The Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative
We sponsor programs related to literature and creative writing at ETSU. We place an emphasis on events that benefit students, and we welcome our broader community of readers and writers from around the world.
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Up next:September 9: Brazilian poet Cris Lira, as part of "Migracion: Latinx Exhibition," hosted by ETSU Tipton & Slocumb Galleries, 3-5 PM in Tipton GallerySeptember 18: 3 Emerging Writers featuring Karen Babine, Caleb Johnson, and Valerie Smith: a partnership with the Creative Writing Society, in the East TN Room (Culp 272), 1:40 PM Roundtable Discussion and 3:15 PMOctober 2, Speaking Queerly, an LGBTQ+ poetry night, featuring the Mockingbird and sponsored with the Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies: 7 PM in the East TN Room (Culp 272)October 28: "Toward the Call of the Owl" song cycle featuring the poetry of Jesse Graves and ensemble of musicians, a collaboration with Dept of Music and Mary B. Martin School of the Arts, Powell Recital Hall |
This past year was an exciting time for writing and partnership events here at ETSU: the 2024 Spring Literary Festival, Fall Residency with Jeff VanderMeer, Black American Writers Series with Major Jackson and Sheree Renée Thomas, and the second Women of Appalachia Project "Women Speak" reading on our campus.
Founded in 2015, this ETSU initiative has helped to sponsor programs such as the Spring Literary Festival, the Fall Residency Readings, 3 Emerging Writers Events, the Young Writers' Workshop, and other partnership events over the past seven years.
The ETSU community was heartbroken to learn of the sudden passing of Dr. Bert C. Bach on August 14, 2023. Dr. Bach was a champion for the arts and especially for making them available to students. We will carry his name and his memory forward with us in all that we do with the Written Word Initiative.
Our history:
In September 2015, Dr. Bert C. Bach requested a meeting with English professor and Poet-in-Residence, Dr. Jesse Graves to discuss what kinds of support would most benefit students of writing at ETSU. Planning for events began immediately, resulting in the very first Spring Literary Festival the following semester in April 2016. The program has hosted some remarkable events through the first six years of the program, most that we would never have dreamed of without the BCB Initiative. We hosted US Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize-winning Kingsport, TN native Charles Wright in October 2017; future US Poet Laureate Joy Harjo in April 2018; Jefferson Award-winning novelist Silas House in April 2019, along with many other celebrated authors in those early years. The BCB has hosted dozens of writers since 2016, with many hundreds of students and community members in attendance, and has developed meaningful partnerships with organizations on campus and beyond. What began with Dr. Bach's question, "What do our writing students need?" has resulted in several ongoing programs, such as the annual Spring Literary Festival, Fall Residency, and 3 Emerging Writers series, alongside new partnerships like the Black American Writers' Series, the Young Writers' Workshop, and a continuing TEDxETSU license for the Creative Writing Society.
![Photo of Dr. Bert C. Bach](/cas/litlang/writingfestival/pictures/_facstaff-profile/bertbachheadshot-facstaff-profile.jpg)