It’s kind of the small-talky thing to say “I can’t believe it’s already November,” but genuinely, to me, it still feels like, what, maybe June? July? But no, the cold weather is here to stay, the holiday decorations are coming out, and the cozy bookish events are rolling in! It’s a bit of a slow month, but what’s happening this November includes some of the big hitters like the MTSU Write Conference, the Read to Succeed Celebrity Spelling Bee, the conclusion of the In Process Fall Lectureship series, and more! And read on to the bottom about a way you can practice storytelling this Thanksgiving with your loved ones.
Upcoming events
Thursday, November 5th, 4:30-5:45 PM, at the Tom Jackson Building of MTSU (628 Alma Mater Dr, Murfreesboro): In Process with Paulette Guerin
Dr. Jennifer Wachtel Kates is going to be hosting this week’s In Process to kick off the month, speaking with multigenre writer Paulette Guerin. This event is free and open to the public, so go check it out!
Friday, November 6th, 12:00-4:00 PM, on Zoom: MTSU Write Fall Conference Kickoff
It’s time for the annual MTSU Write Fall Conference, and this year, the theme is Imagination! There are two online sessions on Friday, and you can find the detailed schedule here. Registration is required, so be sure to register here if you’re interested!
Friday, November 6th, 5:30 PM, at The View at Fountains (1500 Medical Center Pkwy, Murfreesboro): Read to Succeed 20th Celebrity Spelling Bee
For this year’s RTS Celebrity Bee, it’s the Battle of the Bees to celebrate twenty years of the spelling bee! It’s sure to be a great time, so get tickets, donate, and meet the bees here.
Saturday, November 7th, 8:45 AM-4:00 PM, at MTSU’s Academic Classroom Building (1751 MTSU Blvd, Murfreesboro): MTSU Write Conference
Saturday begins the in-person sessions for the MTSU Write fall conference, featuring former Murfreesboro poet laureate Cam Mitchell as the keynote speaker and several really cool speakers, including essayist and songwriter Antsy McClain, poet Bryanna Licciardi, author Mary Leoson, and yours truly! Again, find a detailed schedule here, and make sure you register ahead of time here.
Saturday, November 7th, 11:00 AM-1:00 PM, at Linebaugh Library (105 W Vine St, Murfreesboro): Valerie Hammill Author Event
LPL is proud to welcome illustrator Valerie Hammill and her children’s book, Here’s to the Silly Ones. Come say hi to Valerie, get a book, and have her sign it! Click the image for more info.
Saturday, November 7th, 5:00 PM, at Crying Cat Records (504 N Maney Ave, Murfreesboro): Sunrise of the Reaping Advanced Listening Party
If you’re a Hunger Games fan, you’ll want to be at Crying Cat for this cool event to listen to the soundtrack for the upcoming Sunrise of the Reaping movie. There will hopefully be giveaways for prizes too, but if nothing else, it’s a good time to take in the ambiance of the film score, meet some like-minded Hunger Games fans, and browse an awesome bookstore! Click the image above for more info.
Sunday, November 8th, 3:00-5:00 PM, at Dapper Owl: Writers’ Mingle
We’re still getting details together for this one as far as our speaker and whatnot, but no matter who it is, it’s going to be a good time—as always! No matter what genre, what medium, what experience, what level, what age, or what background, if you want to meet writers in the area, come on down for some coffee, snacks, games, a quiet place to write, and inspiration! I’ll see you there!
Thursday, November 12th, 4:30-5:45, at the MTSU Sam Ingram Building (2269 Middle Tennessee Blvd, Murfreesboro): In Process Open Mic
It’s the last open mic of the semester for In Process, so come listen to some talented students, professors, staff, and community members share their work! Maybe you’ll even get up the gumption to step up to the mic yourself! The event is free and open to the public (and there are complimentary snacks)! More information here.
Thursday November 19th, 4:30-5:45, at the MTSU Sam Ingram Building: In Process Multigenre Celebration
To finish off this semester’s In Process lectureship series, four MTSU faculty members (Fred Arroyo, Claudia Barnett, Jennifer Wachtel Kates, and Aaron Herschel Shapiro) will be sharing their work, their processes, and their answers to your questions. Again, it’s free and open to the public, and it’s the final one! Come check it out! More info here.
Sunday, November 22nd, 6:00 PM, at Dapper Owl: Poetry in the Boro
Join us at the Dapper Owl for coffee, nibbles, and poetry! Our feature this month is a Poetry in the Boro regular and popular middle Tennessee spoken word artist, B. the Buddha (aka songwriter Billy Henderson). He’ll be engaging in some Q&A after his performance; then we’ll open the floor to anyone who wants to perform on the mic. Keep your eyes peeled on PitB socials or poetryintheboro.org for further details!
storytelling, listening, and thanksgiving
Of course, November is when we celebrate Thanksgiving, and it’s personally my favorite holiday. If you’ve been reading the blog, you know I love fall; and I love that Thanksgiving is not about gifts or money but about time and homecooked comfort food. Yum. Storycorps, an excellent organization that champions the awesomeness of the everyday stories of everyday people, has a program called The Great Thanksgiving Listen, where young people are encouraged to ask their elder relatives and friends questions to prompt storytelling around the Thanksgiving table. Even though this is primarily an activity for school, it’s open for anyone—and if you choose to participate, you will be contributing to the largest collection of oral history in the world, archived in the Library of Congress! It’s a great endeavor and a way to practice connection and thanksgiving this Thanksgiving through the art of storytelling.
And while we’re talking about storytelling, go ahead and mark you calendars for the next Bloom Stage multi-genre storytelling show, which will be Thursday, Dec. 3, at the Walnut House. 7:00 PM show!
And I believe that’s all! As always, make sure to check with your local bookstore and library for any events I may have missed (because there are a ton I didn’t list here), and if you have news or an event you’d like mentioned in a future blog, shoot me an email at taffetachimewrites@gmail.com. See you next month for our last post of 2026! 😱
Image credit to @davies_designs
