Each year the English Club works in conjunction with the English Department in order to help sponsor writers and English events. On March 21, Radford University hosted the Highlander Literary Festival sponsored by the English Club.

Guest speakers included Sharyn McCrumb, award-winning author whose books include St. Dale, She Walks These Hills, and Once Around the Track; David Huddle, professor and author of titles such as Glory River, Grayscale, and Summer Lake: New and Selected Poems; Rita Quillen, author of five books including Her Secret Dream, the winner of the Poetry Book of the Year 2008 from the Appalachian Writer’s Association; Richard Rose, who has directed, choreographed, designed, and written more than 135 productions during his 17 years at Abingdon’s Barter Theatre; and Jim Minick, RU English professor, author, and moderator for the panel discussion.

Each summer the RU Appalachian Studies Program hosts the Highlander Summer Conference, bringing together some of the best writers of the region that come and read their work and teach intensive workshops. “It’s a really great experience for the people that get to go, but because of the time of year, a lot of people that might like to see these people don’t get a chance,” said Matt Prater, English Club president.

The Literary Festival brought together during the middle of a semester nationally known and regional writers and artists that share a common tie to Appalachia even though not all of the artists considered themselves strictly “Appalachian” writers.

“I am excited that we were able to do it this year,” said Sarah Helwig, member of the English Club. “We have put a lot of planning into the event. We also hope to make this an annual event.”

The purpose of the Highlander Literary festival was to “celebrate literature, especially Appalachian literature, and to help students experience how rich a world we live in,” Minick said.

The English Club came up with a theme tying all four artists and writers. This year’s theme for the festival was “Ocean to Ocean: Creating Universal Art for Specific Communities.” The idea came from a Jim Wayne Miller poem called “The Brier Sermon” in his book The Mountains Have Come Closer where all who live in Appalachia can see the world from both “ridge to ridge” and “ocean to ocean.”

Prater explains the theme in more detail. “Most of us in the club are Appalachian, and being an Appalachian school we obviously come from a certain cultural root,” he said. “Still, you don’t want to make your roots your boundaries, or else you’re not going to get anyone that’s not like you to join your group or you to join theirs, and you’re certainly not going to sell your book to or help anyone out that’s outside your own small circle. But it basically comes down to that: how do you make an art that expresses your roots and serves a practical purpose for your local community without allowing those roots you keep you from expressing yourself in universal terms or from defining yourself with and engaging with a community outside of the one you may originally come from.”

Minick said that there is value in both local and global. “We need to know our history and that art,” he said. “If well done, it’s grounded in a specific place but appeals to a universal audience.”

In the first portion of the evening, all four writers and artists read from their work, then gathered together for a panel discussion with questions asked by the audience. A reception followed the discussion with a book signing.

Brian Seay is an intern for the New River Voice.