Each session, MTSU Write hosts events that nurture the writing community and celebrate literary life.  Check here for updates as events change from season to season.

Throughout the year, MTSU co-sponsors Poetry in the Boro, a monthly reading and open mic event.  Follow the schedule and learn more about featured writers here:  https://www.facebook.com/PoetryInTheBoro/

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Green is the New Blue

“Green Is the New Blue,” a project bringing together community teaching artists, MTSU professors, and naturalists, will guide participants in creatively connecting with each other, themselves, and the natural world. Led by artist and naturalist duos, workshops will be offered in movement and dance, writing, and visual art.

The two-hour workshops are free and open to the public, thanks to funding and support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, the Greater Nashville Regional Council, and the MTSU departments of Art, English, and Dance, the Office of the University Provost, the College of Liberal Arts, and the Center for Environmental Education. Assisting Amie Whittemore, MTSU Write Director, in workshop planning are Erin Anfinson, Associate Professor of Art and Design, Meg Brooker, Associate Professor and Director of Dance, Dr. Kim Sadler, Professor of Biology Education, and Kory Wells, MTSU Write mentor, Poetry in the Boro founder, and community liaison. 

Below you'll find the workshops' location, time, and description. Pre-registration is required, though events are FREE.

Movement in Nature: Dance Workshop with Shabaz Ujima: Saturday, February 12, 10:00am-12:00pm, Oaklands Pavilion & Wetlands

We will explore symbiotic relationships in nature and how we as human beings need each other as well to survive. The class will use movement exercises that show the connection between mind and body, breathe and movement, lastly Me and We (Movement connecting the individual with others in the session.) Click here to register.

Native Plant Hike & Draw: Art Workshop with Erin Anfinson: Saturday, March 19, 1:00-3:00pm, Stones River Battlefield

Join MTSU Professors, Erin Anfinson (Art and Design) and Kim Cleary Sadler (Biology Education) for a "hike-and-draw" to learn more the native plants that grow along the trails at Stones River National Battlefield. Following brief hike participants will learn how to map out and expressively sketch a plant they observed with ink and watercolor pencils. Click here to register.

More 2022 dates to be added soon!

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Spring Saturdays

Each spring, we are pleased to offer a series of master classes, across genres, that are FREE and open to the public, though seating is limited and pre-registration is required. While MTSU no longer has a masking mandate, we highly encourage masking and vaccinating against COVID-19. Register here for any or all of the classes!

Conversation's Greatest Hits: Saturday, February 19, 2022, 9am-noon with Chris Clancy (MT Center, Ingram Building)

Author Amy Bloom said, “Dialogue is not conversation. It is conversation’s greatest hits.” In this workshop, we will explore the ways in which dialogue can add light and shade to your storytelling, lend depth to your characters, and move things along. We will also cover the use (and misuse) of dialogue tags, how to get your characters talking past one another, and the wonders of the action “beat.” Please be prepared to spend a portion of this class on in-class exercises that will help your dialogue find its rhythm.

Christopher Clancy is the author of the anti-war thriller We Take Care of Our Own and holds an M.F.A. in Creative Writing from American University. His work has appeared in Alligator Juniper, Folio, McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, and Fifth Estate. He lives in Nashville with his wife and kids.

 

 

 

On the Line: Poetry Workshop Saturday, March 19, 9am-noon with Sarah McCartt-Jackson (Location TBD)

Put it on all the line in this poetry workshop that explores all things poetic line: line breaks, line lengths, line heights, nil lines, and writing between the lines. Participants will read and discuss a variety of poetic lines, then generate poems using techniques they have learned.

Kentucky poet, educator, and folklorist Sarah McCartt-Jackson has been published by Indiana Review, Journal of American Folklore, The Maine Review, and others. Her poetry books include: Stonelight, Calf Canyon, Vein of Stone, and Children Born on the Wrong Side of the River. She has served as artist-in-residence for Great Smoky Mountains, Catoctin Mountain, Homestead, and Acadia National Parks. She teaches poetry, environmental education, and elementary school. Read more at www.sarahmccarttjackson.com.

 

The Art of Creative Nonfiction: Saturday, April 16, 9am-noon with Gloria Ballard (MT Center, Ingram Building)

What makes contemporary nonfiction writers and their work so compelling? We’ll examine the Creative Nonfiction genre, explore the formats and techniques, and participants will put that information to work to make their own writing compelling and memorable.

Gloria Ballard is a native of Nashville, where she was a feature writer and editor at The Tennessean before leaving the newspaper to become a freelance writer. Gloria led creative writing classes and workshops at Watkins Community Education for ten years. She also writes fiction, and was a 2004 participant at Sewanee Writers Conference. Currently, Gloria provides garden, health & wellness and general web content and copyediting services for HGTV.com and other media outlets, works as a freelance editor and copy editor, and is working on a memoir.