Since its formation in August 2025, the Smoky Mountain Storytellers (SMS) series — held monthly at Outdoor 76 on East Main Street in Franklin — has become one of the most popular social gatherings for literary folks and the curious alike in Macon County and greater Western North Carolina.
“Storytellers came about as a way to gather and enjoy the craft of writing in a live, collective environment. In this day of the digital age, live, in-person performance is not only more valuable and rare, but it’s also becoming a lifeline for creativity,” said series co-founder Hannah McLeod. “Forms of art like music, dancing, or theater depend on that live, in-person experience. Writing does not. We wanted to create a space in our community where that could exist for the art of writing.”