The idea of a university literacy festival was conceived to connect students from Title I schools with young adult authors who focus their writing on diverse characters. The goal of the university literacy festival was to invite authors whose writing would represent strong, diverse characters that would allow students from Title I schools to see themselves and their culture through literature on a deeper level. When students are given the opportunity to meet the authors of books they read at a university literacy festival, it ignites imaginations and enables them to experience "story" in a real and immediate way.