On April 12 and 13, ETSU held its annual Creative Writing Festival in the Reece Museum. Hundreds of people gathered together to celebrate and study the beauty of the written word. Visiting writers took part in readings and workshops for the genres of fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction.
The festival opened up with readings from the genre winners for The Mockingbird, a student-operated magazine on campus. Each winner gave a short reading of an excerpt from their work, which full versions can be read in the upcoming edition of The Mockingbird when it releases this month.
Resident Professor Thomas Holmes as well as Lacy Snapp gave readings of their poetry, spanning various topics between the two of them. Cody Smith, the winner of the Mississippi Review Prize, held a workshop on writing poetry that included interesting prompts to get the audience engaged.
Valerie Vogrin, the winner of the Spokane Prize for Short Fiction, gave a seminar specifically on instilling details into fiction. Details in literary works should hold some purpose to the piece. Vogrin used various activities and methods to teach the audience how to use details to tell a story, rather than just fill in the holes of a narrative.
Dr. Amy Wright, ETSU’s Spring 2022 Wayne G. Basler Chair of Excellence, gave a presentation about Emily Dickinson, one of the world’s most infamous poets. At first glance Dickinson’s poems seem simple, almost having a nursery rhyme element to them, but Dr. Wright soon debunked that thought. She revealed the much more nuanced and complex side of Dickinson, especially in her less-known work. Dr. Wright taught the audience that there is much more to a poem than what a reader picks up at first glance.
This was a great opportunity to appreciate great writing while gaining insights on how to improve your own. If you are interested in the art of creative writing and missed this festival, make sure to come and check it out next year!
