MTSU Writing Corps to share stories at Frist Center April 17

Several members of the Writers Corps, a creative writing group of military service members and veterans who attend MTSU, will share their stories with the public April 17 at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville for a special one-night, pop-up gallery reading event.

Members of the MTSU Writers Corps, shown above, will appear April 17 at the Frist Center for Visual Arts in Nashville to share their stories. The group of military veterans tell their stories through creative writing and hold public readings throughout the year. (Submitted photo)

Members of the MTSU Writers Corps, including, from left to right, Kevin Sweathomas, Brian Crow, Patrick Richey, Orlandus Miles, Kevin Brown, Matthew Brown, Spencer Johnston and Marcus Mackey, will appear Thursday, April 17, at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts in Nashville to share their stories. The group of military veterans tell their stories through creative writing and hold public readings throughout the year. (Photo submitted)

Members of the group will share their work at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17, in conjunction with the exhibitions “Goya: The Disasters of War,” which features etchings of the Peninsular War of 1808-1814, and “Steve Mumford’s War Journals, 2003–2013,” which comprises images dealing with the American presence in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Frist Center is located at 919 Broadway in downtown Nashville. For hours, admission and other information, visit www.fristcenter.org.

The MTSU Writers Corps encourages veterans to share thoughts, feelings or experiences in writing and to ultimately share their work with on- and off-campus communities through publication in their annual literary journal, “DMZ: A Journal of Contemporary Literature by Veterans.”

The informal group’s primary goal is to help veterans with their scholarly, personal, emotional and spiritual well-being, organizers say. The group provides a comfortable environment where veterans can gather among peers, and corps members say such writing eases some of the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder.

To raise public awareness about the experiences of military veterans, the group holds public readings throughout the academic year, most notably at their spring journal release party and literary showcase.

For more information about the MTSU Writers Corps or Thursday’s event, contact Matthew Brown, MTSU English instructor and group founder, at matthew.brown@mtsu.edu.

— Jimmy Hart (jimmy.hart@mtsu.edu)