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A Pulitzer Prize-winner and former U.S. Poet Laureate will headline this year’s Spring Literary Festival at East Tennessee State University.  

Rita Dove will read from her work on Thursday, April 18, at 7 p.m. in the recently revitalized Bud Frank Theatre. Dove will also offer a conversational session with ETSU’s Dr. Jesse Graves and Valencia Robin Grice at 3 p.m. in the Reece Museum.   

“We are honored to host one of America’s greatest poets, Rita Dove, for what will be another amazing Spring Literary Festival at ETSU,” said Dr. Graves, ETSU’s poet-in-residence. “We will also host other brilliant writers, including one of our most celebrated alumni authors, Catherine Pritchard Childress, in what has proved to be a signature literary event in our region.” 

The free public festival runs Wednesday and Thursday, April 17-18.  

Dove will also engage the audience in a question-and-answer and book signing following both sessions.   

Dove served as U.S. Poet Laureate from 1993-95. She earned the National Humanities Medal from President Bill Clinton and the National Medal of Arts from President Barack Obama – the only poet to ever win both honors. “Thomas and Beulah,” one of her many works, received the 1987 Pulitzer Prize in poetry. 

A full schedule, as well as a list of speakers, is available here. The festival is sponsored by the Bert C. Bach Written Word Initiative.  

ETSU is home to a vibrant arts community, hosting scores of concerts, exhibitions and performances throughout the year. April is an especially busy time, with more than two dozen events scheduled.  

For disability accommodations, call the ETSU Office of Disability Services at (423) 439-8346.