Teachers, other writers invited to attend writing retreat

with featured authors Warmuth, Lyon and Quillen

Appalachian authors Donna Akers Warmuth, George Ella Lyon and Rita Quillen will be the featured instructors during the 2007 writing retreat presented by the Appalachian Writing Project at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise. To be held July 24-26 at Breaks Interstate Park, the retreat invites teachers of all disciplines and other writers from across Southwest Virginia to register for participation.

An outreach program of the Appalachian Writing Project (AWP) at UVa-Wise, the writing retreat offers a chance for all writers to improve their skills.

Donna Akers Warmuth, who grew up near Abingdon, is the author of seven books and collections, including “Plumb Full of History: A Story of Abingdon, Virginia” and “Legends, Stories and Ghostly Tales of Abingdon and Washington County, Virginia.” She has received awards for her short stories and poetry in East Tennessee State University's Appalachian fiction contest and the Virginia Highlands Festival Creative Writing contest.

A leading poetic voice in the literature of Appalachia, award-winning author George Ella Lyon is a native of Harlan, Ky. She is a staff member of the Appalachian Writers Workshop and the Hindman Settlement School and is a writer-in-residence at Centre College and the Carnegie Center. She is a frequently anthologized poet and the author of two collections of poetry and two plays. Lyon is also the author of six novels and more than 22 children’s picture books, including “Mother to Tigers,” “Weaving the Rainbow,” and the forthcoming “Trucks Roll,” a book of stories for new adult readers.

A native of Scott County, Rita Quillen is the author of the poetry collections “October Dusk” and “Counting the Sums” and of “Looking for Native Ground: Contemporary Appalachian Poetry,” a critically acclaimed study of contemporary Appalachian poets. She is an associate professor of English at Mountain Empire Community College and is frequently invited to present her works as the featured writer of UVa-Wise Coffee Night events.

Applications for the writing retreat must be postmarked no later than July 16. A $35 registration fee is required of applicants who are not AWP members. For an application or more information, visit the AWP Web site at people.uvawise.edu/awp.

The Appalachian Writing Project is a member of the Virginia Writing Project Network as well as the National Writing Project. The mission of the AWP is to create a professional community of teachers/writers that, according to the basic model of the National Writing Project, "provides intellectual challenges, offers professional opportunities, and expects teachers to participate in career-long growth and accomplishments."

The only branch of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation's top public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise is home to 1,900 students and offers undergraduate and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.

Posted July 9, 2007