On Thursday, April 11, the League of Women Voters of Macon County will sponsor a program on Franklin as an Appalachian Trail Community. Corresponding with the Macon County Public Library’s Walking with Spring series and the Town of Franklin’s April Fools’ Day Trail Day Festival, the League would like to recognize the importance of the trail in Macon County and to promote the use, enjoyment, benefits, and conservation of the trail.

The Appalachian Trail Community program is designed to recognize communities that promote and protect the Appalachian Trail (A.T.). Towns, counties, and communities along the A.T.’s corridor are considered assets by A.T. hikers and many of these towns act as good friends and neighbors to the Trail. The program serves to assist communities with sustainable economic development through tourism and outdoor recreation, while preserving and protecting the A.T.

Beginning its second decade, Western Carolina University’s Spring Literary Festival will bring together writers of local origin and from outside the region to share their skills, talents and methods. All events are free and open to the public.

Starting at noon Monday, April 8, the Gilbert-Chappell Distinguished Poets Series will feature Richard Chess and student poets in the A.K. Hinds University Center theater. Chess is the author of three books of poetry – “Tekiah,” “Chair in the Desert” and “Third Temple.” He is the Roy Carroll Professor of Honors Arts & Sciences at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where he also directs UNC Asheville’s Center for Jewish Studies.

Technology demonstrations, exhibits, workshops and a competition showcasing digital masterpieces from animation to mobile applications will take place at Western Carolina University on Thursday, April 11, as part of DigiX, a digital media and arts event.

Hosted by WCU’s Coulter Faculty Commons and supported by the Division of Information Technology, DigiX will be held in A.K. Hinds University Center from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

Clarinetist Brian Hermanson of Nashville, Tenn., will be the featured musician for a Sunday, April 7, concert sponsored by Western Carolina University’s School of Music and Office of the Provost. The free performance will be presented at 7:30 p.m. in the recital hall of WCU’s Coulter Building.

Hermanson earned his bachelor’s degree in clarinet performance at the Eastman School of Music and was recipient of one of the school’s highest honors, the Performer’s Certificate. He received advanced training at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University in Texas and has performed at numerous major American music festivals and throughout Europe.