River City writer speaking tonight

Wier, author of three novels, including "A Place for Outlaws" and "Departing as Air," will be reading from his current work, "Tehano."

Growing up in Texas and New Mexico, Wier drew inspiration from the collision of different cultures in the area.

"Tehano" is set in the Civil War era and chronicles the diversity of that time, using 17 different major characters.

"My inspiration was really just people from different backgrounds inhabiting the same space. People can't walk around ignorant of the huge event (the Civil War) that took place for four years," he said. "As a writer it was so interesting to convincingly imagine what it was like to be a runaway slave, or an Indian or cowboy at that time."

"Tehano" took years to research and write, a task Wier wasn't expecting.

"Indians and cowboys really were my heroes. I started writing about it in 1990, but realized I didn't know much about it," he said. "It was a great challenge to use the transforming power of the imagination."

Wier is currently a professor of literature and creative writing at The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and has recently completed a draft a new novel, "Skin on Skin," a detective story set in the Knoxville area.

His reading starts at 8 p.m. and is free and open to the public.

Much like "Tehano," Wier advises aspiring writers not to write what they know.

"Don't accept that advice. We never know what we might know through our imaginations. And read everything from contemporary authors to literary classics...those are our teachers," he said.

Also speaking on campus next week is poet and author Naomi Shihab Nye, author of more than 20 volumes of fiction and poetry.

Describing herself as a "wandering poet," Nye, similar to Wier, draws inspiration from the cultural diversity in Texas, also her hometown, and her travels throughout Europe.

She will be reading Monday, April 17th, at 8 p.m. in the Fogelman Executive Center.