Inspirational and spiritual writers who have made their way to Chattanooga from as far away as Scotland will be featured at the next Chattanooga Writers Guild meeting, scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 8, from 7-9 p.m. at the UT-Chattanooga University Center (Raccoon Mountain Room, 1st Floor).

The discussion on spiritual writing—to include authors Barry Graham, Kelley Walters, Ralph Speck and Tim Dempsey—will be moderated by Lantz Powell, owner of the Literary Agency for Southern Authors. The meeting is free and open to the public and is co-sponsored by the UTC English Department.

More about the panelists:

Barry Graham is a novelist, poet, journalist and Zen Buddhist priest. He is the author of five books, and his work has appeared in Harper's and other national and international magazines. Details magazine called him "one of the real literary finds," and the American Library Association chose his novel The Book of Man as one of the best books published in 1995. He is the head teacher of the Buddha Way Zen Sangha.

Born in Scotland, he has traveled widely and now lives in Chattanooga. He has practiced Zen for almost two decades. He spent two years as a monk in Japan, then decided to become a lay priest rather than a monastic. He as taught meditation in schools, jails, arts centers, YMCAs, just about anywhere it might be needed or wanted. He writes for Shambhala Sun, the main US Buddhist magazine.

Kelley Walters grew up in Chattanooga, went to college in Knoxville, and took an extended vacation in San Francisco that lasted six years. She returned to Chattanooga in 2000 and is now a Public Relations Specialist for the Air Pollution Control Bureau.

Kelley earned a double BA in technical writing and psychology from UT, Knoxville, and an MA in Spirituality from Holy Names College in Oakland, Calif. She’s been a professional writer and editor for 15 years. She’s published articles in Sagewoman and Veggie Life magazines and pens essays on spirituality for BenBella’s pop culture book series, Smart Pop. She also freelances as a content writer for Inside Networks, an international website design firm and contributes stories regularly to Chattanooga’s alternative weekly, The Pulse. Kelley is married to Pulse publisher and former opera singer Michael Kull.

Ralph Speck’s love for writing goes back to the 40's. He has been a feature writer a reporter and column writer weekly newspaper in Kentucky. He is a published poet and author of a book published in 2003, "A SPIRITUAL JOURNEY". He has written two other unpublished books on the metaphysical interpretation of the stories, parables and miracles of the bible. He has been a public speaker, facilitator and teacher for over fifty years.

He is a lay preacher, teacher and writer. He is presently an interim minister in a local church for almost two years and currently teaches a bible interpretation class. Some of his favorite writers on spiritual and human consciousness are, David Hawkins, Eckhart Tolle, James Twyman, Deepak Chopra, Walter Starcke, Thomas Merton and a few others. He believes we are living in an era in history that will witness a giant step forward in the evolution of the consciousness of mankind.

Tim Dempsey has spent most of his professional life living and working with former prisoners in Tennessee. He serves presently as Executive Director at Chattanooga Endeavors where he uses poetry in group therapy sessions. Mr. Dempsey earned a BA in Literature and Philosophy from at the University of Notre Dame (1989), a MA in English Language and Literature from Catholic University of America (1993) and an MBA from the University of Tennessee (2004).

He lives in East Brainerd with his wife and two children and is presently working on the design and implementation of a temporary employment firm at Chattanooga Endeavors.

Lantz Powell, owner of Literary Agency for Southern Authors, will moderate the discussion.

For more information about the event or the Chattanooga Writers Guild, please contact Jennifer Hoff at (423) 309-7464 or CWGuild@aol.com.