18 authors, poets to read at Holiday Book Sale on Saturday
The Friends of the Oak Ridge Library (FOL), along with the Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST), will sponsor a reading by regional authors and poets and a Holiday Book Sale on Saturday at the Oak Ridge Public Library. The reading will feature Marilyn Kallet of Knoxville, author of 19 books.
The 18 local authors and poets, including Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Erin Elizabeth Smith and other writers in the region will read and sell their books during three two-hour time slots from 10 a.m. until 4 p.m. The public is invited to the readings. Admission is free. Note that the time of each person’s reading is in parenthesis after their name below.
10 a.m. to noon: Jeri L. Duke (10:30), Carol Grametbauer (10:45), Kelly C. Hanwright (11), D. Ray Smith (11:15), Sally Bennett Boyington (11:30), and Melanie K. Hutsell (11:45);
Noon to 2 p.m.: Marilyn Kallet (12-12:30), Claudia M. Stanek (12:45), Connie Jordan Green (1), John C. Mannone (1:15), Ron Lands (1:30), and K.B. Ballentine (1:45).
2 to 4 p.m. : Erin Elizabeth Smith (2:15), Shirley Raines (2:30), Wes Sims (2:45), Fay Martin (3), Sylvia Woods (3:15), and Diane Williams (3:30).
Marilyn Kallet of Knoxville recently served two terms as Knoxville poet laureate. She is the author of 19 books, including "Even When We Sleep," 2022 and "How Our Bodies Learned," 2018, poetry from Black Widow Press. She has translated Paul Eluard’s "Last Love Poems" and Benjamin Péret’s "The Big Game." Kallet is professor emerita at the University of Tennessee, where she taught for 37 years. She also hosted poetry workshops and residencies for the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, in Auvillar, France, from 2009-2018; residencies resume this May. Kallet’s poetry has appeared in Plume, Still: The Journal of Appalachia, North American Review, and 101 Jewish Poems for the Third Millennium, among others.
K.B. Ballentine’s seventh collection, "Edge of the Echo", was released May 2021 with Iris Press. Her earlier books can be found with Blue Light Press, Middle Creek Publishing, and Celtic Cat Publishing. Published in numerous journals, her work also appears in anthologies including "I Heard a Cardinal Sing" (2022), "The Strategic Poet" (2021), and Pandemic Evolution (2021).
Sally Bennett Boyington has two published novels including "Swallowing the Sun" and "Rainbow Knife," the first books in a trilogy of prehistoric novels titled "Tales of the Watermasters," bringing to life the ancient civilization of the Hohokam. She has written seven novels and numerous short stories and poems and has had several reviews and nonfiction articles published in professional journals and popular magazines.
Jeri L. Duke of Clinton writes true stories inspired by her own family history and love of ancestry. Her first book, "The Faraway Spirit," is the story of the families that bought and settled on Nantucket Island. Most recently, she published "Friends of Freedom, Stories of The Underground Railroad," which is set prior to and during the U.S. Civil War.
Carol Grametbauer of Kingston is the author of two chapbooks: "Homeplace" (Main Street Rag Publishing, 2018) and "Now & Then" (Finishing Line Press, 2014). Her poems have appeared in Appalachian Heritage, Connecticut River Review, POEM, Pine Mountain Sand & Gravel, and in a number of anthologies. She is chairman of the board of directors of Tennessee Mountain Writers, which is headquartered in Oak Ridge.
Connie Jordan Green of Loudon County is the author of two award-winning novels for young people, "The War at Home," set in Oak Ridge during World War II, and "Emmy," both published originally by Margaret McElderry imprint of MacMillan and Simon Shuster, respectively, reissued in soft cover by Tellico Books imprint of Iris Press; two poetry chapbooks, "Slow Children Playing" and "Regret Comes to Tea"; and two poetry collections, "Household Inventory," 2015, winner of the Brick Road Poetry Award, and "Darwin’s Breath" (Iris Press).
Author of a survival memoir The Locust Years, Kelly C. Hanwright is a poet, teacher, and dog trainer living in the Smoky Mountains. She is a Pushcart nominee whose work has appeared in various venues including The Birmingham Arts Journal, Lady Literary Magazine, and American Diversity Report.
An East Tennessee native, Melanie K. Hutsell of Oak Ridge is the author of the novels "The Dead Shall Rise," an Appalachian magic realism tale from Celat Publishing, and "The Book of Susan," a sympathetic, realistic portrayal of a mental illness diagnosis in a young woman’s life, published by Paraclete Press. Named a featured author for Knoxville’s 2019 “Celebrate Our Authors” event, Hutsell has appeared on WDVX’s Wordstream and the Bi-Polar Girl podcast.
Ron Lands of Oak Ridge is a semi-retired hematologist at UT Medical Center, who has published short stories, poems, and essays in literary and medical journals. His poem “Decision” appears in the Spring 2019 Intima: A Journal of Narrative Medicine. His chapbooks include "Final Path," Finishing Line Press 2021, and "A Gathering of Friends," 2022. His story collection, "The Long Way Home" was published in 2022.
John C. Mannone has poems in Windhover, North Dakota Quarterly, Poetry South, Baltimore Review, and others. He has won multiple awards including a Jean Ritchie Fellowship (2017) in Appalachian literature and served as the celebrity judge for the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (2018). Author of three chapbooks and four full-length collections, he edits poetry for Abyss & Apex and other journals.
Fay Martin of Oak Ridge was born in Jamaica, West Indies, obtained a B.Sc. from the University of the West Indies, a M.Sc. from MacMaster University in Canada, and a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from the University of Tennessee. Her books include: "Resurgam! The Poems of Fay Martin" and "From Jamaican Hills: The Memoirs of Fay Martin."
Shirley Raines, a speaker, consultant, and author was the first woman president of the University of Memphis. She is a member of the Tennessee Women’s Hall of Fame and was invited to speak at the White House Conference on University Entrepreneurship for the FedEx Institute of Technology. She has written 18 books, 15 for educators, two for children, and her newest leadership book, "An Uncommon Journey: Leadership Lessons from a Preschool Teacher who Became a University President."
Wesley Sims of Oak Ridge has published three chapbooks of poetry: "When Night Comes," Finishing Line Press, Georgetown, Kentucky; "Taste of Change," Iris Press, Oak Ridge; and "A Pocketful of Little Poems," Amazon. His work has appeared in Artemis Journal, Bewildering Stories, Connecticut Review, G.W. Review, Liquid Imagination, Pine Mountain Sand and Gravel, and several others.
D. Ray Smith, Oak Ridge’s historian has more than 47 years of experience at the Y-12 National Security Complex. He has co-produced the award-winning "Secret City" set of two 90-minute DVDs. He has also written 14 books on the East Tennessee area history consisting of nine “Historically Speaking” volumes, "The John Hendrix Story," "1944 Troop Train Wreck," "Historical Sketch of Oak Ridge Schools," "Oak Ridge International Friendship Bell" and "Delina," plus more. He publishes a weekly column in The Oak Ridger called "Historically Speaking.” His most recent film is the documentary, "Ed Westcott – Photographer."
Oak Ridge Poet Laureate Erin Elizabeth Smith is the executive director for Sundress Publications and the Sundress Academy for the Arts in Knoxville. She is the author of three full-length collections of poetry, most recently "DOWN" (SFASU 2020), and her work has appeared in Guernica, Ecotone, Crab Orchard, and Mid-American, among others. Smith is a Distinguished Lecturer in the English Department at UT.
Claudia M Stanek’s work has been turned into a libretto, been part of an art exhibition, and been translated into Polish. Her poems exist online, in print, and in her chapbook, "Language You Refuse to Learn." She holds an MFA from Bennington College.
Diane Williams of Knoxville taught French language and literature for many years and spent an academic year as a Fulbright Exchange Teacher in France. After moving to Knoxville, she joined UT Knoxville’s Office of Communications and Marketing as an editorial project manager. She has poems in One Trick Pony and Bluestem Magazine, and two will appear in the Spring 2023 issue of Monterey Poetry Review. She has a poetry chapbook, "Night in the Garden," 2020.
Sylvia Woods of Oak Ridge is a retired Oak Ridge High School English teacher. Her book "What We Take With Us" was published in April 2021. Her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies including Southern Poetry Anthology V: Appalachia, Appalachian Review, and many more.
FOL is a non-profit organization that holds used book sales to raise funds for the library as well as to recycle publications, supports the library’s summer reading program for children, sponsors a book club and takes part in other activities, all to benefit the Oak Ridge Public Library and the surrounding communities. Membership forms are available in the library lobby or at the reading.
PST is a non-profit organization founded in 1953, welcoming poets and poetry lovers from across Tennessee and beyond. PST is recognized by the National Federation of State Poetry Societies (NFSPS), and its members may participate in NFSPS-sponsored activities. PST offers members an inclusive, supportive community with opportunities to learn, grow, and appreciate the art and craft of poetry. PST Membership Forms will be available at the reading as well.
This article originally appeared on Oakridger: 18 authors, poets to read at Holiday Book Sale on Saturday
