by Cordia Byers
as originally published in The Sassafras Literary Exchange Newsletter; vol 1, no 1; January 1987
In 1981 the Sassafras Literary Exchange began with a small group of Pickens County residents who were interested in writing and reading. At first it was solely a support group but within a few months had branched out to encompass a variety of different activities to encourage and promote young talent in the writing field.
During the last 5 years the Sassafras Literary Exchange has grown from the original six members to over twenty, some of whom come from other counties. The group has held creative writing contests in the three schools and with the homeschoolers of the county and has been approached to begin similar contests in the Gilmer County schools. They have raised funds through donations from the local merchants for new books for the library, held poetry readings and autograph parties: the proceeds from each also going to support the library. During the past two years they have also held adult writing and military writing contests and they have proven as successful as the children’s contests, bringing out many talented writers in our area and the surrounding counties.
Due to the diverse interests in the field of writing among the members, they try and have speakers often and have been fortunate to have had as their guests, people who are successful in their chosen fields in the literary world, be it journalism or screenwriting.
The only requirement to participating in the Sassafras Literary Exchange is an interest in promoting reading and writing. If you have such an interest, the members of the Sassafras Literary Exchange invites you to join them on the third Thursday night of each month.