, a biennial all-school celebration of writing. Middle and Upper School students chose two 45-minute sessions of interest, and participated in Q&A-style conversations between student moderators and featured guest speakers.

Head Librarian Michelle Andrews, library staff and parent volunteers spent months planning this event and securing the 14 speakers. Extra excitement was in the air a few days prior to the festival when news broke that one of the featured presenters’ films, Sing Sing, received three Oscar nominations. The movie’s director, Austin-based filmmaker Greg Kwedar, arrived on campus enthusiastic about talking to Spartans about the unconventional journey that led him to filmmaking.

“I like to be in conversation with [high school] students at such a pivotal, scary moment where they’re facing the unknown of what’s next,” said Kwedar. “If something feels like it’s pulling you in whatever direction, and you feel it in your body, listen to the deeper engine of your soul and what it’s trying to communicate because life is short.”

During two back-to-back presentations in the Helm Fine Arts Center, Kwedar shared the movie trailer and another emotional scene, which is based on a true story about a group of incarcerated men in an arts rehabilitation program at Sing Sing Correctional Facility in New York.

Kwedar told the attentive audience of Upper School students how he entered college as an accounting major, and walked out of class one day in the middle of a test and decided it was time to pursue his passion of filmmaking. He later turned down an offer to attend film school at New York University because it didn’t feel right, and instead moved to Austin to start making connections in the local film industry. 

Students also welcomed back to campus St. Stephen’s alum and Stanford University graduate Nikhil Prabala ’15 who recently released his first published young adult fantasy novel, “The Duchess of Kokora.”

“This is where I started my writing career — I wrote my first novel when I was a student here in high school,” Prabala said.

He said the St. Stephen’s librarians and English teachers were hugely inspirational and helped him at an early age learn how to use his voice to craft a story. 

2024 Austin Youth Poet Laureate and student Ella Kim ’25 teamed up with accomplished writer and poet Katherine Lamb-Legrand for a poetry and creative writing session in the library. In addition to moderating the Q&A, Kim read one of her poems in front of peers.

In the Black Box Theatre, Middle School students hung on James Macnab’s every word. The successful series producer who worked on popular shows like “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Kitchen Nightmares” and “Big Brother,” played clips from one of his TNT documentaries about former NBA star Shaquille O’Neal.

The Festival was packed with a mix of common themes and inspirational messaging. Visiting writers encouraged students to navigate their own creative paths and hone their writing skills by leaning into their own interests. 

During a Middle School session, Middle grade author Evan Griffith, in round robin style, asked students what types of books they like to read and students were eager to share their favorites. Griffith and other speakers told students that finding what you enjoy is a big part of becoming a better writer.

“The more reading you do, the better writer you’ll be,” said Kate Winkler Dawson, a seasoned true crime documentary producer and podcaster. “Find storytellers you like and read their material.”

Dawson also said developing strong writing skills is extremely valuable even if you pursue an unrelated career field. She said it is important for everyone to be an effective written communicator, even if you’re just sending an email.

A special thank you to the Literary Festival Parent Chairs Rosemary Stewart P ’30, ’29 and Jane Talebi ’31, ’27, who were invaluable in the planning process of this longstanding festival.

See below for a full list of featured writers.

Featured Presenters

Pamela Colloff is an accomplished reporter at ProPublica and staff writer at The New York Times. She frequently writes about the factors that lead to wrongful criminal convictions. Her investigative work, “False Witness,” received the Hillman Prize, the IRE Award and a National Magazine Award for Reporting in 2020. She has also been the recipient of seven National Magazine Award nominations, including an award for feature writing in 2014. An investigation she produced in 2010 — about a wrongly convicted man named Anthony Graves, who was sent to Texas’s death row — was credited with helping him win his freedom after 18 years behind bars. 

Kate Winkler Dawson is a seasoned documentary producer and podcaster whose hit podcasts include “Tenfold More Wicked,” “Wicked Words,” and “Buried Bones Appear on the Exactly Right Network.” She is the author of Death in the Air, American Sherlock, All That Is Wicked, The Ghost Club (audiobook), and The Sinners All Bow. Dawson is a professor of journalism at The University of Texas at Austin. 

Ashley Robin Franklin is a cartoonist and illustrator based in Austin, Texas, where she lives with her partner and two goofy, tiny dogs. Her YA graphic novel debut, The Hills of Estrella Roja, came out in 2023, and she's currently working on a new middle grade series. Ashley makes sweet and spooky comics with horror and fantasy elements for all different ages--middle grade, YA and adult. 

Lauren Himmelvo is an American screenwriter and director. Himmelvo wrote and directed the award-winning shorts Fault Line (2023) and the Tragedy of Samantha Biggle and the Twins (1998). Himmelvo’s films have screened all over the world, including the prestigious British Film Institute, São Paulo International Film Festival, Seattle International Film Festival, Mill Valley Film Festival, and WorldFest Houston International Film Festival where she won a prestigious Remi Award in 2023. She holds a Master of Science degree in film from Boston University with a focus on directing. 

Greg Kwedar is a writer, director, and producer. His latest film, Sing Sing, premiered at the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival and won the 2024 SXSW Festival Favorites Audience Award. His directorial debut was in 2016 with the film Transpecos. Since then, he has produced five films, including Jockey (2021), which he also co-wrote and which won the Special Jury Award for Best Actor (Clifton Collins, Jr.) at the Sundance Film Festival that year. Jockey was also one of the National Board of Review Top 10 Independent Films of 2021. 

Katherine Lamb-Legrand is a writer and educator based in Texas. She published her debut short story, “The World Without Saints,” in 2021 and published her second short story, “Pageantry,” in Portland Review in 2022. She is also an accomplished poet who has been awarded several honors including the Lorene Pouncey Award, the Emerging Poet’s Prize, and a finalist spot for Texas Review Press’s X. J. Kennedy Prize. She is currently working on a novel. Outside of her writing projects, she works in Austin, TX to support the public library system through education and literacy programs. As an added bonus, 2024 Austin Youth Poet Laureate and SSES student Ella Kim ‘25 read some of her work during this session. 

As a native Texan, James Macnab is excited to bring his talents back to his home state. He graduated from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts in 2001 and cut his teeth as a producer on broadcast shows like Hell’s Kitchen, Kitchen Nightmares and Big Brother. During his production career at Asylum Entertainment Group, James oversaw feature documentaries, limiteds, and series, including Shaq Life for TNT, and the privately funded documentary about poker player, Phil Ivey. He’s currently overseeing production on a documentary about Buffalo Bills Defensive back, Damar Hamlin.

Jennifer Mathieu is the critically acclaimed author of seven novels for young adults including "Moxie," which is now a major motion picture directed by Amy Poehler (Netflix). Her first novel for adults, The Faculty Lounge, is published by Dutton/Penguin Random House. Her books have been translated into over twenty languages. A former journalist, Mathieu is a graduate of Northwestern and has been a teacher for nearly twenty years. She lives with her family in Houston. If you are interested in fiction–either for YA or adults–you should definitely attend this session!

Clayton Maxwell is a freelance travel and culture writer who writes for Texas Monthly, Texas Highways, and other publications. After living and starting her career in Spain, she is currently based in Austin. Here, Clayton explores all corners of Texas from Pancho Villa's hangouts in El Paso to seeking Bigfoot at Caddo Lake, Texas's eastern border. She aspires to write articles that underscore Mark Twain's words: "Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness." She loves how her work allows her to ask strangers a lot of questions and how it teaches you to listen.

From playing the DM in Dungeons and Dragons to writing fantasy novels, Nikhil Prabala '15 loves storytelling, delighting in fantasy fiction from the epic to the cozy and everywhere in between. The Duchess of Kokora is his first published novel. Born and raised in Austin, Texas, he graduated from Stanford in 2019 and is currently based in the Bay Area. 

Bryan Washington is a writer from Houston. His most recent book is Family Meal. In addition to this book, he has written one other novel,  and debuted with a collection of short stories in 2019. Mr. Washington is also a columnist for the New York Times Magazine. Washington has received an incredible number of awards for his literary merit and he was named one of Forbes’ 30 Under 30. The New York Times referred to his writing as among the 25 Most Influential Works of Postwar Queer Literature. 

Adrianna Cuevas is the author of the Pura Belpré Honor Book, The Total Eclipse of Nestor Lopez; the Edgar Award-winning The Ghosts of Rancho Espanto; and many other popular middle grade titles. She is a first-generation Cuban-American originally from Miami, Florida. A former Spanish and ESOL teacher, Adrianna currently resides outside of Austin, Texas with her husband and son. When not substitute teaching at her local high school, cheering for the Florida Panthers hockey team, and setting off the smoke alarm in her kitchen, she is writing her next middle grade novel. 

Evan Griffith is the author of the middle-grade novels Manatee Summer and The Strange Wonders of Roots as well as a couple of picture book biographies. Mr. Griffith received his MFA in Writing for Children at the Vermont College of Fine Arts where he is now a faculty member. He often teaches online writing classes and enjoys mentoring writers of all ages. He lives in Austin, Texas with a mischievous tuxedo cat and several overflowing bookshelves. 

Mari Mancusi is a New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of more than thirty sci-fi/fantasy books for kids, teens and adults and an Emmy award-winning former TV news producer. Her series have been selected for major state reading lists and Scholastic Book Fairs.  Her work has also been honored by the American Library Association. In addition to writing, Mari loves to travel, watch horror movies and play video games. She lives in Austin, Texas with her husband and their teenage daughter. 

Jennifer Ziegler is an author of over two dozen books for young adults and middle graders — including her latest novel, Worser, which was named one of the best books of 2022 by the New York Times, Booklist, and Kirkus Reviews. Her books have been optioned for film and TV, adapted into stage musicals, and featured on NPR. Jennifer is on the faculty of the Vermont College of Fine Arts' MFA program on Writing for Children and Young Adults. Jennifer lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, fellow author Chris Barton.