Free writer's symposium to focus on all things Appalachian; scheduled for Sept. 9-10

The Appalachian Symposium, billed as the largest ever gathering of Appalachian writers, will be held from Sept. 9-10 at Berea College in Eastern Kentucky. The event is free and open to the public. No registration is required, and all sessions "will be ‘front porch style’ so that audience members feel as if they’re eavesdropping on the writers talking about these issues," said symposium director Silas House, writer and NEH Chair of Appalachian Studies at Berea College.

"While all sessions will focus on the contemporary state of the region’s literature, specific topics will include dialect, place, politics, religion, music, photography, displacement, the new millennium, gender roles, diversity and much more," House said in an email. "Besides the public conversations, three writing workshops are being offered, as well as a photography exhibit from acclaimed photographer Roger May, whose work was recently featured in The New York Times. Music from artists such as Caroline Herring and Sam Gleaves will be featured."

Keynote addresses will be given by famed author and activist bell hooks and Pulitzer Prize finalist Maurice Manning. Other authors scheduled to be in attendance are: Darnell Arnoult, Pamela Duncan, Denise Giardina, Robert Gipe, Jesse Graves, Chris Green, Amy Greene, Richard Hague, Jane Hicks, Ron Houchin, Jason Howard, Loyal Jones, George Ella Lyon, Linda Parsons Marion, Paula Nelson, Gurney Norman, Lisa Parker, Rita Quillen, Erik Reece, Gwyn Hyman Rubio, Anne Shelby, Glenn Taylor, Frank X Walker, Julia Watts, Charles Dodd White, Crystal Wilkinson and Marianne Worthington.