Smokies Life, a nonprofit partner of Great Smoky Mountains National Park, is now accepting applications for its sixth Steve Kemp Writer’s Residency. The annual program is designed to help writers of any medium connect in meaningful ways with the national park while focusing on their craft in an inspiring, retreat-like setting. 

Steve Kemp moved to the Great Smoky Mountains in 1987 for what would become a 30-year career with the Great Smoky Mountains Association, and following his 2017 retirement GSMA is looking to honor his contributions to the organization through a new writer’s residency. 

“There is a specific skill in writing in a way that engages the reader and inspires curiosity and passion in the reader, and that’s what we want to be able to cultivate,” said Laurel Rematore, executive director of GSMA, “because we’re in the business of helping people to connect with the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, connect on an emotional level so they will take care of it.”