Austin Peay students take the lead: Zone 3 writers’ festival and literary journal internship offers real-world experience
By: Dr. Andrea Spofford March 13, 2025
In the center, Katherine Lehtola, a junior in the professional, technical, and creative writing concentration, listens attentively during a discussion. As a Zone 3 intern, Lehtola is gaining valuable experience in publishing and event planning, including her role as assistant events coordinator for the inaugural Zone 3 Writers' Festival scheduled for April.
CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – For APSU junior Katherine Lehtola, the professional, technical, and creative writing concentration in the Department of Languages & Literature is a stepping stone toward her future goals, and the newly revised Zone 3 student internship is an integral part of that pathway.
With support from the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, APSU’s creative writing faculty have created a brand-new internship opportunity, revising an existing course into a dynamic, innovative experience for students interested in creative writing.
These new changes include reading creative writing submissions for the now student-led and directed Zone 3 journal and planning the inaugural Zone 3 Writers’ Festival, a three-day event that will bring writers from around the country to Austin Peay State University’s campus. In a dynamically changing landscape for the arts, this internship provides skills for students across all walks of life. While students have always had the opportunity to be involved in some capacity with Zone 3, increasing their involvement with the journal and introducing a new event creates more hands-on learning opportunities.
“It's important that students, especially students in the arts, can embark on their professional careers with a background in collaboration, project management, event coordination, team leadership, and community outreach,” said Dr. Raymond Deeren, co-coordinator of the Creative Writing Program.
APSU Creative Writing Program co-coordinator Dr. Raymond Deeren gestures while leading a discussion with Zone 3 student interns as they collaborate on planning the inaugural Zone 3 Writers' Festival. Under his guidance, students gain practical experience in event coordination, team leadership, and publishing—skills that Deeren emphasizes are vital for arts students embarking on professional careers.
Student interns can expect a lot out of this class; since it is repeatable twice, they get a different experience over the course of two semesters. In the fall, students read writers’ submissions to the Zone 3 literary journal and rank their choices, plan an issue of the journal, plot out social media and marketing plans, and assist with events and programming for the Zone 3 Visiting Writers’ Series.
In the spring, students organize and implement a full-scale writers’ festival. This allows them to engage with all aspects of event planning and management, leaving them with lifelong skills they can take to any career. Creative writing faculty like Deeren, Joanna Grisham, Dr. Andrea Spofford, K.K. Fox, Nathan Knapp, and Dr. Taylor Emery guide students through each stage of this development, and Zone 3 Managing Editor Calie Benke assists with all elements of the publication process.
This internship program has provided a new perspective for Lehtola, who plans to enroll in APSU’s master’s degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages Program and then go to law school.
“This internship has widened my perspective of what is out there for me as a student in the humanities and has offered me an immersive experience in the publishing industry and a look at the backstage view of large-scale event planning,” Lehtola said.
Lehtola is currently in her second semester of the internship. Last fall, her role was assistant events coordinator, a position that put her in contact with professionals across APSU’s campus.
“I sat at the same table as acclaimed authors and connected with people from across the working world of writing and publishing,” she said. “This experience has prepared me with concrete skills in professional communication as well as developed my administrative and organizational abilities. In addition to these skills, I have also grown in my abilities in leadership, delegation, and resource management.”
Inspired by a goal to create more opportunities for students at APSU and to demonstrate the real-world experience that engagement with the arts can provide, creative writing faculty looked at their classrooms first.
“We wanted to give students more ownership of the voice of Zone 3 and a chance for them to develop project management skills that transfer outside of the classroom,” Deeren said. “It’s vital for students to be able to articulate the skills they've gained through their time with Zone 3.”
For Lehtola, that means working hard on making the Zone 3 Writers’ Festival a reality, collaborating with her classmates to see a vision come to fruition.
“Every day the Zone 3 Writers Festival becomes more real, and I learn more about what it is to be a writer, a student, and a member of the publishing community,” she said.
The inaugural Zone 3 Writer’s Festival will be held on APSU’s campus in the Morgan University Center from April 10-12, with a kickoff event featuring writer Dustin M. Hoffman at 7 p.m. on April 10 in AD 120. Panels and programming curated by internship students, will occur on April 11, with a final event on April 12 to celebrate the inaugural Tennessee Emerging Creative Writing Contest award winners.
For more information regarding the Zone 3 Writers’ Festival, Zone 3 Press, or the technical, professional, and creative writing concentration at APSU, contact Deeren at deerenr@apsu.edu.
For more information about the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, contact Spofford at 931-221-7876 or spofforda@apsu.edu, or visit https://www.apsu.edu/ceca/.
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