LitPup Brings Barks and Books Together

“Outside of a dog, a book is a man’s best friend. Inside of a dog, it’s too dark to read.” – Groucho Marx

What happens when you combine reading and dogs, the two best things known to man? You get LitPup, a new and pawsome event happening this weekend.

Put together by the Creative Writing Chapter of the Fresno State Alumni Association, LitPup is for those who like words and woofs, poets and pooches, dogs and dictionaries… you get the idea. If you like dogs and/or books, you will like this event — plus they’ve included a beer garden, food trucks, and free admission to sweeten the deal.

Basically the only portion of the population that won’t enjoy this activity are of the feline persuasion. And that’s okay, because cats aren’t allowed anyway.

Prose + Pooch Parade

So what is LitPup? It’s a fun way to celebrate literature with your favorite canine. First, it’s a chance to spend some time at Gazebo Gardens Nursery listening to literary readings from Margarita Engle, who is the U.S. Young People’s Poet Laureate, as well as other great local writers reading from the genres of poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction.

Second, it’s a chance to dress your dog as your favorite author and register him or her to participate in a literary fashion show of sorts. Who wouldn’t want to see a pooch channeling George R.R. Martin, right? All dogs are welcome, but they must remain on a leash. I can’t imagine what would happen if a Hemingway ran into an F. Scott Fitzgerald (spoiler alert: these two authors were not friends).

These dignified dogs will parade around, throwing typewriters and asking for thesauruses, while being judged for a prize courtesy of Whitie’s Pets. The very esteemed judges will include Mary Castro, the First Lady of Fresno State, Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval, Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities, and Bryan Medina, Fresno’s Poet Laureate, so tell your pooch to bring his or her A-game.

According to organizer Courtney Hughes, the goal of LitPup is “to fill a need for people to have some fun events that promote writing and appreciate their accomplishments.” Says Hughes, “Lit Pup was something I thought about in our early development and have been obsessed with. I mean, who doesn’t want to see dogs dressed as authors?”

Event Details

If all this sounds like a good time (of course it does!), head on over to Gazebo Gardens Sunday, June 25, from 3 to 5 p.m. The Ganesh Masala food truck will be there, and you can purchase a beer to keep cool.

It’s free to attend, but to register a pup for the literary parade, the cost is $5. Click here to register. And please, for my own personal entertainment, tell me in the comments what writer you would dress your dog as.