Come to the meetings! 2006

Each meeting involves a brief summary of KWG activities followed by a program that includes noted individuals, both local and national, from the writing and publishing fields. Speakers and programs include:

December: Holiday Pot Luck! Bring a dish to share with others at our annual pot luck meeting. In addition to readings by contributors to Low Explosions: Writings on the Body, the Guild will be selling books authored by Guild members. Come and enjoy a great time with us!

November: Tom Franklin, Alabama native and author of three books, including the novel called Smonk which will be published by Harper Collins in September. He has also authored Hell at the Breech and a story collection called Poachers, both published by Morrow.

October: Alan Gratz, former Knoxvillian, whose book Samurai Shortstop will be published by Dial in May. The book is a Junior Library Guild selection. Gratz will speak on writing for the children's market. For more information, see: www.alangratz.com.

September:  Delilah O'Haynes, assistant professor of English at Concord University in Athens, West Virginia, will read from her new book of poetry The Character of Mountains published by Walk Free Press. O'Haynes is a UT graduate, and this is her first book.

August: R.B. Morris, singer/songwriter/poet/playwrite, will talk about he creative process from conception to publication with some considerable attention on how the genre shapes the words. More...

July:  Member Open Mic Night. Sign up at the door before the meeting begins. Limit 5 minutes.

June:  Brad Tice, an English Ph.D. candidate at UTK, will read from his short story "Missionaries" which will be published in the fiction issue of Atlantic Monthly. He will also cover how to get poetry and short fiction pubished in periodicals and journals.

May: Angie Vicars, local web producer, whose second book My Barbie was an Amputee and Other Essays was published by Celtic Cat Publishing in March 2006 will read on May 4.

April: On April 6, Allen Wier, a member of the UT Creative Writing Program faculty, will read and discuss his new novel, Tehano, set for release the end of March by SMU Press. The Creative Writing Program will co-sponsor this event.

March: Kali Meister, performance poet and theatre artist, will perform Exposed, an arrangement of monologues, poetry, song, and dance at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 2.

Exposed is a non-fiction journey through Meister’s life, chronicling her survival through childhood incest and violence, consequent struggles with food and body image, and her ultimate coming to terms with the realities of being an adult survivor of abuse. This show is designed to promote awareness about the silent, ongoing problem of sexual abuse while simultaneously giving the audience an entertaining yet gripping insight into the life and mind of a survivor. Meister’s hope while writing this was to show to the audience that abused people are not simply “damaged goods” – that they can overcome their obstacles and not only thrive but achieve great things.

Warning: This show contains graphic content and is not suitable for children.

February: Ina Hughs Ina Hughs, writer and columnist for The Knoxville News Sentinel, will
speak on "Writers and Spiders" at 7 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 2.

Speaking in the long shadow of recent controversy of the veracity of the
bestseller A Million Little Pieces, Hughs said her presentation will
focus on "the challenges of non-fiction, of writing out of one's
personal life, of a non-fiction writer being honest with the reader,
true to who she or he is and the truth of their background and beliefs."

She will read from her work and the works of others, "trying to relate
from personal experience and example the difference between the stories
we 'make up' - fiction - and the stories we 'discover' in ourselves -
non-fiction/creative nonfiction."

A former English teacher and former advertising copywriter, as well as a
social worker, Hughs has written three books and has had articles in
over 100 national magazines and publications, including The New York
Times, the Washington Post, Southern Living, Good Housekeeping and Child
Magazine.

Her 1995 book, A Prayer for Children published by William Morrow Co.,
Inc., received the Best Parenting Award. She has also received 10
separate Golden Press Awards from the Society of Professional
Journalists and multiple awards for column writing and nondeadline
writing from the Tennessee Press Association. Inclusion in several
anthologies and a First Place Award in Poetry from the Mountain Writers
Association have also honored her short stories, poetry, and children¹s
writing.

January:  Sam Venable, author of nine books and hundreds of articles, will read from his newest book.  Venable has been the humor columnist for The Knoxville News-Sentinel since 1985. Other books he's authored inlcude: Mountain Hands; A Handful of Thumbs and Two Left Feet; Rock Elephant; One Size Fits All and Other Holiday Myths; An Island Unto Itself; Two to Three Degrees Off Plumb; From Ridgetops to Riverbottoms, You Gotta Laugh to Keep from Crying, and I’d Rather be Ugly Than Stupid.  
 
 Archive of program speakers, 1998 to present