Appalachian Cultural Center announces fall lineup

^{Kim Delozier}

(Sept. 26, 2017) − Kim Delozier, retired chief wildlife biologist for the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, will bring his storytelling ability to Carson-Newman University’s Appalachian Cultural Center on Monday, October 2. The 7 p.m. event, which is free and open to the public, is one of several offerings for the fall semester.

Delozier planned on a farm management career until a difficult calf birth exceeded his sense of calling. He drove to the University of Tennessee the next day and promptly switched majors.

Having begun with the National Park Service as a part-time hunter of non-native wild hogs, the Sevier County farm boy worked his way into 32 years of wildlife management for the half-million-acre national park. Roles between the beginning and end included wildlife handling and reintegrating both peregrine falcons and elk into the park.

Since retiring from the National Park Service in 2010, he has continued his commitment to restoration projects in the eastern United States through the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation. He also teaches chemical immobilization classes for Safe-Capture International.

Along the way, Delozier became a first-rate storyteller, ultimately joining with author Carolyn Jourdan to put his work-related memoirs to paper. He will share memories and read from Bear in the Backseat: Adventures of a Wildlife Ranger in the Great Smokies National Park, which has been noted on the Wall Street Journal’s bestseller list.

Other programs this semester:

• Its Hills and Valleys, a photography exhibit by Rogersville native Matthew Jessie. A large format photographer who is pursuing an MFA at Arizona State University, Jessie uses portraits, landscapes, objects, and other cultural elements to depict “the ups and downs of such an enigmatic sub-region of Appalachia.” The exhibit, open on Mondays and Fridays 9 a.m. through 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. through 3 p.m. and 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Tuesdays and Thursdays, runs through October 27.

• The Ninth Sixth Annual Henrietta Jenkins Memorial Homecoming Poetry Reading, featuring Mercer University English professor Anya Krugovoy Silver on Friday, Oct. 20. The 4 p.m. event is free and open to the public. Louisiana State University Press published her first three books of poetry, The Ninety-Third Name of God (2010), I Watched You Disappear (2014), and From Nothing (2016). Her fourth book, Second Bloom, is forthcoming as part of the Poiema Series of poetry by Cascade Press.

Her work has been offered in several publications including Image, The Harvard Review, The Georgia Review, Five Points, Crazyhorse, New Ohio Review and Witness, among others. She was named Georgia Author of the Year/Poetry in 2015.

• A Sense of Place in Appalachia, the University’s annual international student reading program, is slated for 4 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 16. Students from across the globe will share poetry and readings in their native languages and discuss their experiences as residents in Appalachia.

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