If Anna Belle Smith could walk into the Blount County Public Library today, she would be proud. When she helped found the library back in 1919, the idea that more than 50 authors would one day fill its halls for a daylong celebration of books, creativity, and community might have seemed like something out of a fairy tale. The Anna Belle Smith Literary Festival returns to the library on Saturday, October 25, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
This annual festival is free, open to the public, and — true to its namesake’s legacy — dedicated to connecting readers and writers in a place built for stories. The day will feature 55 authors, representing just about every genre you can imagine: local history, humor, business, fantasy, crime fiction, thrillers, romance, Young Adults, poetry, graphic novels, and children’s books.
Among the authors hosting tables are some of East Tennessee’s best-known voices: cartoonist Charlie Daniel; Sam Venable, humorist, newspaper columnist, and storyteller; Chris Wohlwend, longtime journalist; editor and novelist Vince Vawter; and author and podcaster Jim Stovall. These writers, along with many others, will be on hand to talk books, swap stories, and sign copies of their work.
Charlie Daniel, Sam Venable, Chris Wohlwend and Vince Vawter
The day’s breakout sessions are as diverse as the writers themselves, each one offering a different way to think about the written word.
At 10 a.m., Alan O.W. Barnes kicks things off with “Sequential Art Boot Camp,” a crash course in the visual language of comics.
At 11 a.m., Susan O’Dell Underwood — poet, novelist, and founder of Sapling Grove Press — leads a poetry workshop that’s sure to inspire even those who haven’t written a verse since high school English class.
At noon, Frances Figart, creative services director and editor at Smokies Life, presents “Conservation Stories (Not Just for Kids!).” Her session bridges environmental storytelling and creative nonfiction, showing how writing about nature can shape hearts and minds far beyond the national parks.
Finally, at 1 p.m., the festival welcomes Karen Spears Zacharias and E.J. Wade, co-authors of “The Devil’s Pulpit & Other Mostly True Scottish Misadventures.” Their talk, “Divergent Paths to Co-Authoring,” explores the art of collaboration — how two voices can weave friendship, heritage, and humor into one narrative.
Each session will be followed by a 15-minute meet and greet, giving attendees a chance to chat with the presenters, ask questions, and get books signed. For writers, it’s an opportunity to learn; for readers, it’s a peek behind the curtain at how stories take shape.
It’s fitting that the festival bears Anna Belle Smith’s name. More than a century ago, Smith and her contemporaries believed that a library could be more than a warehouse of books — it could be a living center for civic and cultural life. The festival embodies that vision perfectly: authors and readers sitting side by side, celebrating stories that connect generations, communities, and ideas. When she died in 1939, her obituary in the News Sentinel noted, “It was largely through her efforts that the city’s library was started.”
The celebration of literature continues into the evening. At 5:30 p.m., the Great Smoky Mountains Institute at Tremont will host a special panel, “Writing Rural America,” in the library’s main gallery. This event, too, is free and open to the public — a fitting encore that honors the voices and landscapes that shape Appalachian storytelling.
Melanie Staten is a public relations consultant with her husband, Vince.
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