For a three day period, ETSU students and the public met the university’s published authors at Barnes and Noble on State of Franklin. This event was meant to highlight the creative achievements of faculty members.
This year’s Meet the Authors event is a new development, and members of faculty were both invited to attend and asked to volunteer their time.
There, they were given the opportunity to speak on their subjects, sell their books or videos, and autograph copies.
Instead of hosting the event at Sherrod Library, Sherrod Library assistant Carolyn Bond said, “Barnes and Noble approached us to see if the event could work at their space.”
Sherrod Library staff thought it could be beneficial to host the event in a community setting as opposed to a more exclusive, on-campus setting.
By courtesy of Barnes and Noble, a percentage of the accumulated profit will be given to the Sherrod Library. The money raised will be used to buy more books and pay for services that students may need.
The Meet the Authors event was split between Oct. 19-20 and Oct. 23.
For the first day of the event, the authors started at 2 p.m. and conclude at 7:30 p.m.
Books featured include “Reconstruction’s Ragged Edge: The Policies of Postwar Life in the Southern Mountains,” by Steven Nash of the ETSU History Department and “Buttermilk and Bible Burgers: More Stories from the Kitchens of Appalachia” by Fred Sauceman of the ETSU Appalachian Studies Program.
Wednesday’s events concluded with a documentary titled “Banjo Romantika,” created by Lee Bidgood of the ETSU Bluegrass Department and Shara Lange of the ETSU Radio, Television and Film program.
On Thursday, the event again took place between the same hours. The new set of featured authors were Renee Lyons, from the department of curriculum and instruction, Melanie Storie of the history department and Thomas Burton and Don Johnson of the department of literature and language.
Discussed works were “Teaching Civics in the Library: An Instructional and Historical Guide for School and Public Librarians,” “The Dreaded Thirteenth,” “Michael and the War in Heaven,” “More than Heavy Rain” and more.
Sunday’s event featured ETSU’s Poet Laureate Jesse Graves, who discussed his poetry and spoke on his new work, “Basin Ghosts.”
Byrd said that it’s possible for Meet the Authors to become a repeat series. She said, “There has been a great response from the people.”
