Tusculum College to present guest poetry readings at launch party for The Tusculum Review, April 19

A launch party for the 2013 edition of The Tusculum Review will be held on Friday, April 19, at 4 p.m. in the Shulman Atrium on the Tusculum College campus as part of the 2013 Old Oak Festival.

The Tusculum Review, the college’s literary journal, features fiction and nonfiction, poetry, drama and art. This year’s event will present the poetry of Nate Pritts and Jan LaPerle. Pritts’ work will appear in the new issue.

The event is free and open to the public. Copies of the new issue will be available at the launch party.

Pritts, who served as judge for The Tusculum Review poetry contest this year, is the author of five books of poetry, most recently “Sweet Nothing.” His poetry and prose have been widely published online and in print, as well as on barns. He has been published in the Southern Review, Forklift, Ohio, Court Green, Gulf Coast, Boston Review and Rain Taxi where he frequently contributes reviews. He is the founder and principal editor of H_NGM_N, an online journal and small press. He is from Syracuse, N.Y.

Nate Pritts

LaPerle, visiting assistant professor of English, joined the Tusculum faculty in 2011. She has had numerous works of fiction and poetry published in various magazines and journals including the Tusculum Review. Her most recent publication is “Hush,” a collection of poetry released earlier this year. LaPerle has received her Master of Fine Arts in creative writing as well as a Bachelor of Arts in English with honors from Southern Illinois University.

Jan LaPerle

According to Dr. Clay Matthews, assistant professor of English at the college, Tusculum College is one of only a few undergraduate colleges in the United States that offers students the opportunity to work for an international literary journal.

The Tusculum Review offers students the chance to learn and refine their skills as reviewers of literature, critics of visual art and editors of the written word. These opportunities provide students with unique qualifications for graduate studies and employment in publishing.

“It is a great experience for them as future writers, editors and publishers,” said Wayne Thomas, editor of the journal, chair of the Fine Arts Department and associate professor of English. “We hope everyone will come out and enjoy these great writers and celebrate the art of creative writing.”

The event is part of the Old Oak Festival, featuring fine arts and crafts on the Tusculum College campus, April 19-21. The festival offers something for everyone, including music, art, theater and creative writing, as well as gallery and museum exhibits on the Tusculum College campus.

In addition to the launch party for the Tusculum Review, the Old Oak Festival will present the art work of Amanda Hood, visiting assistant professor of art at East Tennessee State University, whose work was selected for the cover of this year’s review. Hood’s exhibition will held at the Clem Allison Gallery at the Rankin House April 11-20.

On Saturday, April 20, a reception will be held for Hood, which will be paired with the annual Curtis-Owens Literary readings, featuring students J. Phillip Reed, a senior from Florence, S.C., and Ben Sneyd, a senior from Greeneville, formerly of Unicoi. Reed and Sneyd won the literary prizes this year. The reception and readings will be held on the Rankin House lawn beginning at 3 p.m.