From April 21 to 22, ETSU will be hosting The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative’s Spring Literary Festival, bringing in writers from all walks of life and showcasing the work of the university’s own students.
“The Spring Literary Festival is a couple of days of craft talks, lectures, readings and generative spaces for people to come write and get some prompts, hear from visiting authors and just a way for us to bring creative writing to campus for a condensed amount of time,” said Lacy Snapp, last year’s assistant director of the Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative. “It’s also to celebrate creative writing and get people together.”
This year, the festival will host many exciting events in the Reece Museum. Notably, acclaimed author Ron Rash will be headlining the event on April 22. From 3:10-4:15 p.m., Rash will be in the Reece Museum for a personal conversation. Then, at 7 p.m., Rash will lead the 12th Annual Jack Higgs Memorial Reading held in the Bud Frank Theatre.
Rash is a novelist and poet with over 20 published works. He is a New York Times bestselling author and was labeled “one of the best living American writers” by the paper. Other publications have also appreciated his work, especially in relation to Appalachia.
The Library Journal calls Rash “[An] author of remarkable skill who cares for the South, in all its complexities. . . Rash’s writing is never easy, but it is also lovely, moving and rich in history and culture, just like the Appalachian region it so beautifully captures.”
Beyond his literary accomplishments, Rash is also a scholar of Appalachian Studies. He claims strong familial ties to the region and seeks to share the stories of Appalachia through his writing. He was born and raised in the Carolinas, and much of his work centers around his and his family’s experiences in the region.
In an Essay, Rash once said: “The best regional writers are like farmers drilling for water: if they bore deep and true enough into that particular place, beyond the surface of local color, they tap into universal correspondences.”
Critics praise Rash’s ability to delve past the surface of Appalachia, the region ETSU strives to uplift. Jesse Graves, ETSU poet-in-residence, reflected in a previous press release on how special a chance it will be to have Rash on campus.
“Ron Rash has done what almost every great writer does. He’s written stories and poems so rooted in a specific place that they become universal,” said Graves. “Having him here is an extraordinary opportunity for our students and community to engage with someone who has shaped how America understands Appalachian literature.”
More information, including a schedule, can be found on the ETSU website.
