Spartanburg Community College will host their biennial “Wonders of Writing Symposium” on September 26 – 28, 2023. The 2023 event will feature two authors of short story collections: Emily Pease and Andrew Siegrist. This program brings visionary authors to Spartanburg in order to share their art with a diverse audience and encourage critical reflection. SC Humanities supported this project with a Fast Track Literary Grant.
In 2023, the WOW Symposium will include two authors with recently-published collections. Emily Pease is the author of Let Me Out of Here (Hub City Press, 2019) and Andrew Siegrist is the author of We Imagined It Was Rain (Hub City Press, 2021). They were selected because of their unique voice and perspectives on culturally-relevant issues. Following the reading, there will be a Q&A.
Nettie Brooks, an instructor at SCC and organizer of the Wonders of Writing Symposium said, “Pease and Siegrist were chosen because both focus on themes of regionalism, coming of age, and identity. Both authors also have interesting life experiences that will help connect them with students and the community.”
Emily W. Pease graduated from the University of North Carolina with a degree in English and a concentration in journalism. She went on to receive an MA from Virginia Tech and an MFA in Writing from Warren Wilson College. Her stories have appeared in the Missouri Review, the Georgia Review, Shenandoah, Crazyhorse, the Alaska Quarterly Review, Narrative, and Witness. After teaching for many years at the College of William & Mary, she now teaches writing to veterans through the Armed Services Arts Partnership, where she also serves as a member of their arts council. She is currently beginning a novel about logging the last forests of West Virginia. She lives in Williamsburg, VA.
Andrew Siegrist is a graduate of the Creative Workshop at the University of New Orleans. His work has appeared in The Baltimore Review, Arts & Letters, The Greensboro Review, Pembroke Magazine, Fiction Southeast, Bat City Review, and elsewhere. He lives on the Cumberland River outside of Nashville, Tennessee.
The authors will participate in programs for faculty and students, such as a master class, on September 26 and 27, and they will be featured in the public reading and reception on Thursday, September 28 at 6:30 p.m. at the Evans Downtown Campus (220 E Kennedy St, Spartanburg, SC 29302). The public event is free. Spartanburg Community College will partner with Hub City Writers Project to promote the event and to sell books.
The mission of SC Humanities is to enrich the cultural and intellectual lives of all South Carolinians. Established in 1973, this 501(c)3 organization is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors comprised of community leaders from throughout the state. It presents and supports literary initiatives, lectures, exhibits, festivals, publications, oral history projects, videos, and other humanities-based experiences that directly or indirectly reach more than 250,000 citizens annually. South Carolina Humanities receives funding from the National Endowment for the Humanities as well as corporate, foundation and individual donors. The National Endowment for the Humanities: Democracy demands wisdom.
