The region has many support groups for poets and writers. Five of them are listed below. If you are interested in writing, contact them to meet a group of people with similar interests.
Appalachian Center for Poets and Writers
The Appalachian Center for Poets and Writers takes a winter hiatus but returns for meetings in April. The meetings are a time for gathering, sharing and gentle critiques. New members are very welcome.
The regular meetings are the third Tuesday of each month at 7 p.m. at The Arts Depot in Abingdon. David Winship is the host, and he sends out email announcements about the meetings. His email is dbwinship@gmail.com.
Appalachian Authors Guild
The Appalachian Authors Guild meets monthly from February through November on the second Tuesday of the month. The times vary based on workshop or lunch/presenter. Workshops are held at the Small Business Incubator in Abingdon from 1-3 p.m. Lunch/presenter meetings are held at Abingdon Shoney’s from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Presentations are offered for poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and nonfiction. The group is asked each year to list topics they want to learn more about and presenters they would like to hear. Some topics recently have been Marketing Tips, Developing Exciting Characters, Writing back-cover descriptions that sell books, and a READ forum (submit a piece for feedback). Recent speakers have included Steven James, Dr. Jesse Graves, Rick McVey and several AAG members.
The AAG website isappalachianauthors.com. Anyone interested in the organization can contact Victoria Fletcher atvfletcher56@gmail.comor 276-492-8314.
Lost State Writers Guild
The Lost State Writers Guild is a group of writers in both the Tri-Citiesand Tri-State regions of Northeast Tennessee, Virginia and North Carolina and beyond.
The organization is starting a new quarter century of activities, workshops, educational opportunities and support for members and invite anyone with a desire to explore their writing creativity to join the guild. Members dabble in all kinds of writing: poetry, non-fiction, Appalachian stories, novels including romance, mystery, horror, fantasy and more, plus children’s stories and even song writing.
The Lost State Writers Guild meets the first Thursday of every month with the exception of July. They meet both in-person and on Zoom. The in-person meetings are held at the Washington County Tennessee Public Library Branch in Gray, Tennessee, located at 5026 Bobby Hicks Highway. Meetings begin at 10:30 a.m. For more information or to be added to the group’s email list, contact the organization atinfo@loststatewritersguild.com. The website iswww.loststatewritersguild.comor Facebook at Lost State Writers Guild.
Poetry Society of Tennessee
The Poetry Society of Tennessee welcomes poets and poetry lovers from across Tennessee and beyond.PST offers members an inclusive, supportive community with plenty of hands-on opportunities to learn, grow and appreciate the art and craft of poetry. The society celebrates its 70th anniversary in June.
Statewide member meetings, generally held the second Saturday of the month, feature educational programs. Past presenters include such award-winning writers as Rita Sims Quillen, Pauletta Hansel, and Matthew Wimberley. PST also offers critique groups and performance opportunities, contests (including a student contest), poetry publications, a poetry festival and more.
Adults and high school students may join. Includes membership in both PST and the National Federation of State Poetry Societies. The membership year runs May through April.The website is ww.poetrytennessee.org and email is poetrytennessee@gmail.com.
Bristol Object Writers
The mission behind Bristol Object Writers is to provide a time/place for writers, regardless of style and medium, to meet with the sole purpose of exercising creative writing skills. This is achieved through a variety of writing exercises and prompts, but primarily through the use of object writing.
Berklee College of Music songwriting professor Pat Pattison defines object writing: “Object writing is timed, sense-bound writing, usually done first thing in the morning. You pick an object — a real object, like a paper clip, a coffee cup, a Corvette – and treat it as a diving board to launch you inward to the vaults of your seven senses.”
KT Vandyke, who is with the organization, says, “No pressure to prep or share anything you’ve been working on. Just show up and get better.
Right now meetings are once a month and are typically held at one of the businesses on State Street in downtown Bristol. The meeting last month was State Street Brewery.”
For anyone interested in more info, check out Bristol Object Writers on Facebook for all upcoming sessions/meetups.
