Veterans attending MTSU will share their experiences through their writing at the upcoming Southern Festival of Books.

Click on the MTSU Writers Corps flier above for a link to the 2013 Southern Festival of Books website.

Members of the MTSU Writers’ Corps, a creative writing group, will present a free public reading of their works from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 13, on the festival’s Chapter 16 Stage at Legislative Plaza in Nashville.

The corps is an informal association of MTSU students who are current or former members of the military, along with their dependents.

“I would see veterans come home, go to college and feel alienated,” said Matthew Brown, an MTSU English instructor and founder of the Writers’ Corps. “It made me want to do something to help them.”

Brian Crow of Unionville, Tenn.; Spencer Johnston of Smyrna, Tenn.; Sean Martin of Chester, Ill.; Kevin Sweathomas of Lafayette, Tenn.; and Dr. Patrick Richey, faculty adviser to the MTSU Debate Club, will read their poetry and short prose.

“We try to create a comfort zone for veterans of all ages,” said Brown.

Some of the budding authors’ writings have been compiled in a journal titled “DMZ: A Journal of Contemporary Literature by Veterans.” The journal was published in April 2013, and a second printing is in the works, Brown said.

For more information, contact Matthew Brown at 618-713-5477 or matthew.brown@mtsu.edu or Kevin Brown, MTSU English instructor and co-editor of “DMZ,” at 615-494-8845 or kevin.brown@mtsu.edu.

— Gina K. Logue (gina.logue@mtsu.edu)