Entering its fifth semester, the English and Modern Foreign Language Department’s Writers Series has attracted much more attention than previously thought.

“We asked if he [Dr. Conn] could fund a Writers Series that would be similar to the Presidential Concert Series that the Music Department puts on,” Dr. Kevin Brown, professor of English, said. “Dr. Rachel Reneslacis wrote the proposal for the series.”

At the time the department was expanding, as the writing minor had just been introduced to students and the department saw a future for a writing major.

“We wanted our students to be able to interact with professional writers from different genres, backgrounds and levels of experience,” Brown said. “We wanted the writers, then, not only to come to campus to speak, but also to visit classes and meet with students.”

The first of this semester’s writers is Richard Jackson, who will speak in the Centenary Room on Feb. 6, at 7 p.m. Jackson is a foundation professor of English at the University of Tennessee in Chattanooga. He has written four books of poems, two books of criticism, and two anthologies. Jackson has also been the winner of several honorable writing awards.

The series will continue on Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., in the Dixon Center with Lee University’s own Stacey Isom. Isom is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing who has been nominated for several awards for plays and playwrights.

The 2007-08 Writers Series will then wrap up with Katie Chaple on March 17, 7 p.m. in the Centenary Room. Chaple is an undergraduate visiting professor at West Georgia University, where she teaches composition courses. Chaple is an accomplished poet that has been published in several journals.

“Over the years, we have worked to incorporate the visiting writers into our classes, giving the students more chances to read their works and interact with them,” Brown said.

For more information on the series, contact the Department of English and Modern Foreign Languages at 423-614-8210.