Literary Festival
Honoring the Literature of Appalachia—The 40th Annual Literary Festival featuring author Jesse Graves will be held on November 3-4, 2022.
The Emory & Henry Literary Festival began in 1982 with a program devoted to Sherwood Anderson, who spent the final 15 years of his life in nearby Smyth County, Virginia. Since that inaugural occasion, the festival has honored a living writer with strong ties to the Appalachian region.
Each year the Emory & Henry Literary Festival celebrates an outstanding writer with ties to Appalachia. The designated writer participates in the festival, which includes papers by visiting scholars, and meets with students in various forums.
The 40th annual Literary Festival will be held on November 3-4, 2022.
Schedule
Thursday, November 3rd
Jesse Graves’ Life, Work, & Poetry
Location: MCA, Black Box Theatre
Time: 10:30AM– 11:45AM
Writing the Homeplace in Appalachian Literature
Location: MCA, Black Box Theatre
Time: 1:30PM – 2:45PM
Setting the Homeplace to Music
Location: MCA, Black Box Theatre
Time: 3:30PM – 4:45PM
Reading & Book Signing
Location: MCA, Black Box Theatre
Time: 7:30PM
Friday, November 4th
Poet as Collaborator: Jesse Graves Scholarly Projects
Location: MCA, Black Box Theatre
Time: 10:30AM– 11:45AM
Public Interview
Location: MCA, Black Box Theatre
Time: 1:30PM – 2:45PM
Writing the Homeplace: Jesse Graves’ Craft Talk
Location: MCA, Black Box Theatre
Time: 3:30PM – 4:45PM
Jesse Graves grew up in Sharps Chapel, Tennessee, where his ancestors settled in the 1780s.
His first collection of poetry, Tennessee Landscape with Blighted Pine, was published by Texas Review Press and received the 2011 Weatherford Award in Poetry from Berea College, Book of the Year in Poetry Award from the Appalachian Writers’ Association, and the Thomas and Lillie D. Chaffin Award for Appalachian Writing. A tenth anniversary expanded edition of this volume was published early in 2022. His second volume of poems, Basin Ghosts, also published by Texas Review Press, was awarded the 2014 Weatherford Award in Poetry. His third book of poems, Specter Mountain, was co-written with William Wright and published by Mercer University Press and received the 2018 Book of the Year Award in Poetry from the Appalachian Writers’ Association. Mercer published his fourth volume of poems, Merciful Days in fall of 2020, and his essay collection, Said-Songs: Essays on Poetry and Place, in 2021. Graves received the 2014 Philip H. Freund Prize for Creative Writing from Cornell University, and the 2015 James Still Award for Writing about the Appalachian South from the Fellowship of Southern Writers. In 2015, he was inducted into the East Tennessee Writers Hall of Fame. Graves has edited several published volumes of poetry and scholarship, including four volumes of The Southern Poetry Anthology (Contemporary Appalachia, Tennessee, North Carolina, and Virginia: Texas Review Press, Texas A&M UP Consortium), Jeff Daniel Marion: Poet on the Holston (University of Tennessee Press, 2016), Conversations with Robert Morgan (University Press of Mississippi, 2019), and Robert Morgan: Essays on the Life and Work (McFarland, 2022). He is at work on a forthcoming scholarly volume: The Complete Poems of James Agee (University of Tennessee Press, 2023).
Graves completed his MFA in Poetry Writing from Cornell University, and PhD in English from The University of Tennessee. He is Professor of English and Poet-in-Residence at East Tennessee State University.
-
(L to R) Melanie McNair and Crystal Wilkinson -
(L to R) Melanie McNair and Crystal Wilkinson -
(L to R) Melanie McNair and Crystal Wilkinson -
The crowd listens to Melanie McNair and Crystal Wilkinson -
The crowd listens to Melanie McNair and Crystal Wilkinson -
Dr. Kathleen Chamberlain leads a discussion with Melanie McNair and Crystal Wilkinson -
The Literary Festival crowd -
Featured author Crystal Wilkinson speaks to the crowd at the Literary Festival -
Featured author Crystal Wilkinson speaks to the crowd at the Literary Festival -
Melanie McNair speaks at the Literary Festival. -
Melanie McNair speaks at the Literary Festival. -
Crystal Wilkinson -
Dr. Kathleen Chamberlain -
Dr. Nicole Crockett-Drewitz -
Forrest Yerman leads the crowd in a discussion -
Forrest Yerman and Jacinda Townsend -
Forest Yerman -
Forrest Yerman and Jacinda Townsend -
Forrest Yerman -
Candace Butler -
Dr. Nicole Drewitz-Crockett opens up the Literary Festival. -
Crystal Wilkinson and Theresa Burriss discuss topics of community and craft in Appalachia. -
Crystal Wilkinson and Theresa Burriss discuss topics during their public interview in the closing sessions of the Literary Festival. -
Crystal Wilkinson chats with E&H English students. -
E&H English students gather with author Crystal Wilkinson. -
E&H English students had the opportunity to talk one-on-one with author Crystal Wilkinson. -
Presenters at the 36th annual Literary Festival 2017.
Among the authors featured at past festivals are Crystal Wilkinson, Fred Chappell, Lee Smith, Maggie Anderson, Ron Rash, Jo Carson, and Emory & Henry alum Mike Chitwood.