THE SCHEDULEAll events at the Tivoli Theatre, unless otherwise noted; schedule is subject to change.Thursday, April 14• 8:30 a.m.-5:30 p.m.: Registration.• 10-10:30 a.m.: A Conversation With Elizabeth Spencer and Kevin McCarthy; moderated by Sharon Swanson, producer.• 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 presentation by Rodney Jones to James Hall.• 2:15-3:15 p.m.: Meet the new Fellowship of Southern Writers fiction writers, 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 presentation by Lee Smith to Jeff Daniel Marion.• 3:45-4:45 p.m.: A Writer’s Response to Environmental Threats: Preserving the Southern Landscape, Wendell Berry, Bobbie Ann Mason, Lee Smith and Natasha Trethewey, moderated by Jill McCorkle.• 5-5:30 p.m.: Book signing.• 8 p.m.: Play presentation, “Cicada” (Chattanooga Theatre Centre).Friday, April 15• 7:30 a.m.-7:30 p.m.: Registration.• 9-9:30 a.m.: A Tribute to Harper Lee led by Wayne Flynt and John Shelton Reed.• 9:30 a.m.-10:30 a.m.: Meet the new Fellowship of Southern Writers poetry and fiction writers, Betty Adcock, R.H.W. Dillard, Claudia Emerson and Ron Rash.• 10:45-11 a.m.: Hanes Award presented by James Applewhite to Kate Daniels.• 11-11:15 a.m.: Hillsdale Award presented by Clyde Edgerton to George Singleton.• 1:30-2:30 p.m.: Panel discussion: Discoveries Writers Make While Writing; Dorothy Allison, Allan Gurganus, Josephine Humphreys and Allen Wier.• 2:30-2:45 p.m.: Cecil Woods Award for Nonfiction presented by George Core to Scott Russell Sanders.• 3:00-3:15 p.m.: Donald Justice Award for Poetry presented by Andrew Hudgins to Gerald Barrax.• 3:15-4:15 p.m.: Panel discussion: Southern Poetic Identities, James Applewhite, Andrew Hudgins, Rodney Jones and Natasha Trethewey.• 4:30-5 p.m.: Book signing.• 7 p.m.: Keynote address by Dorothy Allison; Book Notes, a time of music and mingling at Tanner-Hill Gallery, Warehouse Row, follows (featuring the paintings of Clyde Edgerton and Louis D. Rubin, Jr.).Saturday, April 16• 8 a.m.-5 p.m.: Registration.• 9-10 a.m.: Meet the new Fellowship of Southern Writers fiction and drama writers, Elizabeth Cox, Tony Earley, Charles Frazier and Katori Ha;ll.• 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, Richard Bausch, Madison Smartt Bell and Robert Morgan.• 11:30 a.m.- 1:30 p.m.: Keynote luncheon address by Roy Blount, Jr.; Cleanth Brooks Medal presentation to Ernest J. Gaines.• 1:30- 2:30 p.m.: Panel discussion: Producing Plays, Jerre Dye, Jim Grimsley, and Katori Hall.• 2:45-3 p.m.: Robert Penn Warren Award presented by Jill McCorkle to Elizabeth Cox.• 3-4 p.m.: Panel discussion: Southern Politics and Southern Literature, Clyde Edgerton, Randall Kenan and Sam Pickering.• 4-4:30 p.m.: Fellowship Award for the Spoken Word presented by Dorothy Allison to Minton Sparks; performance by Minton Sparks.• 4:30-5 p.m.: Book signing.
What’s new at the Arts & Education Council’s 16th biennial Conference on Southern Literature? A lot, it seems.
This year’s event, scheduled for April 14-16 at the Tivoli Theatre, will feature new programs, more community involvement and three full days of activities.
“We wanted to bring in different ways of celebrating the South and Southern literature,” said Laurel Eldridge of the Arts & Education Council.
Among the new activities is the April 14 local premiere of the documentary film “Landscapes of the Heart: The Elizabeth Spencer Story” and a conversation between the short-story writer and the film’s director, Kevin McCarthy.