Join us for our annual members-only Christmas dinner. This year our guest speaker is Caitlin Hamilton Summie whose award-winning stories, compiled in the collection TO LAY TO REST OUR GHOSTS, have been compared to the writing of Elizabeth Strout, Ann Beattie, Kent Haruf, and Tobias Wolfe—all of which about knocked her over. She will share her experience of writing stories from the heart, what drives her as an author, and how it feels to be on the other side of the desk.

Summie earned an MFA with Distinction from Colorado State University, and her short stories have been published in Beloit Fiction Journal, Wisconsin Review, Puerto del Sol, Mud Season Review, Belmont Story Review, Hypertext Magazine, South85 Journal, and Long Story, Short. Her first book, a short story collection called TO LAY TO REST OUR GHOSTS, was published in August 2017 by Fomite. It won the fourth annual Phillip H. McMath Book Award, won Silver in the Foreword INDIES Book of the Year Award for Short Stories, and was included in 35 Over 35’s Annual List in 2017. It was a Pulpwood Queen Book Club Bonus Book for June 2018. Most recently her poetry was published in The Literary Nest. She spent many years in Massachusetts, Minnesota, and Colorado before settling with her family in Knoxville, Tennessee. She co-owns the book marketing firm, Caitlin Hamilton Marketing & Publicity, founded in 2003. Authors she has launched include Bren McClain, Emily St. John Mandel, William Gay, and more.

*PLEASE NOTE: This event is for members only. Reservations are required.

Not a member? Check out our website to learn about the benefits of joining our organization and sign up today! We'd love to have you! wnbanashville.org

**If you have special dietary restrictions, please contact Lee Fairbend (lfairbend@comcast.net) to request a special meal.

[Photo by Eleonora Albasi on Unsplash]

[Author photo by Terri Hathway, Trutheyeoft]