Allen WierYou don't have to be a writer to take part in the Meacham Writers Workshop this weekend at four sites around town. It's enough to simply appreciate contemporary prose and poetry -- and have a desire to hear some award-winning authors in an informal setting of readings and discussion sessions.
The writers for the spring installment of the biannual event include Robert Penn Warren Award winner Allen Wier and Best American Short Story writer Rebecca Makkai. They'll be joined by Barry Kitterman, Helga Kidder, Andrea Spofford, George Conley Jr., Chad Prevost, Ed Madden, Tina Chang, Amy Wright, KB Ballentine and E. Ethelbert Miller, among others.
Group conferences already have been set to offer support and constructive criticism for developing writers.
All events are free. Readings will be held at 7 p.m. today, March 27, at Chattanooga State Community College; at noon and 7 p.m. Friday, March 28, on the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga campus; and at 2 p.m. Saturday, March 29, at Chattanooga Theatre Centre. Creative writing workshops with registered participants will be held Saturday morning.
For more information, visit www.meachamwriters.org.
SCHEDULE
Today, March 27
¦ 7 p.m. Readings by Barry Kitterman, Helga Kidder and Earl Braggs (Room 1085, Chattanooga State Health Science Center, 4501 Amnicola Highway)
¦ 9 p.m. Readings by Andrea Spofford, George Conley Jr., Chad Prevost and KB Ballentine (Hart Gallery, 110 E. Main St.)
Friday, March 28
¦ Noon. Readings by Richard Jackson, Carrie Meadows, Rebecca Cook, Thomas Balazs and Andrew Najberg (Chattanooga Room, UTC University Center, 855 E. Fifth St.)
¦ 7 p.m. Readings by Ed Madden, Allen Wier and Tina Chang (Chattanooga Room, UTC University Center, 855 E. Fifth St.)
Saturday, March 29
¦ 10:30 a.m. Master Class: Memoir with E. Ethelbert Miller (Room 124, UTC's Holt Hall, 620 E. Fifth St.)
¦ 2 p.m. Readings by Rebecca Makkai, Amy Wright and E. Ethelbert Miller (Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St.)