Meacham Writers’ Workshop

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**Books available for purchase at most events.**

Save the Dates!

Spring 2026 Meacham (co-sponsored with the Southern Literary Festival)

Wed., Apr. 8, 5:30p, Guerry Center Reading Room

• Sequoya Review Launch Party

Thurs., Apr. 9, Roth Reading Room (UTC Library, Rm 402)

• 6p-7p, Opening Reception (sponsored by CAS)
• 7p-8p, Reading, Conversation, and book signing with Jamie Quatro

Fri., Apr. 10, UTC Library's Derthick Hall 101

• 730p to 830p, Keynote Talk, Reading, and book signing with Kevin Wilson

Sat., Apr 11, Lupton Hall and Library

• 10:30a to 11:45a,  Leigh Anne Couch (Visiting Writer), Poetry, Lupton Hall 303
  • Dear Stranger
    “Fascinated by the power and extreme intimacy of letter-writing–true letters, not the ta-da cleverness of tweets or the clipped expedience of most emails–I often use letters (writing in longhand) to warm up my poetry brain. A true letter is written by one individual to another; it has a purpose and every move in its construction has the reader in mind. The process and form of the epistolary poem encourages the writer to look for common ground, to keep the one-way conversation going until there’s a reply. We will read some ancient and very recent examples of the epistolary poem and try our hand at it. As Aimee Nezhukumatathil says, “I like to think of writing epistles as a writing towards–and attempting to love, or at least recognize–the strangers that live inside each of us.”
• 1:30p to 2:30p, Visiting Writers Reading, Roth Reading Room (Library 402)
  • Christian J. Collier  |  Leigh Anne Couch  |  Matthew Hubbard  |  Richard Jackson    

Meacham Writer's Workshop Videos

About the Meacham Writers' Workshop

The Meacham Writers' Workshop, established in 1985 by UTC Professor Emeritus and Founding Director Richard Jackson, is supported primarily by an endowment funded by the late Jean Meacham in honor of her husband, Ellis K. Meacham to promote writing as an expressive art, and to draw together university and community writers and readers. Her ideal, which we maintain today, was to create an informal atmosphere where nationally known writers, local writers, students, and novice writers and their readers could freely, and on an equal basis, exchange ideas, works, and readings. In order to promote this she asked that the workshops be free and open to all. The program consists of readings, panels and generative workshops at UTC and in the Chattanooga community. The philosophy of the workshop is to provide access to the literary arts to UTC students and underserved members of our community. The conference welcomes non-writers who are avid readers of contemporary prose and poetry, as well as school groups. The conference is open to persons of all age, race, religion, sex, veteran status, national origin, or disability.

Workshop Support

In the past, the Meacham Writers' Workshop has received additional support from the Tennessee Arts Commission, Allied Arts of Chattanooga, the UTC English Department, UTC Honors Program, UTC Speakers and Special Events Committee, and Chattanooga State.

Visiting Writers

Click here to view the list of all MEACHAM visiting writers.

Alumni Impact

UTC Alumni who have benefitted from and participated in the Meacham Writers’ Workshop include MacArthur Genius Award, National Endowment for the Arts and Whiting Award winners, and professors. The Spring 2022 UTC magazine (on page 32) features a profile of Professor Emeritus Richard Jackson, the former Director of Meacham, in which he describes his role in developing the Meacham and its impact on students. In addition, this article in Chapter16.org also details the impact Meacham has had on students and the community.

Meacham Today and Beyond

As we work toward Meacham’s 40^th anniversary in 2025, we want to deepen our impact in the Chattanooga community, forming partnerships with schools and youth programs that benefit all of Chattanooga. We hope that Meacham continues to make lasting partnerships with the Chattanooga community and increases access to UTC's  distinctive model of education, impacting our community and enhance the educational experience of our students by sustaining the scholarly, creative and entrepreneurial activity of our faculty and students.