The Arts and Education Council (AEC) will host 20 writers who will visit 19 schools during the Conference on Southern Literature.
The following residencies will take place March 29 and 30:
Greg Williamson - 21st Century Academy
Jill McCorkle - Baylor School
Sam Pickering - Brainerd High School
Pamela Duncan - Center for Creative Arts
Katori Hall - Center for Creative Arts
Robert Hicks - Central High School
Denise Giardina - Chattanooga School for Arts and Sciences
Charlotte Matthews - East Ridge High School
Dorothy Allison - Girls Preparatory School
Ellen Bryant Voigt - Hamilton County High School
Jennifer Grotz - Hamilton County Middle College High School
Kaye Gibbons - Hixson High School, Red Bank High School
William Henry Lewis - Howard School for Academics and Technology
Jon Meacham - McCallie School
Roy Reed - Ooltewah High School
Kathryn Stripling Byer - Red Bank High School
Wendell Berry - Red Bank High School, Soddy Daisy High
Catherine Landis - Sale Creek High School
Clif Cleaveland - Sequoyah High School
Suzette Francis - Tyner Academy
“The School Residency Program gives high school students the opportunity to read a writer’s work, and then meet him or her in person to discuss the material and what it means to be a professional writer,” explains Margha Davis, coordinator for the program.
“Teachers welcome the writers into their classrooms because students are able to put a face with a given work and learn from the source about the creative process,” she says. “The authors thoroughly enjoy the residencies too. It gives them time to interact with young, budding writers.”
Suzette Francis, a novelist from Signal Mountain, has participated in the residency program since 2005.
“In a time when students have a reputation for being lackluster and uninterested in school, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the students in my residencies were so well-prepared, thoughtful, and mature,” recalls Ms. Francis.
“I asked them to do a five-minute writing exercise. At first no one wanted to read aloud, but once they got started every student wanted to share. It gave them a voice and a chance to feel good about their work.”
According to AEC Executive Director Susan Robinson, “The Residency Program supports an ongoing arts education collaboration with Hamilton County public schools. It is also an integral component of the AEC’s mission to provide unique opportunities for lifelong learning and participation in the arts for all members of the community.”
Other educational outreach programs during the AEC Conference on Southern Literature include the Creative Writing Workshop for teachers and the Young Southern Student Writers contest, which brought in a record 3,400 entries this year.
The public can meet with these writers and many more during the AEC Conference on Southern Literature on March 29-31 at the Tivoli Theatre. Attendees can participate in all sessions, including the keynote address, readings, book signings and discussions.