Literary Friday, Edition 89

Interview, Chat & Giveaway With Wiley Cash

North Carolina author Wiley Cash’s second novel was released earlier this week. On the heels of his wildly successful debut novel, A Land More Kind Than Home, Cash continues to explore the themes of family and survival in a grimly-painted backdrop of the American South in This Dark Road to Mercy. The story of two sisters whose prodigal father whisks them away to Myrtle Beach one night for a fresh start, the book is set during the 1998 homerun race between Sammy Sosa and Mark McGwire. Zachary Lundgren interviewed Cash about his sense of place, love of baseball and responsibility to his community. Click here to read the interview, and join us for a Twitter chat with Cash from 1-2 CST (2-3 EST) using the hashtag #southernlit today.

We also have a copy of This Dark Road to Mercy to give away during the chat. To enter to win, comment on the interview about your own sense of place through the weekend and we’ll announce a winner on Monday.

Literary News

The movie “Labor Day,” based on the book by Joyce Maynard, opens in theaters today. It’s not set in the South, but the film’s pie scene, in which Josh Brolin teaches Kate Winslet to make the perfect flaky crust, will certainly resonate with bakers down here. The Pie Shop in Atlanta has been promoting the film and offers up 10 Tips for Perfect Pie.

Looking for a few good reads to take you into spring? Traveling with T has started a Pinterest board of Futuristic Friday books coming to shelves soon.

Ann Hite’s recipe for Geechee Fried Corn is available over at BookTrib and inspired by her latest novel The Storycatcher.

And for readers looking for some titles as a way to participate in #readwomen2014, Flavorwire has 50 Books by Women Authors that includes Alice Walker’s The Color Purple and Dorothy Allison’s Bastard Out of Carolina. P.S. Our own list of Southern women authors is coming soon.

Literary Events

The Alabama Shakespeare Festival brings “The Great Gatsby” to the stage starting tonight through February 16 in Montgomery.

Zora! Festival wraps up its 25th anniversary in Eatonville, Florida, concluding on February 2.

Birmingham Public Library will hold its Local Authors Expo and Book Fair tomorrow from 9 a.m.-3 p.m., with two writing seminars and more than 100 authors selling their books.

In celebration of Black History Month, the Louisiana Center for the Book in the State Library of Louisiana is hosting author Kim Marie Vaz for a discussion of The ‘Baby Dolls’: Breaking the Race and Gender Barriers of the New Orleans Mardi Gras Tradition. The program is free and will be held February 6.

RiverCenter for the Performing Arts in Columbus, Georgia, presents Aquila Theatre’s production of Fahrenheit 451 February 11 in partnership with the Chattahoochee Valley Libraries’ “The Big Read” event. 

The Savannah Book Festival will be held February 13-16 with guest authors Wiley Cash, Alice Hoffman, Wally Lamb, Anita Shreve and more.

Save the date for the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival March 19-23 with Dorothy Allison, Megan Abbott, Judith Chapman, Ann Hood, Diane Ladd and Laura Lippman.

New in Southern Voice 

Quitting Ohio, a poem about memories of the South, by Monica Rose Burchfield.

To find out more about Southern authors’ haunts and hangouts, download the Deep South Literary Trail App, available direct from iTunes and for Android.