The Sewanee Writers' Conference Blog

Poetry Foundation Podcast Features Edgar Bowers Reading at the Sewanee Writers’ Conference

2011-11-18T19:43:56Z

Poetry Off the Shelf producer Curtis Fox invites Sewanee Writers’ Conference alumnus Joshua Mehigan to guide listeners through Edgar Bowers’s poem “For Louis Pasteur”.

The podcast features Bowers reading his poem at the 1999 Sewanee Writers’ Conference. The poem’s dry-witted epigraph (“Who is Apollo?” College student) introduces Bowers’s concern with, as Fox describes, the “ignorance of the basic historical and cultural facts of the western tradition.” He goes on to say, “For Bowers, that ignorance is a big problem if we have any hope of understanding ourselves.”

Curtis Fox explores the diverse world of contemporary American poetry with readings by poets, interviews with critics, and short poetry documentaries. Joshua Mehigan is a poet and alumnus of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference (Walter E. Dakin Fellow/2005, Tennessee Williams Scholar/2000, Poetry/1999, 2001).

Sewanee Writers Receive Grant Awards from the National Endowment for the Arts

2011-11-17T15:53:06Z

Eight Sewanee Writers’ Conference alumni were awarded 2012 National Endowment for the Arts grants and literature fellowships in creative writing (prose).

Congratulations to Belle Boggs (Walter E. Dakin Fellow/Fiction/2011); Amber Dermont (Tennessee Williams Scholar/Fiction/2010); Jennifer Haigh (Walter E. Dakin Fellow/Fiction/2003, Fiction/1999); Alan Heathcock (Walter E. Dakin Fellow/Fiction/2011); Tayari Jones (Walter E. Dakin Fellow/Fiction/2004); Porochista Khakpour (Walter E. Dakin Fellow/Fiction/2008); Susan McCallum-Smith (Fiction/2001, 2002); and Benjamin Percy (Fiction/Tennessee Williams Scholar/2003).

“Designed to give writers the time and freedom to pursue their work, the creative writing fellowships are the NEA’s most direct investment in America’s artists.”

Belle Boggs: Reflecting on the 2011 Sewanee Writers’ Conference

2011-10-31T20:35:44Z

As we prepare for the 2012 Sewanee Writers’ Conference (July 24 through August 5, 2012), we’d like to thank Walter E. Dakin Fellow in fiction Belle Boggs for her wonderful blog post reflecting on the 2011 Conference.

With a distinguished faculty gathering for the 2012 Sewanee Writers’ Conference, next year’s Conference will be just as exciting and rewarding of an experience.

Ryan Call Receives Whiting Writers’ Award

2011-10-27T19:10:59Z

Congratulations to Ryan Call (Tennessee Williams Scholar/Fiction/2008) for his recent selection as a 2011 Whiting Writers’ Award recipient. These prestigious awards, of $50,000 each, are given annually to emerging writers of fiction, poetry, plays, and nonfiction.

Ryan Call’s debut collection of short stories, The Weather Stations (March 2011, Caketrain Press) caught the attention of the selection committee, who noted that Call “created an entirely new fabric, a parallel universe, slyly allegorical and unlike anything else being published.”

Call currently teaches at an Episcopal High School in Houston and contributes to Htmlgiant, an internet literature magazine blog. He received his B.A. from Rhodes College in Memphis and an M.F.A. from George Mason University. Call has also taught at George Mason University and the University of Houston. Read more.

Announcing 2012 Sewanee Writers’ Conference Dates

2011-10-26T15:11:41Z

We are pleased to announce that the 2012 Sewanee Writers’ Conference will be held from July 24 through August 5, 2012. Our distinguished faculty will provide instruction and criticism through workshops and craft lectures in poetry, fiction, and playwriting.

To participate in the Conference, a writer should submit an application accompanied by a manuscript of original work for consideration by the screening committee. Application materials for next year’s conference will be available on our website January 16, 2012.

2011 SWC Schedule Now Available

2011-07-07T14:39:01Z

We are happy to announce that the conference schedule has been finalized, and we are excited about the abundance of great readings, lectures and panels this year. The conference begins on the evening of July 26th with a reading by fiction writer Jill McCorkle and closes on the evening of August 6th with a reading by fiction writer Tony Earley. The lectures and readings are open to the public. These events will be held in the Cushman Room of the Bairnwick Women’s Center on Mississippi Avenue, one block south of University Avenue, on the campus of Sewanee: The University of the South.

Happy 100th Birthday, Tennessee Williams

2011-03-24T20:17:01Z

It is thanks to the generosity of Tennessee Williams that the Sewanee Writers' Conference exists. Williams, American playwright and two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, left the residual portion of his estate to Sewanee as a memorial to his grandfather, the Reverend Walter E. Dakin, who had studied at the University of the South’s School of Theology in 1895. Mr. Williams directed in his will that a fund be established to encourage “creative writing.”

The fund also allows for us to welcome a promising playwright to the university each year, and we are lucky to have David Roby serving as the Tennessee Williams Fellow for the 2010-2011 academic year.

And so, in honor of Tennessee Williams, we will be hosting a birthday party on Friday night, March 25 (the day before Mr. Williams's birthday), to follow a performance of David Roby's new play, Mercy Me, which begins at 7:30 PM. The play, in which a chain-smoker seeks forgiveness from the family members whom she has made ill, will feature theatre students from The University of the South, Jordan Craig and Keller Anderson, as well as St. Andrew's-Sewanee School's Robie Jackson and two professional actors, Lorca Simons and Jeffries Thaiss.

Come join us and celebrate the memory of Tennessee Williams.

Masha Hamilton Wins 2010 WNBA Award

2011-03-14T18:56:01Z

Masha Hamilton (Fiction, 1998) was recently chosen as the winner of the 2010 Women’s National Book Association Award. The award is presented to a living American woman who derives part or all of her income from books and allied arts, and who has done meritorious work in the world of books beyond the duties or responsibilities of her profession or occupation. Hamilton has written four novels, 31 Hours, The Camel Bookmobile, The Distance Between Us, and Staircase of a Thousand Steps, and founded two world literacy projects, the Camel Book Drive and the Afghan Women's Writing Project. Congratulations, Masha, for this well-deserved award.

Los Angeles Times Book Prize Names Several SWC Faculty and Alumni as Finalists

2011-03-03T19:18:14Z

Finalists were announced for the 2011 Los Angeles Times Book Prizes for the best books of 2010, and we were happy to see a number of conference alumni and faculty listed. In Fiction, Richard Bausch (Faculty, Fiction, 2003-2005, 2007, 2009, 2010; Visitor, Fiction, 2008, 2011) is one of five finalists for his story collection Something is Out There: Stories (Knopf, 2010). Tatjana Soli (Tennessee Williams Scholar, Fiction, 2003; Susannah McCorkle Scholar, Fiction, 2004) is a finalist for the Art Seidenbaum Award for First Fiction for her novel The Lotus Eaters (St. Martin's Press, 2010). In the Mystery/Thriller category, Tom Franklin (Walter E. Dakin Fellow, Fiction, 1999; Visitor, Fiction, 2011) was announced as a finalist for his newest novel, Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter (William Morrow, 2010). Maxine Kumin's (Faculty, Poetry, 1993, 1994) Where I Live: New and Selected Poems: 1990-2010 (W. W. Norton & Company, 2010) is a finalist in the poetry category.

We want to congratulate all nominees, though we'll be rooting for Dick, Tatjana, Tom, and Maxine to bring home the awards; winners will be announced on April 29, 2011.

Reception at 2011 AWP Conference in Washington, DC

2011-01-24T21:13:41Z

Our annual SWC alumni party, which takes place at the Associated Writing Programs Conference, is happening again in Washington, DC. The party, which is open to all SWC alumni and their guest, will be on Friday, February 4th, from 7:00 - 8:15 p.m. It will take place at the Marriott Wardman Park Hotel, Lobby Level, in the Virginia, Suite A, Meeting Room. We hope to see you there for the open bar and the chance to catch up with other alums.

Richard Bausch and Allen Wier to read at Sewanee, 11/18

2010-11-17T19:42:15Z

Distinguished fiction writers and members of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, Richard Bausch and Allen Wier will read from their work on Thursday, November 18, in Gailor Auditorium, beginning at 4:45 PM. All are cordially invited to attend the reading as well as the book-signing opportunity and reception that will follow.

Richard Bausch, Past Chancellor of The Fellowship of Southern Writers, currently serves as The Moss Chair of Excellence in the Writing Program at The University of Memphis. He is the author of eleven novels and eight collections of stories, including the novels Rebel Powers, In The Night Season, Thanksgiving Night, and Peace; and the story collections Spirits, The Stories of Richard Bausch, Wives & Lovers: 3 Short Novels, and, most recently, Something is Out There. An acknowledged master of the short story form, Bausch has won two National Magazine Awards, a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Lila-Wallace Reader's Digest Fund Writer's Award, the Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, the 2004 PEN/Malamud Award for Excellence in the Short Story, and, for Peace, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize.

Allen Wier has published four novels, most recently Tehano, and a collection of stories, Things About to Disappear. He has edited an anthology, Walking on Water and other stories, and co-edited Voicelust, a collection of essays ‘on style in contemporary fiction’. In 2001 he was voted into the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He is also the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Robert Penn Warren Award, and a Dobie-Paisano Fellowship from the University of Texas and the Texas Institute of Letters. He holds the Hodges’ Chair for Distinguished Teaching at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville.

The reading is presented by the English Department and the Sewanee Writers’ Conference.

SWC Faculty, Lecturers, and Alumni Inducted into Fellowship of Southern Writers

2010-11-08T20:01:01Z

New members of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, a group of artists seeking to recognize and encourage literature in the South, were announced recently, and we were happy to see many familiar names among the inductees. Included in the twelve new members are Tony Earley (Faculty, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007-2010; Visitor, 2002), Claudia Emerson (Faculty, 2008-2010), Ann Patchett (Visitor, 2002), Padgett Powell (Faculty, 1999-2001, 2010), and Ron Rash (Tennessee Williams Scholar, Poetry, 1995). The induction will take place at the Arts and Education Council Conference on Southern Literature in April of 2011.

Dates and Faculty Announced for 2011 Sewanee Writers’ Conference

2010-10-27T15:55:30Z

From July 26 through August 7, 2011, the University of the South will host the twenty-second session of the Sewanee Writers’ Conference. Supported by the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund established through the estate of the late Tennessee Williams, the Conference will gather a distinguished faculty to provide instruction and criticism through workshops and craft lectures in fiction, poetry, and playwriting. The faculty include fiction writers John Casey, Tony Earley, Randall Kenan, Margot Livesey, Jill McCorkle, Alice McDermott, Christine Schutt, and Steve Yarbrough; and poets Daniel Anderson, Claudia Emerson, B. H. Fairchild, Debora Greger, Mark Jarman, William Logan, Charles Martin, and Mary Jo Salter. Beth Henley and Dan O’Brien lead the playwriting workshop. In addition, a group of accomplished writers, critics, agents, and other visitors took part.

The Conference offers its customary Walter E. Dakin Fellowships and Tennessee Williams Scholarships, as well as awards in memory of Stanley Elkin, Donald Justice, Howard Nemerov, Father William Ralston, Peter Taylor, Mona Van Duyn, and John N. Wall. Additional scholarships have been made possible by Georges and Anne Borchardt and Gail Hochman. Each participant—whether contributor, scholar, or fellow—receives financial support.

If you have further questions about the conference feel free to contact Kevin Wilson at kewilson@sewanee.edu or call at 931-598-1654.

The Best American Series Includes Many SWC Alumni

2010-09-29T19:47:01Z

We're happy to see so many familiar names in the Best American Series for 2010.

Bryan Furuness, who attended this past summer's conference as a Tennessee Williams Scholar, had his story, "Man of Steel", included in Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010, edited by Dave Eggers.

Best American Short Stories 2010, guest-edited by Richard Russo, reprinted stories by Steve Almond (Tennessee Williams Scholar, Fiction, 2001; Walter E. Dakin Fellow, Fiction, 2003), Brendan Matthews (Stanley Elkin Scholar, Fiction, 2006), Jill McCorkle (Faculty, Fiction, 2002-2005, 2007-2010), and Ron Rash (Tennessee Williams Scholar, Poetry, 1995).

Best American Poetry 2010, guest-edited by Amy Gerstler, featured SWC faculty, guests, and alumni such as Sandra Beasley (Walter E. Dakin Fellow, Poetry, 2008), B. H. Fairchild (Walter E. Dakin Fellow, Poetry, 1992), Amy Glynn Greacen (Poetry, 2005, 2008, 2009; Mona Van Duyn Scholar, Poetry, 2006; Fiction, 2010), Kelle Groom (Tennessee Williams Scholar, Poetry, 2004), Chase Twichell (Faculty, Poetry, 1997; Visitor, Poetry, 1994), Derek Walcott (Faculty, Poetry, 1993), and Catherine Wing (Walter E. Dakin Fellow, Poetry, 2010).

Finally, James Wood, who has been a visitor at Sewanee in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007, appears in Best American Essays 2010, guest-edited by Christopher Hitchens, while Ted Genoways, a visitor from 2003-2006, was selected for inclusion in Best American Travel Writing 2010, guest-edited by Bill Buford, for his piece, "Bat Man Returns".

Congratulations to these writers and to the other SWC alums who were listed in the Notable sections of these anthologies.

Three SWC Faculty Members Featured on The Writer’s Almanac in August

2010-08-24T15:49:01Z

On August 19th, Mary Jo Salter's poem "Midsummer, Georgia Avenue" was featured on NPR's The Writer's Almanac. The poem, which is set in Sewanee (at Stirling's Coffee House to be exact), originally appeared in Salter's collection Open Shutters. Click here to listen to the poem.

The very next day, Mark Strand's poem "Mirror" from his collection Man and Camel was featured. You can listen to that reading here.

On the 21st of August, The Writer's Almanac presented "Brotherhood" by X. J. Kennedy, which can be found in his collection In a Prominent Bar in Secaucus: New and Selected Poems, 1955-2007.

Congratulations to all three writers.