Literary Friday, Edition 194
National Poetry Month
Our celebration of National Poetry Month continues! Catch up on our “poem a day” in our Poetry section, and read this week’s interview with Southern Gothic poet Susan Swartwout, whose new book Odd Beauty, Strange Fruit highlights the odd beauties who embellish our plain lives. We also compiled a list of four poetry books to read this month. Next up is Poem in Your Pocket Day on April 21!
Literary News
Author Wiley Cash penned an open letter to Sherman Alexie in Shelf Awareness addressing Alexie’s canceling of his visit to North Carolina (along with Bruce Springsteen) in protest over the state’s discriminatory HB2.
Writer Ardelia Lee has a list of 5 Novels Featuring Strong Southern Women this week. Channel your inner Scarlett, ladies.
And our Submissions Manager Brittany Wallace interviewed author Kristy Woodson Harvey upon the release of her second novel, Lies and Other Acts of Love.
Anderson Cooper comments on Truman Capote this week in reference to the release of HBO’s documentary “Nothing Unsaid,” a look at his mother Gloria Vanderbilt, who was friends with the author.
In other Capote news, Melanie Benjamin’s The Swans of New York is coming to cable with star Bryce Dallas Howard. (The book is about the tumultuous friendship between Capote and socialite Babe Paley.)
Listen to the latest edition of public radio show “Louisiana Eats,” a culinary tribute to Confederacy of Dunces.
Mississippi native comedian Tig Notaro has a book coming out in June about her year of death, cancer and epiphany titled I’m Just a Person.
Songwriter Suzanne Vega crosses over into theater with a one-woman play about the late author Carson McCullers. She’ll also be releasing songs from the show in the fall as “Lover Beloved, Songs From an Evening With Carson McCullers.”
Literary Events, Contests & Workshops
See the first-ever documentary of Flannery O’Connor, “Uncommon Grace,” at the Milledgeville Film Festival on Sunday.
Sundress Academy for the Arts in Knoxville, Tennessee, debuts a poetry exhibit, Scruffy ‘Scrapes and Sonnets, featuring photography and poetry through May 5 in in Preservation Pub’s second-floor Speakeasy.
The F. Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald Museum’s annual gala is 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.
Register now for The Writer’s High Retreat with Joshilyn Jackson and Michael Morris September 9-11 at Brasstown Valley Resort in Young Harris, Georgia.
Save the dates for upcoming book festivals, including the Mississippi Book Festival August 20, Decatur Book Festival September 2-4 and Southern Festival of Books in Nashville October 14-16.
New in Southern Voice
Louisiana Ladies’ Watermelon Tea—1890, a Southern Gothic poem by Susan Swartwout.
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.
Have a piece of news, event, video or something else related to Southern lit that you’d like us to consider for Literary Friday? Send an e-mail to [email protected].
