Talent showcased in ETSU’s ‘Three Emerging Writers’ series
East Tennessee State University’s “Three Emerging Writers” series returns this fall, showcasing a diverse group of talented authors.
The event, hosted by the Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative and the Department of Literature and Language at ETSU, will feature a roundtable discussion and reading on Wednesday, Sept. 18, in the East Tennessee Room of the D.P. Culp Student Center. The roundtable begins at 1:40 p.m., followed by a reading at 3:15 p.m.
“This popular event offers both our students and the community the opportunity to engage with writers who are in an early phase of their careers but are already making a significant impact,” said Dr. Jesse Graves, professor and poet in residence. “I’m very excited to bring together a gifted poet of family and place, a nonfiction writer who specializes in how foodways intersect with health and illness, and one of the South's most celebrated younger novelists. Three Emerging Writers is our longest-running series, now more than a dozen years old, and it continues to offer our students and community members an invaluable opportunity to meet with writers who are still early in their publishing careers.”
This fall’s installment of the Three Emerging Writers series will feature:
Karen Babine: A two-time Minnesota Book Award-winning author, Babine is recognized for “Water and What We Know: Following the Roots of a Northern Life” and “All the Wild Hungers: A Season of Cooking and Cancer.” She is currently an associate professor of English at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, where she was honored with the Outstanding Teaching Award in 2023.
Caleb Johnson: Johnson’s novel “Treeborne” received an honorable mention for the Southern Book Prize. Garden & Gun, Southern Living and The Wall Street Journal have featured his work. Johnson holds an MFA in creative writing from the University of Wyoming and currently teaches at the University of South Alabama.
Valerie A. Smith: Sundress Publications published Smith’s debut poetry collection “Back to Alabama” in May. She is the 2024 Solstice MFA Spotlight Poet and a 2022 Sewanee Writers’ Conference Scholar. Her poetry has appeared in numerous journals, and she holds a Ph.D. in English from Georgia State University.
For more information about the event, call the Department of Literature and Language at (423) 439-4339.
For disability accommodations, contact the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.
East Tennessee State University was founded in 1911 with a singular mission: to improve the quality of life for people in the region and beyond. Through its world-class health sciences programs and interprofessional approach to health care education, ETSU is a highly respected leader in rural health research and practices. The university also boasts nationally ranked programs in the arts, technology, computing, and media studies. ETSU serves approximately 14,000 students each year and is ranked among the top 10 percent of colleges in the nation for students graduating with the least amount of debt.
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