Prolific poet Bill Brown will read from his recent poetry collections and discuss several of his current projects at the April 7 meeting of the Knoxville Writers' Guild. Bill will also field questions about his work and the poetic process.

 The meeting, which will be open to the public, will be held at 7 p.m. at the Laurel Theater, located at the corner of Laurel Avenue and 16th Street (in Fort Sanders). A $1 donation is requested at the door. The building is handicapped accessible.

 Brown, who spent his childhood in Dyersburg, TN, is a widely published author, having penned three poetry chapbooks, five full-length collections and a textbook. In 1995, The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts named him The Distinguished Teacher in the Arts, and he has been a Scholar in Poetry at the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, a Fellow at the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and a two-time recipient of fellowships in poetry from the Tennessee Arts Commission.

 His most recent titles, The News Inside (2010) and Late Winter (2007), were both released by Iris Press, which is based in Oak Ridge, TN. He has received high praise from a wide spectrum of outside voices. Poet Mark Jarman calls Brown "the most humane of poets," stating, "He is a poet with perfect pitch for the human condition today." North Carolina Poet Laureate Cathy Smith Bowers remarks of Late Winter, "Late Winter

left this reader longing for more-much more of Bill Brown's wisdom, heart, talent, and undeniable poetic skill."

 In addition to his collections, Brown's poetry has also appeared in numerous acclaimed literary journals, such as Prairie Schooner, North American Review, The Literary Review, Westbranch, Southern Poetry Review, Tar River Poetry, Asheville Poetry Review, Atlanta Review, Connecticut Review, and Smartish Pace.

 Beyond publishing poetry, Bill has made significant contributions to various educational communities. Brown directed the writing program at Hume-Fogg Academic High School in Nashville from 1983-2003. In 1999, he wrote and co-produced the Instructional Television Series, Student Centered Learning, for Nashville Public Television. He was also a part-time lecturer at Vanderbilt University, a position from which he recently retired.

Bill holds a B.A. in history from Bethel College and graduate degrees in English from George Peabody College and The Bread Loaf School of English of Middlebury College. He lives with his wife, Suzanne, and a tribe of cats in the hills north of Nashville.

The Knoxville Writers' Guild is excited to welcome poet Bill Brown for his April appearance, during which he will read from and discuss his previous and upcoming works.