Chattanooga Readers and Writers Fair celebrates the written word of locals

Shawn Kurrelmeier-Lee
Shawn Kurrelmeier-Lee

If you go

› What: Chattanooga Readers and Writers Fair.› When: 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27.› Where: Chattanooga City Hall, 101 E. 11th St.› Email: jhmckissic@gmail.com.

Schedule

10 a.m. STORYTELLERS› Emcee: Shawn Kurrelmeier-Lee, chief reading officer at Read 20 Hamilton County› Vincent Phipps, owner of Communication VIP Training & Coaching› Finn Bille, storyteller and poet with Rick Davis on hammered dulcimer› Ginnie Strickland Sams, writer and Storyteller11 a.m. POETS› Emcee: Ray Zimmerman, poet and vice president of Chattanooga Audubon Society› John C. Mannone, retired physics professor and director of programs for Chattanooga Writers Guild› KB Ballentine, high school teacher and college adjunct faculty› Earl Braggs, author of “Ugly Love (Notes From the Negro Side of the Moon)”Noon. 5-MINUTE STORYTELLING› Emcee: Maria Noel, director of diversity and inclusion for Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce1 p.m. CREATIVE NONFICTION› Emcee: Corrine Hill, director of Chattanooga Public Library› Deborah Levine, author of “The Liberator’s Daughter”› Erin Tocknell, teacher, essayist and author of “Confederate Streets”› Linda Murray Bullard, chief empowerment officer of LSMB Business Solutions2 p.m. FICTION› Emcee: Ardena Garth Hicks, attorney and planner at Lean In-Women Groundbreakers› Rebecca Cook, Bread Loaf Scholar, author of “Click”› Raymond L. Atkins, author of “Camp Redemption” and “Sweetwater Blues”› Dr. Thomas Balázs, author and senior associate English department head at UTC

Oxford, Mississippi. Ann Arbor, Michigan. Asheville, North Carolina. Key West, Florida.

All of these colorful and picture-pretty towns have proven to be magnets for world-famous writers, wordsmiths who didn't need a mega metropolis to produce their best work. Wouldn't it be great if the Scenic City could provide writers the same vibrant community that musicians and visual artists can find here?

Now the first Chattanooga Readers and Writers Fair offers a chance for established and aspiring writers - and those who love to read their words - to network and find inspiration.

City Hall on East 11th Street will host the event from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 27. Visitors may peruse booths filled by Scenic City authors and the area's book-related businesses throughout the day, which kicks off with a panel of storytellers.

Shawn Kurrelmeier-Lee of Read 20 will emcee a panel comprising Vincent Phipps of Communication VIP Training & Coaching and writer Ginnie Strickland Sams. Also on the panel is poet Finn Bille, who will be accompanied by Rick Davis on hammered dulcimer. When Bille's Fort Wood home was destroyed by fire in 2003, he channeled the heartbreak into "Fire Poems" and donated part of the sales to the American Red Cross.

At 11 a.m., poet Ray Zimmerman will emcee a panel including John C. Mannone, director of programs for the Chattanooga Writers Guild, high school teacher KB Ballentine and "Ugly Love" author Earl Braggs.

The noon hour offers a verbal version of flash fiction in which each storyteller gets exactly five minutes to sweep an audience into a dazzling tale.

The 1 p.m. creative nonfiction panel is emceed by Corrine Hill, executive director of the Chattanooga Public Library. She's joined by Deborah Levine, author of "The Liberator's Daughter," and author Erin Tocknell, whose Nashville memoir, "Confederate Streets," examines how history shapes current race relations. Linda Murray Bullard, chief empowerment officer of LSMB Business Solutions, rounds out the panel.

The day concludes with a discussion of fiction at 2 p.m. by Middlebury College Bread Loaf scholar and "Click" author Rebecca Cook, "Camp Redemption" and "Sweetwater Blues" author Raymond L. Atkins and author Thomas Balázs, senior associate English Department head at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

"City Hall has hosted great events for our local visual artists and musicians, and I've always wanted to do something for our literary community," says James McKissic, director of the city's Office of Multicultural Affairs. "We've had 50 local authors respond to our request to come to the event, and we'd love to see them all there. We would also welcome any volunteers willing to help out that day. This is a big event, and we can use any help."

If all this word-loving makes attendees hungry, food trucks will be outside selling treats.

Contact Lynda Edwards at ledwards@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6391.

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