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The Power of Place
A Message from the President
Have you noticed how poets write from experiences near at hand, as William Wordsworth did near Tintern Abbey? They carefully observe nature and persons around them. (Think of Wendell Berry walking in his farmland in Lane’s Landing, KY, or Seamus Heaney writing “Diggings” about his father, or Robert Frost stopping by woods one winter evening.)
Because PST is well aware of the power of place for writers, we respect each region in our state as vital bedrock for poetry. Within each area are unique opportunities that whisper as a faithful muse, “Just look and listen for what’s immediately around you.”
Accordingly, we encourage and assist members to seek in-person, regional places to learn, teach, create, form friendships, and grow—to participate, for instance, in face-to-face critique groups, attend local literary festivals, speak to elementary and high school classes, hold church and public library programs, enroll in college and university courses, etc. Rich delights abound in short distances from your home.
Jerry Buchanan, Chair of PST’s Regional Development Committee, leads the initiative. Please see this article about our regional initiatives for information on his committee’s role to help you, the poet, unfold the beauty of the power of place.
Bountiful Blessings,
Calvin
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Creating Regional Connections
introducing PST’s Regional Development Committee
After recent leadership changes at the Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST), the PST Leadership Team began to search for ways to bring people together across the state who are interested in the advancement of poetry and writing/reading/hearing poetry in its various forms. This led to the creation of our PST Regional Connections Committee (RCC). The committee helps promote opportunities for regional development across Tennessee.
What does the RCC Do?
The RCC identifies and develops initiatives to meet the needs of PST membership in various regions of the state. Their goals are to:
- facilitate independent regional development and growth according to each region’s strengths and interests
- promote a regular exchange of communications and information between PST Regional Representatives and PST Leadership regarding regional planning efforts
- coordinate plans for a yearly PST regional budget allotment to address regional development and membership growth
- encourage regions across the state to share ideas and support each other as they discover how to proceed with developing programs and initiatives
- provide support to Regional Representatives as they work to promote their region’s growth and increase PST membership
Presently, the RCC consists of members from each region who participate on the committee to serve and represent their region. As of now there are three regions: Knoxville, Memphis, and Northeast Tennessee. The committee has met a couple of times since July and are developing a process to guide this committee’s work in the years ahead.
RCC Members
Our committee members look forward to serving PST members in the different regions across the state as they promote PST interests and address the needs of their respective regions.
They are currently working on budget proposals to send to the PST Leadership Team that will help fund local projects to promote the growth of poetry interests in each region.
Jerry Buchanan, RCC Chair 
Patricia Hope, Knoxville Rep 
Ruby Jones, Memphis Rep 
Fred Tudiver, Northeast Tennessee Rep 
Get in Touch
Your representatives would love to hear from PST members in their region to identify important areas of growth for the future. Email your ideas to poetrytennessee@gmail.com with the subject line REGIONAL CONNECTIONS, and your message will be forwarded to the appropriate committee member.
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October 2022 Program
Research and the Writing Process
Quite often, regardless of genre, we need to research. Sometimes research is the impetus for the writing itself. And as writers, we have to balance the fact and art, the known and unknowable, the concrete and the imagined. In this month’s program, presenter Melissa Helton explores the research and writing process for her current manuscript about her family’s history of immigration and its broader implications.
Melissa had 6 waves of immigrants from 1635 to her own father in 1961 who crossed the Atlantic to set up life in the US. While researching genealogy with her mother, she began questioning the concept of home, belonging, and identity, along with interrogating her family’s role in colonization, genocide, and American expansion as they personally benefitted from white supremacy. Her manuscript examines loss of ancestral culture for the sake of Americanization, and our responsibility to our ancestors and future generations.
About the Presenter
Melissa Helton is Community Programs Manager for Hindman Settlement School in eastern KY. Her work has been published in Shenandoah, Norwegian Writers Climate Campaign, Still: The Journal, Anthology of Appalachian Writers, and more. Her chapbooks include Hewn (2021) and Inertia: A Study (2016).
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Tennessee Voices 2021-2022 Released
Tennessee Voices 2021-2022, PST’s anthology of winning contest poems (and more) is now available on Amazon for just $5.99. Order yours today!
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September 2022 Program
A Poet in Progress: A Decade of Practice and Study
As the 2022 PST Program Chair, this session will be a chance to get to know Lacy Snapp better as she shares her previous writing passions, such as ekphrastic poetry, working-class poetry, and ecological poetry. She will also describe her current endeavors and interests and discuss how those new focuses are impacting the poems she is writing today.
About the Presenter
Lacy Snapp She is Director for Humanities Tennessee Young Writers’ Workshop and Adjunct Professor, Department of Literature and Language, East Tennessee State University. She has over a decade’s worth of writing, studying poetry, and participating in workshops throughout her undergraduate degree in Creative Writing at University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, Master’s Degree in English at East Tennessee State University, and her first three semesters in her Master of Fine Arts’ Degree at Vermont College of Fine Arts.
MORE TO EXPLORE
- Purchase Shadows on Wood
- Luna’s Woodcraft
- ETSU Literature and Language Writing Festival
- Johnson City Poets Collective
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All About the Books
A Message from the President
I was recently in a Zoom meeting with some fellow poets from Colorado. When they learned of my affiliation with PST I was asked, “What are you doing about the book banning in Tennessee?” They were referring to a law passed in late April of this year (see final legislation).
My honest response was “Not much!” It was too easy to say, “I don’t actually live in Tennessee, and The Tennessee Poetry Society must remain apolitical.” While those statements are true, I felt like a coward.
Putting aside the jokes about my southern accent, I realized those mountain folks had a legitimate question. It is not a question we can explore and answer as an organization. But it is an important question we must ask ourselves. As individuals who carry the title of POET, we also carry a responsibility for ourselves and fellow writers and readers.
I encourage you to familiarize yourself with this legislation, then take any action you deem appropriate. There is no wrong way to respond. Maybe you will choose to contact local or state politicians. Maybe you will explore the impact of the issue on area schools and libraries. Maybe you will organize a protest. Maybe you will monitor the situation. Maybe you’ll do something else entirely. Whatever you do, do it for all of us. Do it for the poets, writers, and readers yet to come.
yic, Bill Hill
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Hello Poets!
Welcome to the Poetry Society of Tennessee (PST) blog! Get the latest news and views about our society and all things poetry from around the state and beyond. For more information about our organization, including how to join, visit our website.
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