Best cities in TN for writers and other creative people? (place, worth)

[resolute]

Originally Posted by 12buttons

Hi folks - I live in TN but I am looking for a special location...

Where do all the creative types of kindred spirits amidst the nascar, barbecue, titan population find a good support network?

Any small cities with colleges strong in the liberal arts and a good writers network?

I assume nashville with vandy would be a candidate but I simply cannot live in a city with that kind of traffic and high house prices....

I am looking for someplace a little less traveled. And if it doesn't have a strong writers group, it should be so gorgeous (Walden Pond) it would inspire the scribe in an illiterate!

Carmel california was originally started as an artist's colony..

Other examples...woodstock ny, bennington vermont, asheville nc, etc..

I love TN...just looking for a user friendly place for writers...

Thanks!

12buttons

Come as far down in the SE corner of Tennessee that you can - Copperhill..

The town (built up on a side of a hill and originally a mining town) is begging to be turned into an artists colony - has plenty of old, vintage homes, storefronts, etc. and the Ocoee River and mountains as a backdrop with lots of interesting history related to mining. A nearby road gives you a 90 minute straight shot drive to downtown Atlanta and Chattanooga is also about 60-90 minutes away. Check it out.. you'll need a little vision and pioneers spirit but you can still get in on the ground floor..

[LauraC]

Originally Posted by 12buttons

Hi folks - I live in TN but I am looking for a special location...


I love TN...just looking for a user friendly place for writers...

Thanks!

12buttons

I can't tell you anything about it, personally, but a net search shows there is a group called Tennessee Mountain Writers that you can check out. From their webpage it looks like they have a newsletter and workshops and uh-oh, they have a Poetry Critiquing Workshop today in my town:

Tennessee Mountain Writers, Inc.

You might want to take a look at the links they offer on that website, too. Because in addition to writers organizations in the area, there are writers forums, too, that may help with your quest to find the right spot to live.

I also found the Tennessee Writers Alliance from a web search:

Tennessee Writers Alliance - Home

Find other Tennessee writer events and organizations by doing a google search on:

writers TN

[Robbied]

The Tennessee Writers Project | The List


If you look at the cities and communities in which they live, this might give you a place to start.

Happy hunting.

[Robbied]

National Storytelling Festival/TN Writers Retreat | Gather

perhaps if you involved yourself in gatherings such as those listed, you can find the area that is write ( for you.

[TriDad]

Chattanooga is looking to attract artists focused on the visual arts. Special programs provide subsidized housing in up & coming areas of town.

[12buttons]

thanks to everybody who posted here -good info - thanks!

[tsimmu]

If you're wanting to stay in TN or bordering areas, what about Oxford, MS? Long history of great literature.

[BST]

Bell Buckle, TN is off the beaten path but not too far from Nashville. I believe one of Tennessee's poet laureats hails from there (or once did). Another Tennessee town known to inspire great fits of creativity is Lynchburg...but I digress.

Bell Buckle, TN Chamber of Commerce

[sk8rkidzmom]

Sevierville, Pigeon Forge, Gatlinburg Tennessee....Very fun and creative town. Arts and Crafts community in Gatlinburg. Not too pricey, don't know about Arts College but very nice with lots of nature for inspiration, parks, people, and not as HUGE as Nasville or Knoxville! I LOVE IT HERE!

[creeksitter]

Most full time writers I know don't make enough to isolate themselves from the "nascar, barbecue, titan (UT Vols) population". It costs a lot to be a snob. It costs a lot to isolate yourself deep in the woods. And chances are when you get stuck in the mud the neighbor that tows you out will be a nascar, barbecue, titan/vol fan.