Building a community where literary arts are woven into the fabric of everyday life
Since its founding, Orlando has gathered stories about the Seminole people and citrus growers, the enterprise of Eatonville, the folk tales of Zora Neale Hurston, Jack Kerouac’s Beats, rocket launches from the Space Coast, and the heroes, villains, and princesses of the theme parks in tale worthy of Shakespear. In fact, Orlando may owe its name to The Bard. According to one legend, Judge James Speer named the town for Orlando, the hero of As You Like It. Rosalind Avenue, named for the woman Orlando loves in the play, still runs through downtown. Both Lake Ivanhoe and Lorna Doone are named after novels and if all the world is a stage Orlando is a platform on which the protagonists of our community rise to meet the International community as equals.
Our Mission
If the story of Judge Speer is to be believed, Orlando is the city as you like it. The only city in the United States named after a Shakespeare play. Our mission is to cultivate a thriving literary ecosystem that strengthens, connects, heals, and inspires. The Literary Arts Council of Central Florida (LACCF) believes Orlando is destined to be the literary capital of the South—an internationally recognized city of literature where writers thrive, stories shape civic life, and the power of the written and spoken word rivals our global reputation for entertainment and innovation. According to Orange County’s CANVAS Cultural Plan (2025), 58% of residents are searching for deeper connections to the literary arts in Orange county. Add in 75 million annual visitors seeking authentic cultural experiences and Orlando has everything needed to claim its place among the world's great literary cities—except the institutional infrastructure to make it visible.
LACCF exists to change that—by uniting art and wellness through the written and spoken word. Our mission is to build the infrastructure, partnerships, and public programs that make the literary arts visible, accessible, and essential to community life through three core functions:
Convening Community (festivals, salons, showcases that bring writers and audiences together)
Building Infrastructure (literary map, community catalog, literary events calendar, and fiscal sponsorships that connect fragmented resources)
Developing Artists (fostering professional pathways that sustain creative careers by providing micro-grants and fiscal sponsorships for artist and organizations)
By operating as a coordinating hub, LACCF will strengthen existing literary organizations, amplify their work, and create the shared systems that none can build alone. The result will be a unified literary ecosystem that generates cultural tourism, supports sustainable creative careers, and earns Orlando recognition as a city of literature—a place where words matter as much as attractions, and where the South's next great writers choose to stay, create, and lead.
“keep your eyes on the rockets rising/ between high rises and bungalows/ there are no heights we can’t attain”
— Alex Gurtis
Our Projects
Partners
