Writers@Work features prolific Southern authors Ron Rash, Robert Morgan

I think writing a poem is like being a greyhound. Writing a novel is like being a mule. You go up one long row, then down another, and try not to look up too often to see how far you still have to go.

Authors Robert Morgan and Ron Rash are scheduled for the next round of Writers@Work, an award-winning program presented by Chattanooga State Community College to explore Southern identity and sense of place.

In addition to five days of campus activities, Morgan and Rash will be featured in several public events Monday through Thursday, April 11-14. Admission is free.

Chatt State’s Humanities Department began Writers@Work in 2011 for students enrolled in the Composition II course. The program is meant to expose students to the works of contemporary Southern writers and engage them in conversations with the visiting authors so that they may better understand what it means to be a “writer at work.”

Often, organizers say, students are presented with an alternate view of what it means to have a Southern voice and thus can develop a more comprehensive understanding of what it means to be a Southerner.

Both Morgan and Rash have extensive publishing credits as novelists, poets and short-story writers and have earned multiple awards for their works. Morgan is perhaps best known for his third novel, 1999’s “Gap Creek,” a New York Times best-seller and Oprah’s Book Club selection. Rash’s notable works include the 2008 novel “Serena,” which was adapted into a 2014 feature film starring Bradley Cooper and Jennifer Lawrence.

For more information on Writers@Work, call 423-697-3233 or visit https://chattanoogastate.digication.com/chatt_states_writers_work/Writers.