Poetry contest, pub crawl turn section of downtown into 'Writers' Block'

Editors note: This story was originally published in "Appalachian Places," a digital magazine published by the Center of Excellence for Appalachian Studies and Services at East Tennessee State University.Every October, poets from around the Tri-Cities region of East Tennessee gather on one of the first cool nights of fall to celebrate community, creativity and craft beer. For the past five years, Atlantic Ale House, a tap room in downtown Johnson City with mostly outdoor-patio seating, has hosted the opening-ceremony toast of the Johnson City Poets Collective's annual Poetry Contest and Pub Crawl. It's an evening of new and old friends celebrating the local poetry scene with a mobile poetry reading and a stroll around downtown craft breweries and small businesses.Held this year on Oct. 9, the contest and pub crawl connected businesses Atlantic Ale House, Fischman Gallery/Lazy Lady Baking Co., and The Generalist with the words and wisdom of area writers. First-, second- and third-place winners were Kate Bewley, Audrey Hanna and Brittani Clifton.According to local rambler-map artist and poet Scott Honeycutt, events like the poetry contest and pub crawl are key contributors to the "Johnson City Renaissance," an artistic revival and creative culture that Honeycutt likes to say is part of "The Appalachian Cosmic Boogie." Coined by Honeycutt, the phrase "alludes to the curious mix of poetic talent and productivity that arose in the upper Tennessee valley during the late teens of this century," he said. "The ACB is part of the larger Johnson City Renaissance — which includes visual art and music."A Collective forceThe Johnson City Poets Collective hosts monthly Open Poetry Hoots at The Down Home, an intimate listening room where some of the biggest names in American roots music, as well as local artists, have performed since 1976. One of the longest-running music venues in the country, The Down Home is on West Main Street at the edge of the city's downtown district and seats about 150 people. The room's iconic rough sawn, angled-wood décor — unchanged since the establishment's opening night — provides a warm backdrop for vocal performances of any genre. The public is invited to attend the Open Poetry Hoots, where anyone can sign up and read their original work.The Collective began as an active, competitive slam poetry group in the late 1990s — just as Johnson City was about to experience a boom of new businesses moving into its historic downtown. As part of the district's eclectic local scene, the Collective's membership has performed during festivals and events for more than two decades. The Open Hoots began in 2004, and the Collective formally organized and formed a board of directors in 2014.Helping to support today's thriving mix of restaurants, breweries, retail boutiques and art galleries in Johnson City's downtown is its next-door neighbor, East Tennessee State University. Jesse Graves, ETSU's Poet-in-Residence (and co-editor of the Appalachian Places poetry section) said that when he arrived in Johnson City in 2009, the Open Hoot was one of his favorite finds."To this day, I have never seen such an organic, diverse and democratic poetry scene, where about half of the readers are students and faculty from the university, and half are from the community," Graves said. "Part of the magic is that everyone is truly welcome on the stage of the legendary Down Home, and there is equal applause and enthusiasm for first-time readers and the 'regular-regulars' who are almost always present."Running with the CrawlThe Poets Collective board brainstormed the concept of a contest-based pub crawl in 2019 as a way for local poets to further engage with their community. The idea arose from three basic questions:1. How do we get more people writing poems?2. How can we tell the story that poetry is alive and well in this community?3. How can we have fun with poetry and support local businesses along the way?The answer to each question was to establish a yearly themed poetry contest that would celebrate finalists during a pub crawl between downtown craft beer breweries and tap rooms.The contest's theme this year was "Obsession and Fascination." Submissions needed to respond to the prompt: "We all have poetic obsessions that enchant us. Follow what fascinates you — the symbol, object, image, memory, etc., that haunts or inspires." Past themes have included Fall, Creatures of the Night, Poetry of Place, and Transformation.Each poet is allowed to submit one poem with entries collected by a trio of volunteer judges in Appalachia. This year's judges were Sappho Stanley, Susan O'Dell Underwood, and Brandon Bragg.The judges read through 37 entries from area poets ranging from published writers with multiple books to poets entering one of their creations for the first time. Author information for submissions is removed so that each poem is judged on equal footing.Each judge chooses 10 poems as contest finalists, creating a list of poems used to identify semifinalists and finalists, and culminating with three final winners. A handful of honorary readers are chosen both from poets who submitted and people in the larger Johnson City poetry community.Each year, the collective creates a sticker to celebrate the pub crawl and fundraise for the Collective's operating budget. This year's sticker was designed by Stella Rodenberg and features a Johnson City Poets Collective coat of arms. "I wanted the sticker to be a protective symbol: armor to guard the body, poetry to guard the heart," Rodenberg said. "And, unicorns are just really cool."Crawl this waySince 2020, Atlantic Ale House has been the gathering spot for the opening-ceremony toast and first round of readers. Three grand prizes include gift cards or small items donated by supporters and local businesses. Prize support this year came from the Poetry Society of Tennessee, The Generalist, Atlantic Ale House, and Groovy Grovers. Other prizes were sourced from local businesses such as Main Street Antiques, Shamrock Beverage and Tobacco Shop, The Moon Coffee and Tea House, and McKay's Bookstore. Luna's Woodcraft, a local woodworking business, provides handmade plaques for the winners each year using locally reclaimed barnwood.Leaving Atlantic Ale House, the group crawled across Kings Common Park to Fischman Gallery and Lazy Lady Baking Co. The second round of readers performed poems at the gallery among "The Beauty of Color," the gallery's October art exhibit by Beverly Thomas Jenkins. At the peak of the night, the pub crawl had over 70 people.At The Generalist — a retail hub for area creators, vendors and artistic entrepreneurs — the night concluded with the awarding of prizes, an event eagerly awaited by attendees. Before each prize was announced, the crowd provided light-hearted leg-slap drumrolls to build suspense.This year's first-place winner, Kate Bewley, was awestruck when her poem "horsegirls" took home the top prize. She had never publicly shared her poetry, entered a poetry contest, or read her work aloud. Encouraged by a friend who thought the poem was a great fit for the contest theme, Bewley had entered her work in response to the friend's question, "What's the worst that could happen?""It was a great honor and a sublime experience," Bewley said. "'horsegirls,' at its core, bridges the gap between a younger self that didn't understand the fad of being obsessed with horses, with a later return to the ecstatic joy one gets at a click of connection, both of finally seeing the wonder of the horses and, in turn, being seen."Bewley is not the first contest entrant to see their latent flair for poetry recognized. Parker Guffey, a high school student at the time, won the top prize in 2023.The Johnson City Poets Collective's motto is "Crafting Words. Creating Community. Igniting Creativity." As Honeycutt often remarks during gatherings, "Our time together is not time taken away from my life, but time given back."For information about upcoming events and contests, follow the Johnson City Poets Collective on Facebook and Instagram.Lacy Snapp is a poet, professor and woodworking artist in East Tennessee where she plans both university and community-based literary events. She is co-editor of the poetry section of Appalachian Places. To read the winning poems, visit www.appalachianplaces.org.