JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (April 1, 2022) – East Tennessee State University’s annual Spring Literary Festival, packed with award-winning and nationally recognized writers, is set for later this month.
“This is such a wonderful event, and I could not be happier about the talented writers
who will be with us this year,” said Dr. Jesse Graves, ETSU’s poet-in-residence. “We
are thrilled to be able to bring our literary community back together in the Reece
Museum and the Martin Center.”
Sponsored by the Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative and the Department of Literature and Language, the two-day event happens April 12-13. It is free and open to the public.
Maurice Manning, author of seven books of poetry and a college professor, is the keynote
speaker. The Yale Series of Younger Poets included Manning’s first book, “Lawrence
Booth’s Book of Visions.” His fourth book, “The Common Man,” was a finalist for the
Pulitzer Prize.
Manning will give a poetry reading and field questions from the audience during the
eighth annual Jack Higgs Memorial Reading at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in the
Powell Recital Hall at the ETSU Martin Center for the Arts.
The festival also features several workshops with topics ranging from poetry writing
to creative non-fiction. Those leading the workshop include:
Shawna Kay Rodenberg. The Washington Post deemed her memoir, “Kin,” “essential reading.”- Cody Smith. He is a former Mississippi Review Prize and River Styx International Poetry Prize winner.
- Valerie Vogrin. She won the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction for “Things We’ll Need for the Coming Difficulties.”
- Amy Wright. ETSU’s Spring 2022 Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence, Wright teaches and writes at Austin Peay State University.
- Thomas Alan Holmes. He is a professor of English at ETSU and has published in a range of academic and creative writing journals.
- Lacy Snapp. An instructor at ETSU, Snapp’s work has appeared in many publications including her recent chapbook of poetry, “Shadows on Wood.”
For a complete schedule, visit etsu.edu/cas/litlang/writingfestival/schedule.php. All events, with the exception of Manning’s keynote address at the Martin Center,
take place at the Reece Museum, located on Stout Drive near the Sherrod Library and
D.P. Culp Student Center. If you would like to attend via Zoom, email carrlm@etsu.edu to receive a link.