Hannah Harvey, a storyteller from Northeast Tennesse, performs in the ampitheater of the McGlothlin Center for the Arts during the college's literary festival that is held Oct. 8 and 9.
The 34th annual Emory & Henry College Literary Festival, set for Oct. 8-9, is a celebration of Appalachian Theater on the newest and one of the largest stages in the region.
With this celebration comes a new format that seeks to commemorate the opening of the McGlothlin Center for the Arts, a new $25 million visual and performing arts center on the E&H campus that features a 461-seat main stage theater, large amphitheater and a black box theater.
The festival, which includes several events in the new center, features a reading by Robert Gipe, the acclaimed author of the illustrated novel, "Trampoline," and the director of the Appalachian Program at Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College. His reading runs from 3-4 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 8 in the Board of Visitors Lounge of the Van Dyke Center.
Gipe is one of the producers of Higher Ground, a theater group that presents musical dramas based on oral histories and community concerns. During the festival, the group performs a compilation piece derived from all five of their previous productions. The performance begins at 7:30 p.m. on the amphitheater stage of the McGlothlin Center.
On Friday, Oct. 9, Hannah Harvey, a storyteller from Northeast Tennessee, uses her fieldwork with miners of the region as the basis of her performance at Emory & Henry, which begins at 3 p.m. in the amphitheater of the McGlothlin Center. Harvey, a former professor at Kennesaw State University, developed and directed the KSU Tellers storytelling company.
The Literary Festival also features the opening of the E&H theater department's fall play, "The Other Side of the Mountain." Under the direction of Dr. Kelly Bremner and written by Catherine Bush, the play explores the challenges of coming home. The play begins at 7:30 p.m. at the amphitheater Oct. 9.
This year's festival, while commemorating the opening of the new center, also showcases a new approach to engaging audiences at the popular event, said Dr. Nicole Drewitz-Crockett, the director of the festival. "In addition to providing readings by authors, we hope always to engage other formats for presenting literature and involving the broader campus community," said Drewitz-Crockett. "Such an approach brings to life the literature as well as the liberal arts
setting in which we present it."
All events, except for the performance of "The Other Side of the Mountain," are free and open to the public. Tickets for the play may be purchased at www.ehc.edu/mca.
