The third annual publishing festival is coming to SUNY Oswego’s campus later this semester, giving students opportunities to make connections.

Professor Juliet Giglio, director of the creative writing department, along with a group of students, has put together this event.

“[My husband] Keith and I were approached to write a Christmas novel, but we were both screenwriters and did not really know what we were doing when it came to publishing a novel,” Giglo said. “Students do not have much access to the publishing world, so I want this to be an opportunity for them to learn and ask questions.”

The festival is meant for students as well as the community to come together to understand how the publishing world works. It will also be a way to network and make connections with those who have been in publishing positions.

The department will be hosting three panelists. Two of them, Becky Oliver DiGenova and Susan Velazquez Colmant, are SUNY Oswego alumni. The final panelist is Shannon Plackis, an alumna of SUNY New Paltz.

Each panelist is extremely accomplished in their respective fields in the publishing world.

DiGenova works as a senior editor at Fitch Ink and previously worked at JANE Magazine and Forbes after graduating with honors from Oswego State.

Colmant works as an agent in subsidiary rights, specifically translations and audiobooks, for JABberwocky Literary Agency. While attending SUNY Oswego, she majored in creative writing, was part of the Latino Student Union and had her work published in the Great Lake Review.

Plackis is an editor at Avon Books, which is an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. She works across many different genres, including romance, thriller and women’s fiction. At SUNY New Paltz, she majored in English and minored in creative writing. Before graduating, she interned at Harold Community Newspaper.

This festival is free and open to all students who are interested in attending. The event will be held in Marano Campus Center, room 132, on Oct. 15. There will be a question-and-answer session at 3 p.m., followed by a reception.