Front Page

The 'Zine

Sunsphere City

Bonus Track

Market Square

Search
Contact us!
About the site

Incoming

Letters to the editor:
[email protected]

Letters to the Editor

Annual Manhandled, Part I

As a technical writer by day and a fiction writer by night, imagine my joy at seeing the Oct. 12, 2000 issue and Metro Pulse 2001 Annual Manual. The October issue had on its front cover the words "art town" and the Annual Manual had an entire section entitled "Arts & Entertainment."

Unfortunately, I was disappointed with both editions. Why? Because neither one mentioned anything about the literary scene in and around Knoxville. For example, there was no mention of The Knoxville Writers' Guild, which meets monthly; publishes a monthly newsletter that it sends out to members; sponsors yearly writing contests in fiction, poetry, and recently non-fiction; has edited and published (either on its own or through local and regional publishers) several books containing fiction, non-fiction, and poetry; and was even recently an instrumental part in creating and then judging the first winner of the Peter Taylor Award, an award for a novel-length work being published by The University of Tennessee Press. All this from an organization run by volunteers and only eight years old. The Guild has an address: P.O. Box 10326, Knoxville, TN 37939 and an e-mail address: [email protected]. It even has a Web site: www.knoxvillewritersguild.org. What more does it need to have before Metro Pulse will recognize it as a legitimate arts organization?

Also, in Oak Ridge there is The Tennessee Mountain Writers, Inc. They hold a major writers conference (The Tennessee Mountain Writers Conference) in Oak Ridge each spring. Their e-mail address is [email protected] which reaches their executive director, Patricia Hope.

There is also The Knoxville Writers' Group and it meets for lunch at 11:30 a.m. the last Wednesday of each month at the University Club.

There is even a national literary magazine, New Millennium Writings, that is produced locally by Don Williams. There are even a couple (maybe more) local publishers, one of whom who is getting some national attention.

Is it a matter that a well-crafted line in a story indicates a freak of nature, while a well-crafted line in a sculpture or painting indicates a work of art?

I find this oversight, particularly twice within three months, to be unconscionable. Like many Knoxvillians whom you prod for not appreciating the things they have in their own town, I think you, as an organization that relies upon words, are guilty of the same sin. I hope in future issues you rectify this error.

David E. Booker
Knoxville

Annual Manhandled, Part II

(Webmonkey's note: the registration for the domain sisternews.com expired and was snapped up by a porn site. Needless to say, this was not the intent or focus of the original SisterNews site, and we wish to stress that Hope McCubbin is not involved with or responsible for the site that currently appears under that domain name.)

I was eager to pick up a copy of this year's Metro Pulse Annual Manual and quickly turned to the Gay/ Lesbian/Bisexual section to look for a listing of the web page I produce for local lesbian and bisexual womyn, SisterNews.com, and listings for several groups that it helps nurture and support. They weren't there.

Metro Pulse carries at least four listings for groups that rely on SisterNews.com for their networking in its weekly calendar, why would these listings not appear in the Annual Manual? Sadly I know that last year's Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual listing for the Manual was simply reprinted without updates or corrections. I know this because the same incorrect listing for our gay/lesbian/bi/ trans parents group "Family" that appeared in the Annual Manual last year appeared again this year. The incorrect listing gives a whole other meaning to the title of the group and because of this mistake we lost an opportunity to reach parents who may need our support.

SisterNews.com is very active and many local people rely on it for support. We rely on Metro Pulse for listings because many area readers looking for support and social outlets turn to your calendar page. Thanks for the weekly listings but please include us in your yearly Annual Manual as well. I notice that several other local gay/lesbian groups and churches that list with you weekly are not in the Manual either.

Hope McCubbin
producer, www.SisterNews.com

Knoxville