Award-winning writer Toni Jensen to visit APSU for public reading, book signing

By: Dr. Andrea Spofford February 12, 2026

Toni Jensen, an award-winning writer who earned an NEA Creative Writing Fellowship in 2020 and has had essays published in several notable magazines. | Contributed photo

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. – Austin Peay State University’s Zone 3 Press, with support from the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts, is hosting NEA Creative Writing Fellowship recipient and award-winning writer Toni Jensen for a free public reading and book signing at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 19, in Art + Design Room 120. 

Jensen’s book Carry is a memoir-in-essays about gun violence, land and Indigenous women’s lives and was a Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist and a New York Times Editors' Choice Book. Her essays have appeared in Orion, Catapult and Ecotone.  She is Métis. Learn more about Jensen by visiting her website at https://www.tonijensen.com/. 

"I’m stoked to host Toni Jensen this semester,” said Dr. Raymond Deeren, co-coordinator of Austin Peay’s creative writing program. “Our students have studied her work across genres and are eager to hear and learn from Jensen, a generous and powerful author.” 

Attendees are invited to engage with Jensen during a Q&A session immediately following the reading. Books will be available for purchase during the signing as well.  

To learn more about Zone 3 Press, contact Deeren at deerenr@apsu.edu. 

About the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts 

Since 1985, the Center of Excellence for the Creative Arts (CECA, or "seek-ah") has been providing students, the Clarksville community, and the Middle Tennessee region with engaging experiences through the Art + Design, Creative Writing, Music, and Theatre & Dance. CECA brings as many as 85 guest artists to Clarksville each year and presents up to 100 public arts and culture events annually, including concerts, exhibitions, artist lectures, master classes, artist residencies, and more. In addition, CECA provides the arts faculty at APSU with research opportunities to enhance their professional growth as well as numerous student scholarships each year to support APSU's own emerging artists. To learn more about CECA, contact Dr. Andrea Spofford at spofforda@apsu.edu.