Literary Friday, Edition 188

Readalong for Joshilyn Jackson’s The Opposite of Everyone – Part One 

The first set of notes for our readalong of The Opposite of Everyone is now available. We are discussing chapters 1-4 and have also included some questions to consider, along with a few of our favorite quotes from the first part of the book. Join in by commenting on the notes or on social media using the hashtags #southernlit and #jjreadalong.

For more fun content, including a character guide and additional reader questions, head over to our readalong partner Traveling With T!

And make sure you save the date for our Twitter chat with Joshilyn on March 18 from 1-2 CST.

Saying Goodbye to Harper Lee

News broke last Friday that Harper Lee had died right after we posted the Literary Friday links. Readers mourned throughout the weekend, and we know Lee’s loss will be felt around the world for a long time. Our Editor Erin Z. Bass was interviewed by the BBC (2:14:35) about the reaction to Lee’s death in the states, and our friend in Wales, Cerith Mathias, put together a tribute to Lee for us with quotes from Monroeville’s bookstore owner, Auburn professor Nancy Anderson, who attended the funeral, and South Toward Home author Margaret Eby.

If you’ve read To Kill A Mockingbird a hundred times already, then we suggest making a Lane Cake in honor of Harper Lee.

And if you’ll be in the New Orleans area on March 30, plan to see the original Scout — actress Mary Badham — as part of the opening ceremonies for the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival.

Literary News

Own a piece of history from the film version of Truman Capote’s “In Cold Blood” as two guitars, one used in the 1967 movie and the other owned by actual murderer Perry Smith (pictured), go up for auction tomorrow.

New children’s book Belle, the Last Mule at Gee’s Bend is out this month and uses the location of Alabama’s famous quilts to teach a lesson about the Civil Rights Movement.

Meanwhile, Flavorwire explains How Two “Slavery With a Smile” Controversies are Changing the Conversation About Diverse Children’s Books.

Meet the new director of the Southern Lit Alliance, whose leadership marks a new era for the organization.

Literary Events

The University of Tennessee at Knoxville’s Writers in the Library series presents Poetry Spring, a series of readings and author chats, through April 18.

TurnRow Book Co. in Greenwood, Mississippi, has a full calendar of author events scheduled, starting with Katy Simpson Smith on Free Men February 23.

Applications for The Kerouac Project’s writer-in-residence positions are due by March 13. Four residences consist of a three-month stay in the Orlando, Florida, cottage where Jack Kerouac wrote his novel The Dharma Bums.

The Sweet Potato Queens Musical is happening March 17-27 at Theater Under the Stars Underground in Houston, Texas.

Sundress Academy for the Arts in Knoxville, Tennessee, wraps up its series of workshops as part of its OUTSpoken platform for the LGBTQ community on March 26.

Tennessee Williams Birthday Celebration is scheduled for March 1-31 in Key West, Florida, with a party, classic film series and forum, theater performances, art exhibits and more.

And the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival takes place March 30-April 3 this year with Megan Abbott, Dorothy Allison, Mary Badham, Kiese Laymon, Rick Bragg and lots more. View the full schedule here. (Saints and Sinners literary conference also takes place April 1-3 in New Orleans.)

Win the chance to work in Ernest Hemingway’s Key West writing studio by entering the new Florida Keys Flash Fiction Contest. Entries are due March 31.

The first annual Dave Robicheaux Literary Festival is coming to Iberia Parish, Louisiana, April 8-10.

Save the date for the F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum’s annual gala April 30. This year’s event celebrates the 100th anniversary of Zelda’s debut into Montgomery, Alabama, society with a special performance by the Montgomery Ballet.

New in Southern Voice 

Alex Chilton is Alive, a fictional story about the lead singer of Big Star washing dishes in New Orleans, by Kent J. Landry.

To find out more about your favorite Southern authors’ haunts and hangouts, download the Deep South Literary Trail App, available direct from iTunes and for Android and perfect for those winter road trips.