Teachers, other writers invited to attend writing retreat with special guest Sheila Kay Adams

Sheila Kay Adams, a singer, storyteller, musician, and author, will be a featured instructor during the 2005 Advanced Summer Institute, a writing retreat to be held July 26-28 at Breaks Interstate Park. Presented by the Appalachian Writing Project at The University of Virginia’s College at Wise, the retreat invites teachers of all disciplines and other writers from across Southwest Virginia to apply for participation.

An outreach program of the Appalachian Writing Project (AWP) at UVa-Wise, the Advanced Summer Institute offers a chance for all writers to improve their skills.

Adams, author of Come Go Home With Me, is a native Western North Carolina, where, for seven generations, she and her family have passed down the tradition of the English, Scottish, and Irish ballads that came over with her ancestors in the late eighteenth century.

Appalachian writers Rita Quillen and Michael Chitwood will also be featured presenters.
Quillen is a published poet in the Appalachian region and is the author of such poetry collections as Counting the Sums. She is an instructor at Mountain Empire Community College and is frequently invited to present her works as the featured writer of UVa-Wise Coffee Night events.

Chitwood is the author of several poetry books, including Whet and The Weave Room. A native of the foothills of the Virginia Blue Ridge, Chitwood now lives in Chapel Hill, N.C., where he works as a freelance writer and a regular radio commentator.

Applications for the writing retreat must be postmarked no later than July 18. A $25 registration fee is required of applicants who are not AWP members. For an application or more information, contact Rita Justice at Haysi High School, P.O. Box G, Haysi, VA 24256, by phone at 276-865-5126, or by e-mail at rjustice@dickenson.k12.va.us.

The Appalachian Writing Project is a member of the Virginia Writing Project Network as well as the National Writing Project. The mission of the AWP is to create a professional community of teachers/writers that, according to the basic model of the National Writing Project "provides intellectual challenges, offers professional opportunities, and expects teachers to participate in career-long growth and accomplishments."

The only branch of the University of Virginia, UVa-Wise is ranked among the nation's top public liberal arts colleges by U.S. News and World Report. UVa-Wise is home to 1,800 students and offers undergraduate and professional programs in the liberal arts tradition of Thomas Jefferson.