Tonight was the first night of this spring’s Meacham Writers’ Workshop, a creative writing workshop held every spring and fall. The Meacham was established from an endowment by late UTC professor Jean Meacham in honor of her husband, Ellis K. Meacham, attorney, judge, and novelist. The Meacham is unique among workshops of its kind, first, in its emphasis on face-to-face contact between writers and participants, and, second, because it is free. The Meacham is currently hosted at Chattanooga State, UTC, and Rock Point Books.

I have been associated with the Meacham Writers’ Workshop since its inception in the mid ‘80s, first as a graduate student in the English department at UTC and later as a faculty member at Chattanooga State. Over the years, the series has grown, especially on the Chattanooga State campus, where attendance has increased nearly 400% over the last ten years.

Over the years, the Meacham has been an inspiration and motivation to me as a writer, and I have tried to pass that on to my students, and have taken on the responsibility of the Meacham Writers’ Workshop’s web site, which is hosted by Chattanooga State (http://www.chattanoogastate.edu/Meacham/). My goal for the web site, which I began around 2000, has been to both promote the Meacham and to create a repository of information on the many writers who have participated. For the future, I am hoping the site can also serve as a resource for those interested in creative writing and for those who teach creative writing and literature.

Since Bill Teem joined the faculty at Chattanooga State, we have expanded the website to include podcasts of the readings. This year marked a new technological adventure as we audio simulcast the readings in our virtual campus in Second Life (through the efforts and resources of the Chattanooga State Augusta R. Kolwyck library and staff). Eventually, we hope to do even more to make the Meacham accessible and useful, both for those who participate and those around the world with an interest in creative writing and literature.

Not only has the Meacham been important to me professionally, but I have made many friends over the years among the writers who have come. I could not begin to name them all. With that joy has come sadness for those we have lost, including Bill Matthews, Lynda Hull, and recently, Ken Smith.

I only met Bill Matthews once, during my years as a student at UTC. He came to our creative writing class, taught by Rick Jackson, and he and Rick proceeded to engage in the literary equivalent of dueling banjoes.

Ken Smith was my teacher, my colleague, and my friend. Both of us bearded, I often jokingly called him Dad, even though he was only a few years older. I can still hear his voice with its soft undertones and easy grace. Somehow, despite how much I love the Meacham, it always feels a little emptier with him gone, especially on Saturday evenings, which was when he and his wife, Maddie, would fix pasta. One of my fondest memories of Ken took place at the old Cameron Hills clubhouse above downtown Chattanooga, when Ken and his friend and teacher Bob Houston worked behind the kitchen counter crooning old cowboy songs. The Cameron Hills apartments are gone, and Ken is gone, but he still lives on in our memories and in our hearts. Kenny, we miss you.

Those of us who have had the privilege of being part of the Meacham Writers’ Workshop over the years, “we few, we happy few, we band of brothers” and sisters, share a rich heritage and tradition. After all the hard work and preparation, each of us, as the conference ends for the season, looks forward to the next. May we always do so.

© Bill Stifler, 2009