For many years, Kay Newton
has lived in Knoxville. She received an M.A. in English from the University
of Tennessee in 1968 and completed all work toward the doctorate in English
except for the dissertation.
Despite being a college drop-out, she has taught writing for the University of Tennessee, the College of St. Francis, the American Banking Association, and Pellissippi State Technical Community College. She has served as an officer and/or on the boards of various local organizations, including the Fourth and Gill Neighborhood Committee, the National Organization for Women, the Knoxville Blues Society, the East Tennessee Jazz Society, and the Knoxville Jazz Orchestra. She is a member of the Guild of the Knoxville Museum of Art, Knox Heritage, the East Tennessee Historical Society, and several other associations. For several years, she served as a director of the Knoxville Writers' Workshop, and she has been a member of the Knoxville Writers' Guild since its inception. Other professional affiliations include the Nashville Association of Songwriters International, the Academy of American Poets, and the South Atlantic Modern Language Association. She writes fiction, poetry, plays, song lyrics, and an occasional journalistic or photojournalistic article. Her work has appeared in Voices from the Valley; All Around Us: Poems from the Valley; Breathing the Same Air; Southern Voices in Every Direction; Home Works: A Book of Tennessee Writers; Southerner Magazine; The Blues Groove; and other publications.
In the past, Kay has published infrequently, but now that she's learning
to use her new computer, she plans to start processing and sending out more
of her work. When she's not teaching, reading, writing, tutoring, or
editing for herself and others, she takes an active part in her community,
the Historic Fourth and Gill Neighborhood in the heart of Knoxville. There,
she runs a small inn, the Star Magnolia, providing a retreat for women writers,
a perch for artists and musicians passing through, and a place for weddings,
catered receptions, and the like. She enjoys traveling, horseback riding,
yoga, swimming, dancing, hiking, gardening, and relaxing by the backyard
fishpond with her two cats, April and Monique. She looks forward eagerly
to occasional visits from her daughter Casey (25), who now lives in Jackson
Hole, Wyoming. |
