Oak Ridge Today

Roane State’s Stephens honored for her work

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

DeAnna Stephens

Roane State Community College assistant professor of English DeAnna Stephens earned two honors this spring.

Stephens won the poetry competition at the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival.

She also received first place in the fiction category at the Tennessee Mountain Writers Conference Awards Banquet.

Stephens said she was very excited when informed in mid-March that she was a finalist in the Tennessee Williams New Orleans Literary Festival. Before she won, Stephens said she hadn’t planned to attend the event.

Things changed, especially since the recognition included a $1,000 prize, a free pass to the festival, and the opportunity to read her poems to an appreciative audience, a press release said. [Read more…]

Tennessee Mountain Writers Conference is in Oak Ridge in April

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Tennessee Mountain Writers will celebrate their 31st Annual Conference with the theme “Just Write” from Thursday, April 4, to Saturday, April 6.

The conference will be at the DoubleTree Hotel in Oak Ridge. It will include workshops, writing contests, networking, manuscript evaluations, publishers, editors, book signings, a bookstore, vendors, and more, a press release said. [Read more…]

Roane State’s Ralph Monday to host poetry reading March 13, Oak Ridge campus

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Ralph Monday

Ralph Monday

 

Roane State Community College English Professor Ralph Monday, who has had hundreds of his poems published in more than 100 journals, will hold a poetry reading on March 13 on the college’s Oak Ridge campus at 701 Briarcliff Avenue.

The event will be held at 3 p.m. on Wednesday, March 13, in the City Room of the Coffey-McNally Building. The public is invited, a press release said.

Monday is originally from Clairfield, Tennessee, a small Appalachian town on the Kentucky border.

He holds bachelor’s and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee, and obtained his doctorate from Northcentral University, the press release said.

Among his published works: a chapbook, “All American Girls and Other Poems,” was published in July 2014, and Aldrich Press published his book, “Empty Houses and American Renditions,” in May 2015. [Read more…]

Arts festival in Jackson Square on Saturday

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Mad Hatters Art Festival Through Looking Glass 0718 390x600

The Mad Hatter’s Arts Festival in Jackson Square on Saturday will feature arts and crafts vendors, poetry, music, food, dancers, authors, and interactive arts stations.

The free festival, the first of its kind, is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. It’s presented by Through the Looking Glass Antiques and Collectibles in Jackson Square.

A Jabberwocky Poetry Slam is scheduled at Razzleberry’s Ice Cream Lab and Kitchen from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. An open mic will start at 2 p.m. for walk-ins who didn’t sign up for the family-friendly event but want to perform.

Sixteen local songwriters will perform original acoustic music all day, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., in the square. There will also be musicians playing cover songs at the festival, said Linda Johnston of Through the Looking Glass.

At noon, the Oak Ridge Civic Ballet dancers will perform in the square. [Read more…]

Roane State’s Stephens honored for poetry

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

DeAnna Stephens

DeAnna Stephens

While she loves writing poetry, the challenging act of “paring and refining” her efforts is as enjoyable and intellectually challenging, Roane State Community College assistant professor of English DeAnna Stephens said.

Stephens’ poem, “Bundt Season,” was recently a finalist in the prestigious Lascaux Review. That literary journal provides a showcase for emerging and established writers and artists whose talents have lingering impacts.

Her poem “deals with the rituals surrounding death, and the complex ties we maintain with family,” said Stephens, who said she wrote her first poem when she was 13.

“I am drawn to poetry…because it connects the individual experience to the universal in a way that is different from other genres,” she said. [Read more…]

Guest column: Remembering Walt Whitman

Posted at
By 1 Comment

This Saturday, May 31, marks the 195th birthday of America’s greatest poet and perhaps even its greatest citizen to have ever lived: Walt Whitman. “Leaves of Grass,” as one contemporary reviewer put it at the time, was “an explosion in a sewer.” The reactions to Whitman’s work, at least in most circles, were largely unpleasant. One reviewer even suggested that Walt Whitman commit suicide.

“Leaves of Grass” was so offensive that it cost Walt several jobs, and by the end of his life, the poet died nearly in poverty, relying on the kindness of Britain’s literary elite just to survive and be buried.

I had the chance to visit the Walt Whitman home on a mini-Sabbatical in 2012. The caretaker there in Camden pulled a letter out and read it aloud to me. It was written by a middle-aged woman from England on September 11, 2001. As she watched the twin towers fall, she was uncertain how to express her grief and outrage—or even where to direct those thoughts. She chose Walt Whitman and eloquently expressed her love of America’s democratic spirit, stating there was no other place for her to lodge her thoughts than with Walt Whitman. The letter was powerful and brought tears to my eyes. [Read more…]

Honors: Three ORHS students, resident win writing awards

Posted at
By Leave a Comment

Student Prose Abby Douglas and Lucas Potter

Pictured above are Abby Douglas and Lucas Potter. (Submitted photos)

Submitted

Three Oak Ridge High School students and longtime resident Wanda Ensor Grooms were honored in a writing contest held in conjunction with the Tennessee Mountain Writers annual conference in April. Contest winners in seven categories were announced and awards presented during the conference banquet.

In the Student Poetry category, Abby Douglas received first place recognition for “The Other Ten Percent,” and Emily Stansfield received third place for her poem, “The Enemy.” Douglas received second place in the Student Prose category for “Easier Than I Had Imagined.” Lucas Potter won third place in Student Prose for “Forever Friends.” [Read more…]