Now accepting applications for 2024 Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency
Great Smoky Mountains Association is now accepting applications for its fourth Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency. The annual residency hosted by GSMA is designed to help writers of any medium connect in meaningful ways with Great Smoky Mountains National Park by providing space for successful applicants to focus on their craft in an inspiring, retreat-like setting. […]
Brian Railsback selected as 2023 Steve Kemp Writer in Residence
Great Smoky Mountains Association has announced Western Carolina University professor Dr. Brian Railsback as the recipient of its 2023 Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency. The annual residency, funded by GSMA, is designed to help writers of any medium connect in meaningful ways with Great Smoky Mountains National Park, providing space for each individual to focus on […]
Finding and embracing the magicalness within
Just say, “Yes.” As the 2022 Steve Kemp Writer in Residence, that’s been my philosophy whenever opportunities have been presented for a new experience in Great Smoky Mountains National Park…
Otters, goldenrod, monarchs, and a plein air painter heighten Cades Cove experience
As much as I love waterfalls, I’m not so keen on traffic. As the 2022 Steve Kemp writer in residence, one of my personal goals has been to explore as much of the park as possible…
When the student becomes the teacher
The more you know, the more you care, the better you can do. It’s a naïve thought, but it’s what I choose to believe, especially in my capacity as Great Smoky Mountains Association’s 2022 Steve Kemp Writer in Residence. I shared this thought with an Illinois family I met on a late summer hike to […]
Serendipity leads to learning about iNaturalist and the Smokies Most Wanted
Close friends tell me my middle name should be “Serendipity” given my often-impeccable timing for wondrous happenstance. While I tend to chuckle when they say it, I can’t disagree. As if on cue, of course, such happenstance struck yet again just before a recent late summer foray into the Smokies as part of my role […]
Now accepting applications for 2023 Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency
Great Smoky Mountains Association is now accepting applications for its third annual Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency. Funded by GSMA, the residency is designed to connect writers with the Smokies in meaningful ways and to inspire some of their best work. The program is named for 30-year GSMA veteran Steve Kemp, who retired in 2017 after […]
The only thing you’ll want to buy at the Purchase is more time
Sometimes I’m amazed by how little I know about so much. Luckily for me, however, I’m endlessly curious and open to the possibilities. In my brief time as GSMA’s Steve Kemp Writer-in-Residence, the doors have swung wide open to expand my knowledge and help me understand the national park in previously unexpected ways. Nothing could […]
Of big views and big bears
I’m a sucker for ‘big’ views. So when Steve Kemp, GSMA’s former creative services director and the namesake for my writing residency, suggested a hike to Andrews Bald, I was psyched—especially because it was yet another trail that would be new to me…
Smoky Mountain University makes me want to go back to college
Story and photos by Sue Wasserman Ashley Morris had a dream. The Great Smokies-loving biology professor from Greenville, South Carolina-based Furman University was intent on immersing her students in diverse park experiences. She and I met serendipitously, shortly after I began my stint as Great Smoky Mountains Association’s Kemp Writer-in-Residence and just before she was […]
