The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative
We sponsor programs related to literature and creative writing at ETSU. We place an emphasis on events that benefit students, and we welcome our broader community of readers and writers.
Our Fall 2025 Schedule:
"Monsters: Literature, Ethics and Values" featuring Nathan Ballingrud and Julia ElliottOn Tuesday, November 25 in the Culp Forum (311)Session 1: 11:45 - 1:05 PM, Roundtable and Audience Q&A
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Black American Writers Series featuring Gregory PardloOn Wednesday, October 22nd, we had a roundtable discussion with Pardlo and Valencia Robin. Hosted by Amy Wright, it had an audience Q&A to follow.From 3:15 to 4:30 PM, Pardlo will gave a reading of his work alongside Robin as she debuted her new book, Lost Cities. |
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Legendary poet Li-Young Lee joined us for our Fall Feature on September 24
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Meet the Faculty
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This event allowed students to meet the creative writing faculty at ETSU. There was a brief reading from each faculty member of their own creative work as well as an overview of the classes they teach. Students learned about our fall literary events, The Mockingbird, ETSU's student publication, and asked any questions they had about upcoming courses or the new English major concentration in creative writing. |
Past Events from Spring 2025:
2025 Spring Literary Festival
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Featuring the keynote speaker Helena María Viramontes, as well as sessions and readings with Gaylord Brewer, Erika Howsare, and Carter Sickels. |
Black American Writers Series featuring Crystal WilksinsonEvents included an afternoon coversation between her, Jesse Graves, and Thomas Alan Holmes in the Reece Museum. Then, an evening reading from her collection, Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, followed by a conversation between her and Fred Sauceman. |
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Women of Appalachia Project "Women Speak" Anthology ReadingFeatured readers: Linda Parsons, Ali O'Rourke, April J. Asbury, Beth Copeland, Cathy Rigg Monetti, Chris Wood, KB Ballentine, Lynne Squires, Megan Krupa, Melissa Helton, Mitzi Dorton, Rita Quillen, Sarah Pross, Chrissie Anderson Peters, Sue Dunlap, Tess Lloyd, Jane Hicks, and Lacy Snapp. |
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This past year was an exciting time for writing and partnership events here at ETSU: the 2024 Spring Literary Festival, two Three Emerging Writers Series installments featuring Karen Babine, Caleb Johnson, and Valerie Smith in the Fall of 2024 and Halle Hill, Anna Laure Reeve, and Annie Woodford in the Spring of 2024. This past year also included our Fall Residency with Jeff VanderMeer, Black American Writers Series with Major Jackson and Sheree Renée Thomas, and the second Women of Appalachia Project "Women Speak" reading on our campus.
Jeff VanderMeer talks about the Southern Reach Trilogy as the Fall Residency speaker.
Former Poet Laureate Rita Dove in conversation with Dr. Jesse Graves and Valencia Robin during the Spring Literary Festival.
Poet Major Jackson talks about the craft of writing with students for the fall installment of the Black American Writers Series.
Sheree Renée Thomas describes the wonder of speculative fiction for students during the afternoon craft talk portion of her Black American Writers series visit.
A packed house to listen to Rita Dove in conversation with Dr. Jesse Graves and Professor Valencia Robin.
For the second time at ETSU, Women of Appalachia Project "Women Speak" readers gather in the Reece Museum for the Embodying Culture: Women in Appalachia Exhibition.
Founded in 2015, this ETSU initiative has helped to sponsor programs such as the Spring Literary Festival, the Fall Residency Readings, 3 Emerging Writers Events, the Young Writers' Workshop, and other partnership events over the past seven years.
The 2023 Spring Literary Festival keynote speaker Daniel Wallace joins a roundtable discussion with Dr. Jesse Graves and Dr. Scott Honeycutt to discuss his new memoir, This Isn't Going to End Well, and the legacy of William Nealy.
Valencia Robin, Leah Naomi Green, and Lisa J. Parker spent the afternoon at ETSU for a roundtable discussion, poetry reading, and Q&A with students and the public for the 3 Emerging Writers' 2023 Event.
Poet-in-Residence Dr. Jesse Graves, 19th Poet Laureate of the United States Natasha Trethewey, and Basler Chair Amy Wright engage in a conversation about memoir during Trethewey's 2022 visit to campus. (from left to right)
Former Poet Laureate Charles Wright and Dr. Jesse Graves host a Q&A during Wright's 2017 visit to campus.
A crowd shot in the Reece Museum during former Poet Laureate Charles Wright's 2017 visit to campus.
Former Poet Laureate Joy Harjo plays a flute to open the Sixth Annual Robert "Jack" Higgs Memorial Reading in 2018.
A 2022 Young Writers' Workshop participant uses the visual prompt of art from the Reece Museum to inspire a poem.
Poet-in-Residence Dr. Jesse Graves, 19th Poet Laureate of the United States Natasha Trethewey, Director of the Black American Studies Program Daryl Carter, and Basler Chair Amy Wright (from left to right)
Author Lynn Powell joins Dr. Jesse Graves and students and faculty from the Literature and Language Department for a photo during her visit to campus in 2018.
A photo from the first Robert J. "Jack" Higgs Reading in 2013 featuring Jesse Graves, Art Smith, Marilyn Kallet, Catherine Pritchard Childress, Jack Higgs, and Thomas Alan Holmes.
Former Poet Laureate Natasha Trethewey reads from her memoir during her 2022 visit to ETSU.
Some of the 2022 Young Writers' Workshop staff from left to right: Madeline Rodenberg, Lacy Snapp, Stella Rodenberg, AK Stites, and Dr. Jesse Graves.
The ETSU community was heartbroken to learn of the sudden passing of Dr. Bert C. Bach on August 14, 2023. Dr. Bach was a champion for the arts and especially for making them available to students. We will carry his name and his memory forward with us in all that we do with the Written Word Initiative.
Our history:
In September 2015, Dr. Bert C. Bach requested a meeting with English professor and Poet-in-Residence, Dr. Jesse Graves to discuss what kinds of support would most benefit students of writing at ETSU. Planning for events began immediately, resulting in the very first Spring Literary Festival the following semester in April 2016. The program has hosted some remarkable events through the first six years of the program, most that we would never have dreamed of without the BCB Initiative. We hosted US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning Kingsport, TN native Charles Wright in October 2017; future US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo in April 2018; Jefferson Award-winning novelist Silas House in April 2019, along with many other celebrated authors in those early years. The BCB has hosted dozens of writers since 2016, with many hundreds of students and community members in attendance, and has developed meaningful partnerships with organizations on campus and beyond. What began with Dr. Bach's question, "What do our writing students need?" has resulted in several ongoing programs, such as the annual Spring Literary Festival, Fall Residency, and 3 Emerging Writers series, alongside new partnerships like the Black American Writers' Series, the Young Writers' Workshop, and a continuing TEDxETSU license for the Creative Writing Society.
