Asian Festival in World’s Fair Park

                                   Sunday Sept. 8, 10:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

                                            (Sponsors and Friends of Festival   Sat. 6 – 9 p.m.)

Voted the “Best Arts and Culture Event in the South,” the Knox Asian Festival brings authentic foods, exciting performances, and traditional activities to Knoxville, TN. This event is packed with family-

friendly fun, as you dive into the various Asian cultures of Japan, Indonesia, China, The Philippines, Vietnam, Taiwan, India, Bangladesh, Thailand, Malaysia, Korea, Nepal, & Myanmar.

Several members of the Authors Guild of Tennessee will be selling and signing their books representing various genres including inspirational, historical fiction, memoirs, murder mysteries, and children’s books. Come out and browse through their books as well as the many handcrafts of diverse vendors. There is a fee of $3 for admission, charge only. 

The Authors Guild of Tennessee will meet on Thursday, September 5, 2024

This Thursday, AGT will meet at the Faith Lutheran Church in Farragut from 10:30 a.m. to noon.

AGT member Stacy Rowe and her husband Chris will speak to us about Bookshop Fundraising, a platform they have created to help organizations raise money while encouraging literacy. Bookshop Fundraising also works with authors to sell their books: https://www.bookshopfundraising.com.

Stacy and Chris have been involved in the youth sports industry as participants, parents, and coaches. They are passionate about helping young athletes reach their goals.

Writing under the pen name S.R. Fabrico, Stacy is an award-winning, best-selling author of a series of sports journals and adult fiction novels.

Visitors are welcome to attend.

A Community of Tennessee Writers, Readers & Passersby

In “Hope Is the Thing” Poet Danita Dodson reflects on the loss of her father.

Danita Dodson’s most recent collection of poetry, Between Gone and Everlasting, explores the many facets of grief after the loss of a parent. Dodson focuses on the death of her father and discusses grief and its impact across all facets of her life. The voice of the collection is childlike and hopeful, conveying a reverence for the dead and the process of dying and grieving, as well as a love for the natural beauty of the world and the signs of life below the surface. Dodson’s collection captivates with its focused narrative arc, using the extended theme of grief to tell a story of one man’s life and one family’s reaction to the loss of that life.

Go to this link to read Danita’s interview on this online publication:  https://chapter16.org/hope-is-the-thing/

Several members of the Authors Guild of Tennessee are selling and signing their books at this event. This 3-day festival of fun, food, and shopping is highlighted by the Smoky Mountains Dock Dogs’ canine diving competition.  Enjoy food from local restaurants and food trucks. Browse through our books including children’s, romances, mysteries, and Christian Fiction. Shop from a wide variety of vendors and visit local merchants throughout the Village Green Shopping Center. This event is free to all canines and their owners.

Come out today and tomorrow and join the fun!

Brenda Sellers  gives talk in Iceland

Brenda Sellers had her first international speaking/book signing in Iceland yesterday, July 6, in an antikvariat (antique booksellers’ shop). The announcement in the local media was in both English and Icelandic. Brenda reports that the attendees were very receptive to her talk about her book, You Slept Where?, particularly her story about staying in the Ice Hotel in Iceland.

New Retail Location

IGA Store in Townsend

The Townsend IGA store is now selling our books. We have a good number of titles for customers to choose from.

Townsend IGA is a locally owned grocery store serving the Townsend community. They buy local grocery items and proudly support the local farmers.

Hours are: Mon. through Sun. 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

“Trails of Wrathful Waters” by David Curran

now available in the online journal AppalachiaBare

This is a delightful chapter from the author’s book Hiking for Fun and Pain.  Leaving his comfort zone of sylvan serenity, Dave agrees to join his fearless brother-in-law in white-water rafting on the Ocoee River, followed by calmly rowing down the Missouri, then hopping in a funyak to take on the turbulent Nolichucky River.  The result is a tale of high adventure laced with humor. To read this entertaining account, go to AppalachiaBare, click on highwaysandbyways, then on Wanderings — recent posts.

“Daisy”

                       by Russ Fine

a short story on the online journal Appalachia Bare

This is the heartwarming story of a small brown dog who was adopted by a lonely man at the request of its homeless owner. The good deed turns into a blessing for the new owner whose life is enriched by the company of this loving animal.

Gene Berryhill

New Member of Authors Guild of Tennessee

G. Gene Berryhill, Ph.D., Fulbright scholar, has been a professor of art and art history for over 30 years at universities in this country, including in California, Hawaii, New York, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee, as well as at universities abroad in Germany, Bulgaria, and China.

Gene’s first book, Ripples from the Holler, was published in 2023. As Historical Fiction, Gene has drawn on the extraordinary adventures of her ancestors, who were part Cherokee, as they survived trials and hardships from the early 1800s to the early 1900s out West and in Tennessee. The stories weave their activities with those of Tennessee hill folk, the effects of the Great Depression in the area, Civil War tragedies, and Indian battles that raged across the plains and woodlands.

As Gene explains on her back book cover, “It was a leap of faith from city life and extensive travel to focus on her love for American history, Tennessee, country living, and her kin—past and present.”

Today, Gene lives in Gallatin and Monroe, Tennessee, with her husband Bob.

Between Gone and Everlasting

Danita Dodson’s New Poetry Book

Published May 6, 2024

Danita Dodson writes with emotive transparency about loss, the passing of generations, and the love of a father whose memory becomes a source of light after his death. Between Gone and Everlasting pans the perimeters of mourning with a phenomenal scope: heartrending reflections on grief, tender odes of remembrance, stunning elegies about Appalachia’s fading past, and stirring psalms of spiritual awakening amid loss.

Creative Writing Contest

Lenoir City High School

2nd Semester 2023-24

In the second semester of the 2023-4 school year, Angela Crabtree, teacher of the junior/senior writing classes at Lenoir City High School, selected poetry as the literary form for the Creative Writing Contest sponsored by the Authors Guild of Tennessee.

The first- and second-place winners in Ms. Crabtree’s two classes are linked under this notice. Again, the students were not assigned particular subjects but were encouraged to write from their personal experiences and viewpoints. The poems are honest and personal and sometimes reflect harsh realities in each student’s life. They are all well-written and create word pictures of place and time.

The Authors Guild of Tennessee is proud to publish these outstanding literary accomplishments on our website with parental consent for students who are minors.

Creative Writing Contest

Lenoir City High School

1^st Semester 2023-24

In the first semester of the 2023-4 school year, Angela Crabtree, teacher of the junior/senior writing classes at Lenoir City High School, selected poetry as the literary form for the Creative Writing Contest sponsored by the Authors Guild of Tennessee.

The first- and second-place winners in Ms. Crabtree’s two classes are linked under this notice. The students were not assigned particular subjects or themes but were encouraged to write from their personal experiences and viewpoints. As you will see, the poems are honest and personal, and sometimes reflect harsh realities in each student’s unique perspective on life. They are all well-written and skillfully create word pictures of place and time.

The Authors Guild of Tennessee is proud to publish these outstanding literary accomplishments on our website.

Daddy’s Little Girl – Kara Gresham

A Broken Soul – Abner Alvarado

The Mother – Reagan Griffith

Home – Christopher Lopez