Sewanee Writers Conference


	Every July, a group of more than 140 students of writing gathers on the idyllic mountaintop campus of the University of the South. During a whirlwind two-week period, these participants talk about the craft of writing with some of this country's finest novelists, poets, playwrights, and professionals in the publishing field. From July 14 through 26, 2009, the University of the South will host the twentieth session of the Sewanee Writers' Conference. Supported by the Walter E. Dakin Memorial Fund established through the estate of the late Tennessee Williams, the Conference will gather a distinguished faculty to provide instruction and criticism through workshops and craft lectures in fiction, poetry, and playwriting. Our esteemed faculty will include: Fiction: Richard Bausch, Tony Earley, Diane Johnson, Randall Kenan, Jill McCorkle, Alice McDermott, Erin McGraw, and Steve Yarbrough Poetry: Daniel Anderson, Claudia Emerson, Debora Greger, Andrew Hudgins, William Logan, Alan Shapiro, Dave Smith, and Greg Williamson Playwriting: Lee Blessing and Dan O'Brien In addition, a group of distinguished writers, critics, agents, and visitors will take part. Those who will discuss writing from the point of view of editing or publishing are David Barber (Atlantic Monthly), Georges and Anne Borchardt (Georges Borchardt Literary Agency), Todd Bottorff (Turner Publishing), George Core (Sewanee Review), Gary Fisketjon (Alfred A. Knopf), Mary Flinn (Blackbird, New Virginia Review), Gail Hochman (Brandt & Hochman Literary Agency), Roger Hodge (Harper's), John Irwin (Writing Seminars, Johns Hopkins Review), John Kulka (Harvard University Press), David Lynn (Kenyon Review), J. D. McClatchy (Yale Review), Speer Morgan (Missouri Review), Kathy Pories (Algonquin Press), Elisabeth Schmitz (Alfred A. Knopf), Don Share (Poetry), Willard Spiegelman (Southwest Review), Liz Van Hoose (Penguin/Viking), and Robert Wilson (American Scholar). The Playwrights' Center's Polly Carl, producing artistic director, will visit to meet with playwrights, as will Gary Garrison, executive director of creative affairs with the Dramatists Guild. We also welcome literary agents Michelle Brower (Wendy Sherman Associates) and Amy Hughes (McCormick & Williams). Jean McGarry will read from her work. Bill Baer, Brad Leithauser, William Logan, Wyatt Prunty, and Mary Jo Salter will serve on a panel discussing the life and work of Richard Wilbur. Mr. Wilbur will be present and will also give a reading. The Conference will offer its customary Walter E. Dakin Fellowships and Tennessee Williams Scholarships, as well as awards in memory of Stanley Elkin, Donald Justice, Howard Nemerov, Father William Ralston, Peter Taylor, Mona Van Duyn, and John N. Wall. Additional scholarships have been made possible by Georges and Anne Borchardt and Gail Hochman. Each participant—whether contributor, scholar, or fellow—receives financial support.	NEWS SEWANEE YOUNG WRITERS' CONFERENCE The Sewanee Young Writers' Conference moves into its fifteenth season in 2009, offering courses in fiction, poetry, non-fiction, and playwriting to high school writers. SEWANEE SCHOOL OF LETTERS The Sewanee School of Letters now enters its fourth year in 2009. It offers the M.A. in English and American Literature and the M.F.A. in Creative Writing. NEW BOOK FROM SWC DIRECTOR Wyatt Prunty, director of the Conference, will see his newest collection of poems, The Lover's Guide to Trapping, published in April 2009 by Johns Hopkins University Press. NEW BOOK FROM SWC STAFF Kevin Wilson, creative writing administrator for the conference, will see his collection of short stories, Tunneling to the Center of the Earth, published in April 2009 by Ecco/Harper Perennial.