A chance to rub elbows with some of literature's most important voices comes Thursday when the Arts & Education Council presents the 16th biennial Conference on Southern Literature.
The three-day event attracts more than 1,000 readers and writers from across the United States. It is famed for its "approachable and friendly writers," the "diversity of the speakers and topics" and "wonderful ambiance," according to organizers.
Three-day admission is $125. One-day tickets are $55 for Thursday or Friday, $65 for Saturday. Full-time students with current ID pay $25.
To register, visit www.artsedcouncil.org or call 267-1218.
SCHEDULE
(Subject to change)
Note: All events at Tivoli Theatre, 709 Broad St., unless otherwise noted.
THURSDAY
* 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m. Registration open
* 10-10:30 a.m. "A Conversation With ..." Elizabeth Spencer and Kevin McCarthy
* 10:45 a.m.-12:15 p.m. Documentary film premiere, "Landscapes of the Heart: The Elizabeth Spencer Story"
* 2-2:15 p.m. George Garrett New Writing Award to James Hall
* 2:15-3:15 p.m. "Contemporary Southern Voices: A Diverse Fellowship," featuring Percival Everett, Ann Patchett, Jayne Anne Phillips and Padgett Powell
* 3:30-3:45 p.m. James Still Award for Writing about the Appalachian South to Jeff Daniel Marion
* 3:45-4:45 p.m. A Writer's Response to Environmental Threats: Preserving the Southern Landscape," featuring Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason, Lee Smith and Natasha Trethewey
* 5-5:30 p.m. Book signing
* 8 p.m. Dramatic reading of "Cicada" by Jerre Dye at Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St. (free with conference badge, $5 without)
April 15
* 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m. Registration open
* 9-9:30 p.m. "A Tribute to Harper Lee," by Wayne Flynt and John Shelton Reed
* 9:30-10:30 a.m. Panel discussion, "Revisions and All That Jazz," featuring R.H.W. Dillard, Claudia Emerson and Ron Rash
* 10:45-11 a.m. Hanes Award to Kate Daniels
* 11-11:15 a.m. Hillsdale Award to George Singleton
* 1:30-2:30 p.m. Panel discussion, "Discoveries Writers Make While Writing," featuring Dorothy Allison, Allan Gurganus, Josephine Humphreys and Allen Wier
* 2:30-2:45 p.m. Cecil Woods Award for Nonfiction to Scott Russell Sanders
* 3-3:15 p.m. Donald Justice Award for Poetry to Gerald Barrax
* 3:15-4:15 p.m. Panel discussion, "Southern Poetic Identities," featuring James Applewhite, Andrew Hudgins, Rodney Jones and Natasha Trethewey
* 4:30-5 p.m. Book signing
* 7 p.m. Keynote address by Dorothy Allison; followed by music and mingling at Tanner-Hill Gallery at Warehouse Row, 1110 Market St., featuring the paintings of Clyde Edgerton and Louis D. Rubin Jr.
April 16
* 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Registration open
* 9-10 a.m. Panel discussion, "How My On-Site and Vicarious Mentors Influenced Me," featuring Elizabeth Cox, Tony Earley, Charles Frazier and Katori Hall
* 10-10:15 a.m. Bryan Family Foundation Award for Drama to Jerre Dye
* 10:15-11:15 a.m. Panel discussion, "The Ultimate Conflict: Writing About War," featuring Richard Bausch, Madison Smartt Bell and Robert Morgan
* 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. Keynote luncheon, featuring address by Roy Blount Jr. and Cleanth Brooks Medal presentation to Ernest J. Gaines
* 1:30-2:30 p.m. Panel discussion, "Producing Plays," featuring Jerre Dye, Jim Grimsley and Katori Hall
* 2:45-3 p.m. Robert Penn Warren Award to Elizabeth Cox
* 3-4 p.m. Panel discussion, "Southern Politics and Southern Literature," featuring Clyde Edgerton, Randall Kenan and Sam Pickering
* 4-4:30 p.m. Fellowship Award for the Spoken Word to Minton Sparks, with performance by Sparks
* 4:30-5 p.m. Book signing