Five writers whose passion for creative writing blossomed during their undergraduate days at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga will be featured at an upcoming Meacham Writers’ Workshop event.
On Saturday, Oct. 21, a Meacham Writers’ Workshop UTC Alumni Reading—with conversation and Q&A to follow—will take place from 1-3 p.m. at ArtsBuild (301 E. 11th St. in Chattanooga). Light refreshments will be provided.
The program, which is free and open to the public, is co-sponsored by SoLit (previously known as Southern Lit Alliance).
The five UTC alums participating in the event are:
- George Conley Jr. (1984 and 2010), a poet whose poems have appeared in the Sequoya Review and Black Magnolias Literary Journal.
- Rebecca Cook (1998 and 2001), publisher of the novel “Click” and two books of poetry, “I Will Not Give Over” and “The Terrible Baby.”
- Rachel Crumble (1980), author of the “Sister Sorrow” poetry collection and a finalist for Writer’s Relief’s Peter K. Hixson Memorial Award.
- Jude Keef (2023), a writer of lyric essays and a May 2023 UTC graduate. His creative nonfiction essay, “Fragments,” won first place in the 2023 Southern Literary Festival Undergraduate Writing Contest.
- Gwen Mullins (1996), whose story, “Violent Devotion,” was selected by series editor Otto Penzler and guest editor Sara Paretsky for inclusion in “The Best Mystery Stories of the Year 2022.”
“We’re looking forward to hearing creative work from some of our talented UTC alumni and hope to have more of these events in the future,” said UC Foundation Professor Sybil Baker, the Meacham Writers’ Workshop director and associate head of the UTC Department of English.
The Meacham Writers’ Workshop, established in 1985, is supported primarily by an endowment funded by the late Jean Meacham—a professor and assistant dean of students at UTC—in honor of her husband, Ellis K. Meacham, to promote writing as an expressive art and to bring together University and community writers and readers.
The workshop has been graced with hundreds of award-winning writers from around the world. UTC alums and professors who have participated in the workshop over the years include MacArthur Genius Award, National Endowment for the Arts and Whiting Award winners.
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