After Yang, the critically-acclaimed feature film starring Colin Farrell and written and directed by South Korean filmmaker Kogonada (and one of President Obama’s favorite films of 2022!) is based on a short story by one of this year’s festival guests, Alexander Weinstein. Sunday evening’s screening of the film at Ragtag will be followed by a Q&A with the author. (NB: Tickets must be purchased.)

Followed by Q&A with Alexander Weinstein

Ross Gay’s mesmerizing long-form poem, Be Holding, inspired by basketball genius Julius Erving, is a brilliant, captivating work which, as Claudia Rankine says, “reveals a multifaceted intimacy and lyricism within the history of a game, tracing how this history in interconnected with the saga of our country.” Come and listen to the poet read the work in its entirety. This is a unique, unmissable event.

Missouri’s Poet Laureate, Maryfrances Wagner, will teach us to write haiku, the super-short poem style from Japan. Although American haiku are often three lines with a 5-7-5 pattern of syllables, Maryfrances says that “more important is the image.” This event will be as much party as workshop. We will get together, write some poetry, and have some fun. Come and give it a try or rethink the ones you’ve written!

Pictures of the Year International is the oldest and most prestigious photojournalism competition in the world. It began at the Missouri School of Journalism nearly 80 years ago. Each year expert photographers and editors select the best pictures and stories from more than 1,000 photographers working in more than 100 countries. Partnering with POY, Unbound invites you to join a panel of winning photographers in this year’s competition. The conversation will be led by Mike Davis, a former editor at National Geographic Magazine, The White House and editor of more than 40 photographic books. Mike will be joined by three photojournalists: Danish photographer Mads Nissen, this year’s International Photographer of the Year; Louie Palu, a documentary photographer and filmmaker and winner of this year’s World Understanding Award; and Danish photographer Betina Garcia, winner of this year’s Community Awareness Award for her in-depth story about three-generations of a family who moved their ranch from California to Bowling Green, Kentucky, after fleeing violence in Guatemala 25 years ago. Sponsored by University Libraries

Johnnie Christmas is a #1 New York Times Best Selling graphic novelist. His 2022 middle grade graphic novel debut Swim Team earned a spot on the National Book Awards longlist and a Harvey Awards nomination. He’s currently hard at work on two new middle-grade graphic novels for the HarperAlley imprint of HarperCollins. He’s the writer of the Image Comics sci-fi series Tartarus and Crema, a haunted romance published by Comixology. His book Firebug earned him a Joe Shuster Outstanding Cartoonist nomination. He’s perhaps best known for co-creating the series Angel Catbird with celebrated writer Margaret Atwood and adapting William Gibson’s lost screenplay for Alien 3 into a critically acclaimed graphic novel of the same name. His credits also include co-creating the pre-apocalyptic thriller Sheltered.

Further Adventures in the Conservation and Celebration of Missouri’s Heritage of Traditional Fiddle Music with Howard Marshall. The third and final book in Howard Marshall’s series about the heritage and people of the fiddle, Missouri’s official State Musical Instrument, begins in the Folk Music Revival of the 1960s and ends in the present. To celebrate the publication of Keeping It Old-Time, Professor Marshall will discuss the history and cultural heritage of fiddle and dance music and present an informal concert with Columbia area musicians. “Keep it old-time” is a familiar phrase that echoes many fiddlers’ preference for carrying on the inherited tunes and styles of former times – but we know that most musicians learn from many sources and influences and appreciate many different styles. This will be a hugely entertaining and informative event! Sponsored by the University of Missouri Press

Zine, n. (zin): a small magazine that is produced cheaply by one person or a small group of people, and is about a subject they are interested in.

Books, schmooks. Here at Unbound we celebrate the written word in all its many and wonderful forms. Zines are becoming increasingly popular and are a great way for people to get their words and ideas into other people’s hands. Come and join zine artist Malaka Gharib and learn how to make your own publication. She is the founder of the food zine The Runcible Spoon and incorporates zines into her work as a science journalist at NPR. In this one-hour workshop, you will create an eight-page mini zine about your favorite book from start to finish.

We are pleased to welcome the Fiction/Non/Fiction podcast back to the festival for a second time. Hosted by Whitney Terrell and V.V. Ganeshananthan, fiction/non/fiction interprets current events through the lens of literature, and features conversations with writers of all stripes, from novelists and poets to journalists and essayists. This episode features a conversation with Unbound founder and director Alex George.

Through creative writing, CoMo Young Writers helps young people from all backgrounds to understand the importance of their own stories and those of others, so that they can pursue the path they choose and inspire one another to become lifelong writers. Under the guidance of Hickman High School teacher Nancy White, 13 teen writers have been meeting biweekly since January to write three-minute individual and team poems to be performed at this event. If the preview we saw at the festival’s first “Cups and Couplets” event last fall is any indication, prepare to be moved, delighted, and entertained!

Jenny Lawson is the author of several #1 New York Times bestsellers, the most recent of which is Broken (In the Best Possible Way.) The winner of more awards for humor than we can count, Jenny’s writing is weird, irreverent, and hysterically funny – but alongside all the laughter she addresses, with refreshing frankness, the struggles she has had with mental illness.

Pictures of the Year International is the oldest and most prestigious photojournalism competition in the world. It began at the Missouri School of Journalism nearly 80 years ago.

Minh Lê is the author of the picture books Lift, an Eisner Award nominee, and Drawn Together, which won the 2019 Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature and was illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Dan Santat, Let Me Finish! illustrated by Isabel Roxas, and The Perfect Seat illustrated by Gus Gordon. He also wrote Green Lantern: Legacy, a middle grade graphic novel for DC Comics. In addition to writing books, he serves on the Board of We Need Diverse Books and has written for a variety of publications, including The New York Times, The Horn Book, NPR, and HuffPost. This event will be geared to children between the ages of 3 and 8.

To register for this event, please click here.

When St. Clair Detrick-Jules’s little sister Khloe was four years old, with tears running down her face, she told her father that she hated her afro because her white classmates were making fun of it. St. Clair’s anger turned to sadness, which then turned into joy – this was an opportunity for her to teach her little sister that her curls – like everything else that came from their Black ancestors – were beautiful. She spent the next two years photographing and interviewing 101 Black women with natural hair. The result is My Beautiful Black Hair: 101 Natural Hair Stories from the Sisterhood. Come and listen to St. Clair discuss this journey and present her gorgeous book.